According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate has just acquired Peter Levin with the intention of using the Nerdist co-founder to turn some of its hit properties into the next hot mobile game.
As of today, Levin is now the company's president of interactive ventures and games, tasked with "adapting existing properties into video games primarily for mobile and social platforms."
"We've got a phenomenal library of content," Levin, 44, tells THR, citing such franchises as The Hunger Games and Divergent. "Each property could be brought to life in the video game space."
How exactly a Hunger Games...game, would work would be interesting. I can't speak to the marketability of a game that revolving around a child murder tournament, but I can already see the brass over at EA kicking themselves for missing an opportunity for players to send their in-game characters sponsorship donations via the infamous microtransaction.
By comparison, Divergent is already off to a head start as far as a game goes thanks to its pre-established class system, but figuring out how to adapt both properties is a job for Levin, not yours truly. Fortunately, he's at least gotten his feet wet in the industry, having served as an adviser to Finnish developer Rovio of Angry Birds fame.
Noted THR, "Levin says he will not limit himself to online content plays, adding that he plans to look 'at a broad swath of opportunities, whether it's social media, digital products or messaging applications.'"
Luckily, there's alreay a well established market for any number of Lionsgate properties, from "Mad Men" and "The Hunger Games" to "Orange is the New Black," and good or bad, they'll be at least SOME level of interest in a game based on any one of these projects. The show or movie and proper gameplay "could be a very potent combination if executed properly," said Levin.
