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Netflix’s Biggest Video Game Adaptation Is Already Setting Itself Up To Fail
PlayStation Productions has pivoted its Horizon Zero Dawn adaptation from a Netflix television series to a big-budget theatrical feature at Sony's Columbia Pictures, a change the article argues is a mistake because it strips away the narrative space a multi-season series would have offered to do justice to the sprawling video game saga. The project's troubled history, including a shelved earlier version and workplace controversy around its former writer, adds further uncertainty to a franchise that Netflix had once championed as a flagship video game adaptation.
The show was originally developed from 2022 by Steve Blackman, known for The Umbrella Academy, but a July 2024 Rolling Stone report detailing allegations of toxic workplace behaviour against him led Netflix to shelve his version. When the project resurfaced in 2025, PlayStation Productions head Asad Qizilbash confirmed the shift to a film format, telling Variety the Netflix series "just wasn't creatively going how we wanted to."
In short
- Horizon Zero Dawn adaptation moves from Netflix series to Columbia Pictures film.
- Original showrunner Steve Blackman's version was shelved after misconduct allegations.
- PlayStation Productions says the switch responds to creative dissatisfaction with the series.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
A sprawling science fiction world like Horizon Zero Dawn requires the narrative space of a multi-season series to properly explore its intricate mythology, character development, and post-apocalyptic setting. The game's strength lies in layered storytelling and world-building that would inevitably suffer compression into a two-to-three-hour film, with a series format allowing audiences to develop genuine investment in characters and gradually understand the complex technological and tribal elements at the story's heart. A theatrical adaptation risks sacrificing depth for exposition, leaving the work feeling rushed.
The case against
A tightly-crafted feature could distil Horizon Zero Dawn into its most essential narrative, forcing creative discipline that ultimately serves the story better than an overextended series. Films have proven capable of translating complex game worlds effectively to mainstream audiences, and Sony's Columbia Pictures offers significant theatrical distribution advantages beyond Netflix streaming. A well-executed film, helmed by experienced filmmakers, could preserve what makes the game special whilst reaching far beyond the typical streaming demographic, making both commercial and creative sense.
Explained simply
Horizon Zero Dawn is a PlayStation game set in a future where human communities live among animal-like machines. Its central character, Aloy, searches for answers about the past and the origins of this world. The story has since grown into a wider game saga.
PlayStation Productions, Sony’s studio for screen adaptations of its games, first developed the project as a Netflix series with Steve Blackman, who made The Umbrella Academy. Netflix shelved that version after a 2024 report in Rolling Stone described allegations of toxic workplace behaviour against Blackman; he disputed the allegations.
In 2025, PlayStation Productions head Asad Qizilbash said the project was moving from a series to a film because the Netflix version was not going as the studio wanted. The change matters because a film has less time to cover the games’ setting and story, while the project’s earlier difficulties leave its eventual direction uncertain.