9 Sci-Fi Video Games So Good, Hollywood Needs to Adapt Them Now

Published Sep 20, 2026, 6:01 AM EDT

Eddie Possehl is a dynamic and driven writer/director with a passion for the written word and all things film, television, comics, and games. His passion for storytelling led him to establish his own production company in hopes of achieving his dreams.

His dedication to his craft has attracted renowned talent like Yuri Lowenthal to collaborate with him on his projects. As he grows and improves, Eddie is a shining example of a self-starter.

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Science fiction video games have always been some of the most popular in the medium, and for very good reason. The worlds they bring to life and let players explore are gorgeous, intriguing, and epic. The characters within said worlds can be truly unique and great, especially when they're characters that the player genuinely enjoys controlling. Not to mention, they can also make good movie and/or television adaptations.

Adapting a video game franchise to film or television is quite difficult and doesn't always end up well — some may say that it's just not possible. This has led to a very understandable stigma, with people pretty much begging film studios not to adapt more video games. However, there are some video games out there that genuinely — if done right — could make for some awesome television or movie projects.

1 'Super Metroid' (1994)

Image via Nintendo

When it comes to the merging of Nintendo and sci-fi, it doesn't get much better than the likes of Super Metroid. Samus Aran is one of the most badass female video game protagonists, taking down crazy aliens with her awesome Power Suit. With Nintendo clearly investing more in films, with The Super Mario Bros. Movie franchise being a huge hit, and The Legend of Zelda flick on the way, Super Metroid feels like the next step if they want to continue to diversify their genres.

Samus Aran is a character who has more than deserved her time in the sun in the way that Mario has, and a movie would do just that — especially one based on such a great franchise. What makes Super Metroid a great game to adapt is the fact that it doesn't have a defined story, which would give a filmmaker a great chance to have some fun with the story while still keeping the basic progression of the game. The world of the Super Metroid franchise is expansive, unique, and an all-around visual marvel, which means the film would look great as well.

2 'NeiR: Automata' (2017)

Image via Square Enix

The 2017 title known as NeiR: Automata is an extremely beloved modern RPG, and the discussion surrounding whether the game should ever get an adaptation is something that has been a bit controversial within the fandom. There's a masterclass story at play here, with a world surrounding it that is visually unique and engrossing. While it has had an anime adaptation in the past, the idea of a film adaptation has not escaped the fandom.

Some fans would say that NeiR: Automata would be hard to adapt to film due to the way it relies on being an interactive game. That shouldn't mean that it should be robbed of a good adaptation, though. Just because it'd be hard doesn't mean it would be impossible, especially with the right director at the helm of the project. If a NeiR: Automata movie was done right, it would be game-changing.

3 'Destiny' (2014)

After working on the ever-popular Halo series, Bungie separated from 343 Industries — rebranded as Halo Studios recently — and went on to make an all-new franchise titled Destiny. While it had an explosive start, it did lose a lot of steam over the years due to people being pretty unhappy with the fact that everything had to be online to experience the story. This, however, doesn't stop the story from being genuinely great.

The fact that there are many people who have never truly experienced this plot but know what Destiny is makes this game a perfect opportunity to have a great movie or television project. Destiny is a wonderful space opera that, if done right, could genuinely be the next Star Wars. They just need to find the right director and writer.

Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars

Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you'd actually make it out of alive.

💊The Matrix

🔥Mad Max

🌧️Blade Runner

🏜️Dune

🚀Star Wars

TEST YOUR SURVIVAL →

01

You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.

APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it. BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don't keep you alive. CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who's pulling the strings. DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it. EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can't fix a broken galaxy alone.

NEXT QUESTION →

02

In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.

AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don't need resources — you can generate them. BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it. CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity. DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on. EShips and credits. The galaxy is big — you survive it by being able to move through it freely.

NEXT QUESTION →

03

What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you're honest about what you're actually afraid of.

AThat reality itself is a lie — that everything I experience has been constructed to keep me compliant. BA raid. No warning, no mercy — just the roar of engines and then nothing left. CBeing identified. Once someone with power decides you're a problem, you're already out of time. DBeing outmanoeuvred — losing a political game I didn't even know I was playing. EThe Empire tightening its grip until there's nowhere left to run.

NEXT QUESTION →

04

How do you deal with authority you don't trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.

ASubvert it from the inside — learn its rules well enough to weaponise them against it. BIgnore it and stay out of its reach. The further from any power structure, the better. CAppear to comply while doing exactly what I need to do. Visibility is the enemy. DManoeuvre within it carefully. You can't beat a system you refuse to understand. EResist openly when I have to. Some things are worth the risk of being seen.

NEXT QUESTION →

05

Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn't just tactical — it's physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.

AUnderground bunkers and server rooms — cramped, artificial, but with access to everything that matters. BOpen wasteland — brutal sun, no shelter, constant movement. At least the threat is honest. CA dense, rain-soaked city where you can disappear into the crowd and nobody asks questions. DMerciless desert — extreme heat, no water, and something enormous living beneath the sand. EThe fringe — backwater planets and busy spaceports where the Empire's attention rarely reaches.

NEXT QUESTION →

06

Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.

AA tight crew of believers who've seen behind the curtain and have nothing left to lose. BOne or two people I'd trust with my life. Any more than that and someone talks. CNobody, ideally. Alliances are liabilities. I work alone unless I have no choice. DA community bound by shared hardship and mutual survival — people who need each other to last. EA ragtag team with wildly different skills and total commitment when it counts.

