Rockstar’s vice president of creative Dan Houser has stated his belief that the ever-contentious concept of transmedia has to this day only been a failure.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Houser suggested that taking IP across a number of mediums is becoming tougher as consumers become more savvy and demanding in their tastes.
"No one has done it very successfully yet," insisted Houser. "Virtually all movies made from games are awful, while many games made from movies are also pretty horrible. This will change, but with an ever more discerning audience, the goals of taking something from film-to-games or game-to-film have to be more than financial."
Houser remains optimistic about transmedia, however, and argued that if a creator of a game or film has a faith that their product has potential in other mediums that is not directly related to making money, it could indeed work.
"Too often, however, the aim appears to be to cash-in on the success of a particular game, book, pop singer, website, etcetera, and that usually produces mediocre results," concluded Houser.