Streaming vs. Gaming: Which Tells Bigger, Better Stories?
Do you consider invading alien hordes and zombifying viruses as challenges to be overcome or more as spectator sports? Some of today’s best series (and plotlines) start out as video games before inspiring streaming franchises that pick up Emmy nominations—including HBO’s fungus-filled The Last of Us and Netflix’s sword-swinging The Witcher. Then there are the projects that jump from screen to console, à la Mad Max and Alien. Which made us wonder: Should aspiring directors head to film school or toss out those clapboards and learn to code? Which shows belong on your watch list, and which should have stayed on the Xbox?
HOW MUCH THE INDUSTRIES ARE WORTH More from Robb Report
$544 billion Roughly 61 percent of the Pentagon’s 2024 budget. Yeah, don’t think too hard about that one. | HOW MUCH THE INDUSTRIES ARE WORTH $248 billion Enough to buy every American a tube of Lotrimin and stop those infections before they get out of hand. |
USER BASE 99 percent of U.S. households pay for at least one streaming service and average over 21 hours of viewing per week. | USER BASE 60 percent of Americans play on a regular basis, averaging nine hours of gaming a week. |
YOUR PRICE TAG An ad-free subscription to Hulu costs $17.99 per month. Then you have Netflix (starting at $15.49), Disney+ ($13.99), Paramount+ ($11.99 also gets you Showtime), Max ($15.99), Apple TV+ ($9.99), Peacock ($5.99), Prime Video ($11.98)… | YOUR PRICE TAG New games typically sell for around $70, but in-game purchases open up an entire new world of spending. |
MOST EXPENSIVE RELEASE The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power costs Amazon a reported $58 million per episode, proving yet again that nothing in Hollywood burns cash like a Tolkien adaptation.  Amazon/Everett Collection | MOST EXPENSIVE RELEASE Grand Theft Auto V cost $265 million to develop. That’s $75 million more than Denis Villenueve’s Dune: Part Two, and it doesn’t even have Zendaya.  Mario Tama/Getty Images |
BIGGEST STAR When some of the top-ranking streaming shows in the country include Is It Cake?, Judy Justice, 90 Day Fiancé, and Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, let’s just say… Taylor Sheridan.  Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images for Paramount | BIGGEST STAR Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, a.k.a. PewDiePie, is still the biggest name in the gaming universe with over 111 million subscribers to his YouTube account. |
HOW HAS REMOTE-CONTROL TECHNOLOGY PROGRESSED? The Apple TV remote is far smaller, simpler, and more streamlined than behemoths of yore.  Gavin Roberts/MacFormat Magazine/Future via Getty Images | HOW HAS REMOTE-CONTROL TECHNOLOGY PROGRESSED? Very much the opposite.  Padraig Treanor/Unsplash |
LUXURY TIE-IN John Varvatos’s Game of Thrones clothing line offered a Winterfell-inspired leather jacket for a mere $2,700. | LUXURY TIE-IN Ralph Lauren swapped his pony for a llama when he collaborated with Epic Games on a digital Polo collection in the Fortnite Item Shop.  Courtesy of Ralph Lauren |
TO CROSS OVER OR NOT CROSS OVER? The Sopranos: Road to Respect video game isn’t even worth putting a hit on, but players do get to visit the Bada Bing!  Supplied | TO CROSS OVER OR NOT CROSS OVER? Who would have guessed fungal infections were entertainment gold? The Last of Us TV series earned eight Emmys and three Golden Globe nods.  Michael Buckner/Variety |
WEIRDEST TREND Taylor Sheridan. | WEIRDEST TREND Seriously, can anyone over the age of 20 (fine, 30) explain the appeal of unboxing videos? |
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