The Hunger Gamesis one of the most popular young adult franchises of the last decade, standing alongside properties likeHarry Potter. WhileThe Hunger Gamesmay not be quite as popular asHarry Potter, it is still a media juggernaut in its own right, with millions of book sales and four blockbuster feature film adaptations produced so far.
Suzanne Collins’Hunger Gamesfranchise is still going strong, with a new book having just released earlier in 2020. The prequel,The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is set to be adapted into a feature film of its own, which should ensure thatThe Hunger Gamesremains a constant fixture in pop culture for years to come.
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DespiteThe Hunger Games' success, there hasn’t been a major video game adaptation of it to date. DespiteThe Hunger Gamesconcept seemingly lending itself well to a video game, much more than many other young adult book franchises, nothing has been announced to date. And while it’s never been made clear why aHunger Gamesvideo game hasn’t been made, it’s possible it has something to do with the moral issues that surround making one.
Single-Player vs. Multiplayer
The biggest hurdle aHunger Gamesvideo game would need to overcome is handling its subject matter in a respectful way that doesn’t undermine the message of the source material. Having a bunch of kids and teenagers murdering each other in a battle royale video game is not great optics, especially since many video games shy away from including children at all, as is the case withtitles likeGrand Theft Auto. Or if a game does have kids in them, players aren’t able to commit the same level of violence against them as they can the adults in that same world, as is the case with Bethesda’sFalloutandElder Scrollsgames.
Considering this, it may be best if a potentialHunger Gamesvideo game was single-player only, as opposed to a multiplayer battle royale game. While there would be a huge financial upside for aHunger Gamesvideo game to be abattle royale, such a mode would glorify the violence as opposed to presenting it in a way that echoes the source material’s themes. While there is plenty of violence to be found inThe Hunger Games, the books have a firm stance that these “games” are morally reprehensible, and there are anti-war themes that permeate throughout the entire franchise.
A single-playerHunger Gamesvideo game could put players in the role of a tribute that has to go through the horrific ordeal. Maybe it could even adapt the existing books and films, with players taking on the role ofKatniss Everdeenas she attempts to survive the Games, keep her friends alive, and eventually rebel against the antagonistic Capitol. Alternatively, the game could allow players to create their own character and attempt to survive in one of the many other Hunger Games, most of which have not been detailed by author Suzanne Collins.
Perfectly Set Up for Gaming
Narratively, there are some big questions the developers of aHunger Gamesvideo game would need to grapple with, and some moral hurdles to overcome. But looking past the moral issues of having young children kill each other in a video game,The Hunger Gamesconcept and world are perfectly set up for gaming. And in fact, we’ve seen the game’s concept applied to gaming already through the many battle royales that are currently dominating the market.
As it so happens,The Hunger Gamesdeserves more than a little credit for inspiring the battle royale craze in gaming. While theJapanese filmBattle Royalemay have originated the general last man standing idea,The Hunger Gamespopularized it for a global audience. And with no officialHunger Gamesvideo game to play, gamers started making mods forMinecraftbased onThe Hunger Games.
TheMinecraftHunger Gamesmodswould go on to inspire mods for other games with similar rules, and eventually full-fledged video games started getting released based on the battle royale concept. The success of the battle royale genre proves that there is an audience for aHunger Gamesvideo game, but those games are able to run with the idea without having to deal with the darker themes ofThe Hunger Games.
Most battle royale games feature adult characters, whereasThe Hunger Gamesrequires teenagers and kids. Other battle royales have characters that are so cartoony they don’t really come across as “human.” The majority ofFortnite’s characterswould fit in that category, with Epic Games' battle royale also including plenty of fictional characters on the roster as well to really drive that point home. There is nothing realistic aboutFortniteand so it doesn’t have to deal with the same kind of moral quandaries thatThe Hunger Gamesdoes.
Fortnite’s battle royale matches are meant to be fun. Matches ofPUBGandCall of Duty: Warzoneare meant to be fun. The titular Hunger Games arenotmeant to be fun. They are supposed to be a serious, terrible ordeal for those who are forced to compete in them, and it’s hard to see how that could be accurately reflected in a large-scale multiplayer video game. Especially since aHunger Gamesvideo game would almost certainly be filled with microtransactions, goofy cosmetics, and weird events that would further separate the game from the important messages of the source material.
