Ex-PlayStation narrative director starts Until Dawn film petition to credit game writers
Until Dawn is the latest video game to get itself a film adaptation, having made its cinematic debut on 25th April. At the film’s close, its credits acknowledge the game it is inspired by, but no individual developer credits are highlighted.
Now, a former PlayStation narrative director has started a petition “for the integrity of the Until Dawn creators”, which they hope will see the film’s credits updated so members of the original team “may be finally honoured”.
At the time of writing, the petition has 167 signatures.
“As a former Sony Interactive Entertainment and PlayStation narrative director who was firmly told that the IP I personally created would NEVER be credited to me as I was salaried (no royalties, no control, no ownership , no acknowledgement) I am struggling with the difference between [The Last of Us creator] Neil Druckmann’s favour and that of others in your company,” Kim MacAskill wrote on LinkedIn.
“I’ve just left Until Dawn where the film director, writers etc were all credited but instead of you mentioning the leading game dev(s) who created this ICONIC game you’re clearly proud of, you just wrapped it as ‘based on the Sony game’.”
MacAskill said members of the Until Dawn team had spent “years breaking their brains to make something incredible”, and therefore “the world DESERVES to know their names” in the film’s credits.
“Why should IP creators keep working for you? Film and TV, which is grotesque at the best of times, still own the need to note the importance of credit,” MacAskill closed.
However, while there should absolutely be credit where credit is due, MacAskill fails to acknowledge that Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann also works on The Last of Us TV show as a writer and director. In Until Dawn’s case, meanwhile, the game’s writers were not approached to consult on the film, which differs from the source material significantly.
As for The Last of Us, the wider studio is credited under the banner that the show is based on the video game series.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Larry Fessenden and Graham Reznick – the pair who wrote 2015’s Until Dawn video game release for PlayStation – have said they weren’t surprised to see their names absent from the film’s credits, and weren’t seeking to be included now – although a nod would have been appreciated.
“I didn’t assume anything, but I thought somebody would have bothered to throw in our names, even during the end credits,” Fessenden said. “But there’s no courtesy in show biz.”
On this lack of credit, screenwriter and Writers Guild of America (WGA) member C. Robert Cargill – whose credits include 2016’s Doctor Strange – pointed out this is common practice.
“This is one of those situations where credit is clear, but because the Guild doesn’t know who to ascribe credit [for video games] in general, they don’t have a hard and fast rule about how to do that,” Cargill said.
“Technically, the studio’s abiding by Guild rules.”
The Until Dawn adaptation features both a new cast of characters and a new story.
As for the game itself, last year’s PS5 remake introduced a new ending for Until Dawn, which hints towards a sequel.
