Authorship in video game adaptations

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how authorship of video game adaptations is handled as a discursive concept. Auteur theory was created and analyzed as a critical method in the film medium. The thesis researches the adaptability and applicability of this theory into video games and video game adaptations. The findings from the literature review are then compared to a survey of players‘ perceptions and experiences of authorship in video gaming. The survey was conducted in four subtopics to examine player‘s opinions on their preferences in video games, transmedia and adaptation, game creators and creative roles, and lastly, impressions of authorship in video games and adaptations. Another angle on authorship in video game adaptations is the author-driven genre, with a case study of four different Lovecraftian video games; Conarium (2017) and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (2005) as direct and Bloodborne (2015) and Darkest Dungeon (2016) as heavily inspired video games inspired by the early 20th-century stories of H. P. Lovecraft. The chapter aims to analyze how literary authorship creates a genre and a brand of its own in video gaming. Lastly, the thesis analyzes transmedia storytelling with a case study of authorship in The Witcher franchise, in which the adapted video games have assumed a more prominent international position than their literary sources.