You finish a series, the credits roll, but you don't feel like leaving that universe. So you start the game adaptation, order the original manga, or buy the book everyone is talking about.
Cultural consumption now works as a network. A hit on one screen immediately triggers a wave of curiosity on other media. Here's how that phenomenon took hold, with hard figures and a strategy going back several decades.
1. From the small screen to the controller: series that revive games
For a long time, television adaptations of video games lacked conviction. The trend has completely reversed: series and anime are now a powerful sales engine for publishers.
Fallout: the sales explosion
In April 2024, the launch of the Fallout series on Amazon Prime Video revived Bethesda's entire franchise.
- According to GSD (Global Sales Data) figures, European sales of Fallout 4 jumped 7,500% in the week following the series' release.
- Concurrent player counts on Steam more than doubled for Fallout 4, Fallout 76 and New Vegas.
Cyberpunk, The Witcher and DMC: the animation and streaming lever
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners: after Studio Trigger and Netflix released the anime, Cyberpunk 2077 saw a +550% spike in players on Steam. CD Projekt Red even passed one million daily active users across all platforms.
- The Witcher: in December 2019, the Netflix series pushed physical sales of The Witcher 3 up 554% in the United States (NPD Group data), while prompting the US publisher of the original novels to urgently reprint 500,000 copies.
- Devil May Cry: announcements and releases of animated adaptations around Capcom's franchise systematically give DMC 5 sales a second wind on PC and consoles.
2. Where it comes from: American merchandising versus the Japanese Media Mix
This synergy between media is nothing new, but it rests on distinctly different business models depending on the continent.
The American model: spin-off logic
From the late 1970s, Hollywood sought to extend the film experience. Star Wars (1977) laid the groundwork with original novels and Kenner action figures. In the 1980s, the deregulation of American television let manufacturers such as Mattel and Hasbro produce animated series designed to promote toys (He-Man, Transformers, G.I. Joe).
The Japanese Media Mix: a circular strategy
Japan took a different approach from the 1970s and 1980s onwards, largely driven by publisher Kadokawa: the Media Mix (メディアミックス).
Rather than creating spin-offs from an existing hit, the work is designed as an ecosystem from the start. The anime often acts as a big-budget showcase to boost sales of the manga, novels, soundtracks and video games.
- Demon Slayer: before the 2019 anime, the manga had around 3.5 million copies in circulation. After Ufotable aired the first season, it sold more than 80 million copies in 2020 alone (source: Oricon), beating One Piece's all-time annual record.
- One Piece (live-action): Netflix's series adaptation showed the model exports well. According to NPD BookScan, the series' release drove One Piece manga sales up 300% in the United States in the first week alone, while bringing record traffic to the MANGA Plus app.
What about Europe? Franco-Belgian comics and the Ankama school
Franco-Belgian comics are no exception. As early as 1956, the creator of Le Journal de Tintin founded the Belvision animation studio to bring paper heroes to television and cinema (Asterix, Tintin, Lucky Luke). Every film release massively revives sales of the original albums in bookshops.
- Titeuf: in the early 2000s, the launch of the animated series on France 3 took Zep's character from successful comic to social phenomenon, pushing album sales past 20 million copies and spawning video game and film adaptations.
- The Ankama case (Dofus / Wakfu): French studio Ankama embodies a modern, fully realised form of Media Mix. Starting from the video game Dofus, Ankama developed a cult animated series (Wakfu), manga, novels and board games, creating a complete transmedia universe produced in-house.
3. From the big screen to print: when cinema gets people reading again
Cinema also has enormous prescriptive power over literature, from modern comics to the greatest classics.
Spider-Man: the engine of extended universes
Every major cinema release, whether the animated Spider-Verse saga or the MCU films, generates a 30% to 50% jump in sales of the associated console games and sends thousands of readers back to the graphic novels devoted to Miles Morales.
The blockbuster effect on literature
- Dune: Denis Villeneuve's adaptation pushed sales of Frank Herbert's novel up by more than 80% on release.
- Homer's Odyssey: Christopher Nolan's film adaptation revived interest in the original text. According to NielsenIQ, print sales of the epic rose 1,400% in the United Kingdom.
4. Why this synergy works so well
This bridge between media rests on two simple mechanics.
- Extending immersion: a season of a few hours makes you want to stay in the universe. The video game brings interactivity, while the book brings depth.
- Making discovery easier: a mainstream adaptation reassures the curious and encourages them to explore the original work.
5. Tracking your discoveries with Gemster
Moving from a series to a 60-hour game, then to a manga run or a novel makes tracking complicated. Your consumption quickly scatters across several apps and formats.
That need is exactly what we're building Gemster for. The app lets you bring your whole cultural journey together in one place.
- Track your cross-media progress: series, films, video games, manga, comics and books in a single interface.
- Visualise your habits: analyse your time spent and how your taste evolves.
- Share your discoveries: exchange cross-media recommendations with the people close to you.
What about you? What was the last series or film that made you want to start a game or open a book?