Battlefield to be made into a TV show

The EA hit game series Battlefield may soon become a television series, after a deal was struck by Paramount TV and Anonymous Content to acquire the rights with Executive Producers from Anonymous Content Michael Sugar and Ashley Zalta.

Amy Powell, President of Paramount TV, stated “Paramount TV actively seeks smart content from all sectors that will resonate with audiences and translate to compelling programming.  EA’s Battlefield has an incredibly dynamic narrative, coupled with a loyal fan base, which will allow us to bring this exciting and unique property to the small screen. We look forward to working with EA and Anonymous Content and thank Michael Sugar for his tenacity in bringing us this exciting project.”

Michael Sugar followed this with “Battlefield has a tremendous built-in, engaged fan base, making it a highly coveted piece of IP primed for long-form adaptation.  Together with EA and Paramount TV, we’ll develop the Battlefield TV series with the same commitment to robust storytelling that has made the game such a runaway success for nearly fifteen years.”

Although it is clear there is a massive fan base with 60 million players worldwide playing the series, it is not clear where the television series will be set, or perhaps more importantly,  when.  The Battlefield game series began with Battlefield 1942 (2002) and has since amassed more than 60 million players worldwide with sequels set in various war zones including the Vietnam War, a modern day fictional war between the United States and China and the Middle Eastern Coalition, and even in an Ice-Age future (no, not the one with Sid).  Most recently at E3 2016 details were announced for the latest game in the series Battlefield 1 set during World War 1.

Perhaps given the tendency for video game to movie ports to fail, television is the way to go with a game series that is very much open for adaptation and creative license with “robust storytelling”.  Or was that the problem with those video game movies?