Two live-service game hits are moving off the console and into screen development. Chernin Entertainment, the film and television division of The North Road Company, has been named lead producer on TV series and film adaptations for ARC Raiders and The Finals, both created by Nexon-owned developer Embark Studios.
The rights were contested: several production companies and studios competed before the projects landed at Chernin. No streamer or network has been announced yet, which means the projects enter the market as platform-agnostic packages.
What the IP brings
Since its October 2025 launch, ARC Raiders has sold more than 16 million copies worldwide and collected major honours at The Game Awards, the D.I.C.E. Awards and the BAFTA Games Awards. Its largest content update, Frozen Trail, arrives on Oct. 7.
The Finals, a free-to-play shooter built around a virtual combat game show, has registered more than 30 million players over three years. Season 12 lands on Oct. 20.
Nexon and Embark are positioning the adaptation as a longer franchise play, not a licensing one-off. “Nexon’s agreement with Chernin Entertainment is the next big step in growing ARC Raiders and The Finals into deeply integrated transmedia experiences,” said Patrick Söderlund, Nexon executive chairman and Embark Studios founder and CEO. Chernin film president David Ready described the titles as “ambitious global IP with the potential to become major franchises across film and television.”
Why this matters for screen buyers
For streaming platforms and TV buyers, game adaptations now come with a pre-built audience. That matters because launch marketing costs are rising and franchise recognition is one of the few levers that reliably lowers discoverability risk. A 16-million-copy game is not a guarantee of a hit show, but it is a demand signal: engaged players already spend hundreds of hours in these worlds.
- Validation: ARC Raiders is both a commercial and critical success, while The Finals has sustained a large free-to-play base for three years.
- Timing: Both updates land in the same month as the adaptation news, keeping the IP in the feed while pitches are shopped.
- Track record: Chernin’s “Backrooms” grossed over $400 million worldwide on a $10 million budget, showing efficient IP expansion.
What to do about it
Media planners and entertainment marketers should treat game update calendars as marketing moments, qualify IP by engagement rather than raw copies, and track whether platforms bid aggressively once a home is chosen. Don’t assume players automatically convert to viewers; the creative translation still has to do the work.
For the broader market, the signal is that Asian and Western game publishers increasingly see film and television as distribution channels for IP, and production houses with strong sourcing relationships are becoming first-look gatekeepers. The next variable to watch is whether a streamer wins both projects together or splits them.
Source: Variety
