Why Do Video Game Adaptations Fail? The Case of 2005's Doom

Abstract

This paper analyses the errors of adapting video games into the medium of films, using the Doom video game franchise and its 2005 film adaptation as an example. Through a ludological transmedia analysis and a qualitative research the thesis proposes that due to the fundamental differences found between films and games an adaptation cannot faithfully recreate the same experience for a viewer that a game provides. Additionally, the paper discusses the lack of agency and immersion that come into play with 2005’s Doom.