Game development is a long and demanding process. Big dev studios polish everything, from code to visual aspects, to make their game great. But if code is something hidden from users, visual aspects determine how the game is perceived by players. That’s why using third-party studios like this game art outsourcing studio became the new standard in the game industry. It makes sense, given that hiring top-notch, talented artists to create designs is much easier than spending time and effort trying to do it yourself.
Awe-inspiring visuals lead to the emergence of a separate trend, which has been getting popular in recent years – developers create or fund anime and animated series based on their games to promote the game to a bigger audience. Let’s have a quick look at the best examples of game-based anime and animated series:
Dota: Dragon’s Blood
This animated fantasy series is set in the world of Valve’s Dota 2 game. It’s worth noting that Dota 2 is a well-known eSports title. Its main tournament, The International 2021, offered $40 million as a prize pool.
The renowned dragon knight – Davion, dedicated his life to fighting dragons that once destroyed his village. However, everything changed on the day when the ancient fire dragon plunged his claw into Davion as a gift for the great battle, giving him all the wisdom and strength. After a meeting with powerful ancient Eldwurm and the noble princess Mirana, who has her own secret mission, Davion finds himself at the epicenter of events much larger than he could have imagined. Currently, 3 seasons have been released and are well-received by the audience.
Arcane: League of Legends
This one is based on Riot Games’ League of Legends. League of Legends and DOTA 2 are the main eSports MOBA titles competing for users. So, the rivalry steps into a new phase.
Set in the utopian land of Piltover and the brutal underworld of Zaun, the story follows the rise of two legendary League champions and the formidable force that will drive them apart on opposite sides of the barricades. After the first season’s release, it was announced that the project would continue.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
It’s a ten-episode anime series based on the world of Cyberpunk 2077 from the Polish developer CD Projekt RED. Cyberpunk 2077 is a one-of-a-kind dystopian tech-future project based on the Cyberpunk tabletop role-playing game.
The anime series tells a standalone story about a motherless, homeless child who is trying to survive in a future city obsessed with high-tech and body modifications. Risking everything he has, the young man makes the difficult decision to become an outlaw mercenary – an edge runner, also known as cyberpunk.
Castlevania
The project is based on Konami’s Castlevania. Castlevania game is an old-school title known for its gothic, horror, and mysticism ambiance.
The first season tells about the brave girl Lisa, who comes straight to the castle of Count Dracula and asks him to share all his scientific knowledge. She has a noble goal – the girl wants to become the best doctor and make life easier for people, but the locals don’t appreciate her zeal, and now Lisa is being burned at stake for witchcraft. Enraged, Dracula decides to avenge his beloved – he gives the town inhabitants a year and then sends them hordes of demons from hell. But there is a brave hero who agrees to resist the lord of vampires.
Devil May Cry: Debiru mei kurai
The Japanese anime miniseries based on the Devil May Cry – a “hack and slash” game by Capcom.
Half-breed Dante, the son of the demon knight Sparda and a human woman, is doomed to live in two forms: as a monster and as a man. The hero must spend his life fighting the forces of darkness. But Dante is more than okay with it.
The Cuphead Show!
The project is set in the universe of the Cuphead platformer developed by Studio MDHR. So far, two seasons have been released.
The animated series tells about the adventures of the impulsive Cuphead and his obedient brother Mugman, who fight against eccentric villains. Heroes constantly get themselves in the center of bizarre events: either they run away from the ghosts in the cemetery or fight the very devil.
Earthworm Jim
The two-season animated series is based on the same-named Sega platformer – Earthworm Jim.
Jim was originally an ordinary earthworm, doing what earthworms usually do: eating humus and hiding from crows. One day, an “Ultra-High-Tech-Indestructible-Super-Space-Cyber-Suit” falls on him, and this radically turns the life of a simple worm – from now on, Jim is a superhero!
Carmen Sandiego
Carmen Sandiego is a four-seasoned animated series based on the Broderbund educational and entertainment video games.
Professional thief Carmen Sandiego puts her skills to good use as she travels the world and thwarts robberies of the largest thief school, VILE, where she once trained herself. The animated series brings us into the main character’s past and tells us who they are and why they, being a thief, retrained and became a detective.
Dragon’s Dogma
The series is based on the same-named action-RPG video game by Capcom.
The dead guy miraculously comes back to life. Now, he has to go on a journey full of dangers in order to return his heart, which was taken by an insidious dragon. The more the warrior fights demons, the less human remains in him.
Sonic X
Sonic X is a three-season animated series. The main character is the famous hero of the Sega platformer – the blue hedgehog Sonic.
While on a mission to save his friend, Sonic accidentally launches a machine that controls Chaos, resulting in the machine taking the hero, his friends, and the villain Eggman to the human world. Here, Sonic and his friends meet a boy named Chris Thorndyke. They enter the fight against Dr. Eggman in order to collect the seven Chaos Emeralds, stop the Chaos Water Being, save the world from the Supreme Life Form and help Sonic get back home.