NEXT QUESTION →

07

Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they're actually made of.

AI won't harm the innocent — even the ones who'd report me without hesitation. BI do what I have to to protect the people I've chosen. Everything else is negotiable. CThe line shifts depending on who's asking and what's at stake. DI draw a long-term line — nothing that compromises my people's future, even if it'd help now. ESome lines, once crossed, can't be uncrossed. I know which ones they are.

NEXT QUESTION →

08

What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.

AWaking others up — dismantling the illusion so no one else has to live inside it. BFinding somewhere — or someone — worth protecting. A reason to keep moving. CAnswers. Understanding what I am, what any of this means, before time runs out. DLegacy — shaping the future in a way that outlasts me by generations. EFreedom — for myself, for others, for every world still living under someone else's boot.

REVEAL MY WORLD →

Your Fate Has Been Calculated You'd Survive In…

Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.

The Matrix

You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You're a systems thinker who can't help but notice the seams in things.

• You're drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
• You'd find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines' worst nightmare.
• You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
• The Matrix built an airtight prison. You'd be the one probing the walls for the door.

Mad Max

The wasteland doesn't reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That's you.

• You don't need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
• You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you're good at all three.
• You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
• In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.

Blade Runner

You'd survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.

• You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
• In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
• You're not a hero. But you're not lost, either.
• In Blade Runner's world, that distinction is everything.

Dune

Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.

• Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they're survival tools.
• You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
• Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You'd learn its logic and earn its respect.
• In time, you wouldn't just survive Arrakis — you'd begin to reshape it.

Star Wars

The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn't have it any other way.

• You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
• You'd gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire's grip can be broken.
• You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn't something you're capable of.
• In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

4 'Titanfall 2' (2016)

Despite not getting the love it deserved at the time, 2016's Titanfall 2 is commonly known as one of the most underrated single-player gaming experiences of all time. The emotional bond between the protagonist and their mech is one that serves as an extremely strong and emotionally resonant anchor of the story.

Titanfall 2 is a project that would adapt to film or television quite well. Everyone loves a good mecha project, and that continues to be true in the case of Titanfall 2. This project is unforgettable for anyone who has played and enjoyed it, and every reason that makes it so serves as a reason for it to be a potentially amazing movie or show.

5 'inFamous' (2009)

Superhero projects are all the rage these days, and while they've taken over cinema and television, they have some incredible games, too. One of the best that isn't from the big two (Marvel and DC Comics) is the one and only inFamous. Following the story of Cole MacGrath (Jason Cottle) as he explores his new superhuman powers as a Conduit, inFamous is a great journey that spawned a beloved franchise.

In 2009, people fell in love with inFamous, and they continue to enjoy it to this day. The only thing holding audiences back from fully investing in the idea of an adaptation of this series is the fact that the game's mechanics and story have two different options: good and bad. However, the "good route" is commonly considered the true one, so it wouldn't be hard for the adaptation to simply adapt the story from that route. With how big superhero movies and shows are, this feels like a hole in one.

6 'Halo: Reach' (2010)

Halo has had some great games over the years, but none match up to the masterpiece known as Halo: Reach. Taking a step away from the iconic Master Chief (Steve Downes) and jumping into the past, Halo: Reach tells the tragedy that is the story of Noble Team, a Spartan squad that had one goal: defend the world of Reach during its fall to the Covenant (an evil alien race).

This prequel title is considered by many fans to be the best of the best that Halo has ever had to offer. The story is simply masterful, following this team as they slowly fall to... well, the fall of Reach. The characters at play are excellent and have a plethora of depth — not just being random super soldiers for the audience to watch aura farm — and would make incredible protagonists for a project outside of gaming. Plus, Halo could use a win after the conflicting feedback on their television series.

7 'Dead Space' (2008)

Image via EA Redwood Shores

Combining genres is always fun when making content, because it allows the creatives behind said projects to really get experimenting with how to execute their stories and worlds. One of the best examples in gaming is the one and only Dead Space, a 2008 horror sci-fi game from Electronic Arts (EA).

Dead Space became a very popular franchise because of how well it blends these two genres, using the wacky, out-of-this-world style that comes with sci-fi to craft unique horror elements for players. While there have been some gigantic hits over the years, like the Alien franchise, the world could definitely use some more sci-fi horror, and the perfect place to find it is in the world of Dead Space.

8 'Mass Effect 2' (2010)

The Mass Effect franchise is one of the most popular sci-fi game franchises of all time, and for very good reason. The stories present in these games are exceptionally well-written, with some of the best characterization out there. Yes, the plot is amazing, but these characters are so great in almost every way, and there's no Mass Effect game where this is more true than the sequel, Mass Effect 2.

What makes this sequel the best is that it decides not to go into a full-force space opera — intergalactic battles with massive spectacle — and rather opts to give players a far more intimate and grounded story. This makes the story beyond emotionally compelling and honestly perfect for a film or series adaptation.

9 'Portal 2' (2011)

Image via Valve

Portal 2 is known worldwide as simply one of the best video games ever made. People everywhere adore this game. While there was an adaptation announced back in 2013, it's been in "development hell" ever since. So, until there's any true confirmation that something is actually moving forward, there may as well not be one in production.

Portal 2 has become a genuine pillar of gaming, and people want to see a Portal film. Recently, Backrooms director Kane Parsons said he would love to do one, and that has people begging for it. Parsons would do an incredible job, and his directing prowess combined with the Portal 2 story would be pretty much the perfect combination.

Backrooms