Forget Fallout, Netflix's 18-Part Fantasy Series Rules Video Game Adaptations

Published Sep 27, 2026, 8:18 AM EDT

Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020.

While Prime Video’s Fallout might be great, it can’t quite beat Netflix's best video game adaptation so far. There was a time not too long ago when, outside a few contested cult classics like 2006’s Silent Hill movie, screen adaptations of video games were synonymous with the term ‘Flop.’ Then, a slew of shows like The Last of Us and Prime Video’s Fallout proved that video game shows could not only do justice to their source material, but even improve on its story.

While the Tomb Raider movies of the 2000s were somehow a worse Lara Croft adaptation than the unrelated series Relic Hunter and the original Resident Evil movie series never captured the intense horror of playing the games, the success of streaming adaptations has seemingly emboldened creators when it comes to bringing games to life onscreen. Weapons director Zach Creepers’s 2026 reboot Resident Evil earned an astounding $108 million in its opening weekend alone, as well as managing to gain a near-perfect 95% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

While Fallout deservedly gets a lot of credit for proving that video game adaptations could be truly great, the Prime Video show is not quite the best entry into the genre to date. That title instead has to go to one of Netflix’s most expensive efforts ever, the two-season League of Legends adaptation Arcane. Starring Fallout’s Ella Purnell and Sinners star Hailee Steinfeld, Arcane is an immersive animated fantasy show. The Netflix series focuses on sisters Vi and Powder, who are caught on opposing sides of a class war between the two cities of Piltover and Zaun.

Fallout Is Good, But Arcane Is The Best TV Show Based On A Video Game

While the rich city of Piltover’s battle to continue oppressing the poor people of Zaun could have become frustratingly one-note, Arcane was nothing if not ambitiously complex. The series was phenomenally popular with critics and viewers alike thanks to its rich, detailed world building, the complexity and moral nuance of characters like Vi and Jinx, and the stunning, immersive animation of Arcane’s story.

If ever there was a video game franchise that ran the risk of feeling too daunting for newcomers, it would have been League of Legends, but Arcane’s skillful writing meant the series worked just as well for newcomers as it did for seasoned fans of the video games. Part of what makes Arcane Netflix’s best video game show was the fact that, even compared to Fallout, the show never felt beholden to its source material.

Fallout is a lot of fun for viewers who have never played the game series, but the show’s viewing experience is undeniably accentuated by a familiarity with the Fallout games. In contrast, Vi and Jinx’s story would be one of the greatest fantasy epics of the 2020s on the big or small screen even if Arcane had no canon connection to the League of Legends universe.

Several Upcoming Video Game Adaptations Could Steal Arcane's Crown

Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Arcane will be able to hold on to the title of the best video game adaptation for long. Arcane’s massive critical and commercial success, along with the popularity of Fallout and The Last of Us, emboldened creators to adapt many more classic video game franchises, including some that have long been owed a truly great screen adaptation.

While the upcoming Mass Effect series could rival The Expanse in its ambitious space opera storytelling, God of War is set to be one of the biggest epic fantasy shows of all time. Meanwhile, Tomb Raider’s reboot not only stars Sophie Turner, but also boasts creative input from the irreplaceable Phoebe Waller-Bridge of Fleabag fame. As such, although Netflix’s Arcane might be even better than Prime Video’s Fallout, this doesn’t mean it will remain the best video game show of all time for long.