New research from Ampere Analysis reveals that TV or movie adaptations of video games drive average player growth of almost 140% - far higher than uplift from game-based activations alone. Fallout’s 2024 Prime Video launch, for example, saw the franchise’s monthly active users (MAUs) soar nearly 500%, while HBO’s The Last of Us garnered more than 4m new players across its two seasons.

TV adaptations deliver the most substantial boost. The average uplift in players according to Ampere’s Games Analytics title activity data is 203%, compared to just 48% for movie adaptations.

Fallout’s screen debut on Amazon Prime Video delivered record growth for the franchise: The 2024 TV series lifted MAUs by 490%, with 80% of the 14m activated players playing for the first time. By contrast, Fallout 76’s DLC updates in June and December 2023 increased MAUs by just 17% on average.

HBO’s two TV seasons of The Last of Us, which propelled the show to the top of Ampere’s title popularity charts, increased franchise engagement by an average of 150%. In comparison, the remastered release of The Last of Us Part II on PS5 and the addition of The Last of Us Part I to the PlayStation Plus (PS+) catalogue increased monthly players by 70% and 29%, respectively.

Shows with a modest popularity still see an uplift from a TV adaptation. Netflix’s Anime adaptation of the game series Devil May Cry peaked as only the 58th most popular TV Show in April 2025, but still delivered a 358% increase in players versus the previous month.

Moreover, even perennially popular games, such as Minecraft, grow with media adaptations. Minecraft already accounted for between 1%-2% of monthly total game play time across Xbox, PlayStation and Steam in the year to March 2025, yet MAUs still increased 30% with the release of A Minecraft Movie in April 2025. Over half (54%) were reactivated lapsed players.

Coordinated cross-media activity is also key, with ongoing game activations supporting retention. For example, Sony kept The Last of Us franchise active through a strategy of remasters and wider availability, helping retain 20% of players 180 days after the game’s peak engagement.
 
Media adaptations are superchargers for the player bases of gaming franchises, attracting new audiences at scale to extend a game’s reach. With adaptations of Call of Duty, Life is Strange, and Dark Deception all announced recently, Ampere expects this trend to continue — creating win-wins for publishers seeking new players and studios hungry for ready-made fanbases.