Paramount Games is extremely interested in making video games based on Taylor Sheridan’s various TV shows, including Yellowstone, Tulsa King, and Lionness.
Last week, Paramount formally unveiled its new gaming division, Paramount Games, which will oversee the development of games based on Paramount’s biggest properties. The first big one will be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, but it’s expected that there will be many more AAA games based on key Paramount properties in the future. In an interview with Polygon, Shawn Kittelsen, head of creative and production at Paramount Games Studio, revealed that Yellowstone is also a “priority” for the company’s gaming efforts.
“All of the Yellowstone and Yellowstone-adjacent titles, Landman, Tulsa King, these are all priorities for us,” Kittelsen said.
It doesn’t sound like anything is in active development right now, but surely someone will try to make a compelling pitch for a game based on these shows. It’s hard to imagine what these franchises would even look like as games, though. Maybe a Telltale-esque, choose-your-own-adventure game would be well-suited. There may also be room for a GTA or Mafia-like take on Yellowstone or Tulsa King.
One of Paramount’s most beloved film franchises, The Godfather, got a GTA-inspired video game in the mid-2000s. It wasn’t half bad, although its 2009 sequel was poorly received and whacked any chance of the games becoming an adjacent trilogy to Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic silver screen saga. At any rate, the bar for open-world crime games has been raised significantly in the years since. Shows like Yellowstone, Landman, and Tulsa King also seem to target a much older audience, so it’s unclear if traditional games would be guaranteed success with those viewers. It’s arguable a mobile game may be a safer bet, but that doesn’t sound like it’s part of Paramount Games’ mission.
Kittelsen noted that Paramount is being very careful with how it approaches its licensed games, as it believes churning out random games would damage its brands.
“If we start, like, willy-nilly licensing everything that we can just to check boxes and fill the coffers, people will get wise to it, and we won’t actually see the success that we could. But if we build pillar by pillar, find the right partners, and make the right games for the audience, I think we can achieve massive success.”
Similarly, Paramount is also being selective with who it entrusts to make games around its brands as well.
“Everything has to come from that player first, fan-first perspective. We’re being much more selective about our partners because everything that we do, we don’t want to just spray and pray. Like we always say: we want missiles, not bullets.”
Sheridan himself is also entering the video game world, as he is helping write a Call of Duty movie for Paramount. The film will hit theaters in summer 2028.
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
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