IP, Games, & The Future of Transmedia

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If you’ve been watching tv shows over the past six months, chances are you’ve been spending much of your time with a pair of Disney’s content juggernauts: Star Wars and Marvel. The Mandalorian topped Nielsen’s list of most-watched streaming series in the U.S. in December 2020, while WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier both landed squarely in the top ten during their respective runs.

All three series continue or expand on storylines from their respective content universes, telling new stories that further the narrative of that universe. Each is an example of transmedia storytelling (often abbreviated as “transmedia”). Transmedia storytelling was first described by USC professor Henry Jenkins, who defines it as “a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally, each medium makes it[s] own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story.” Put simply, transmedia is telling stories across platforms.

Before going further, it’s important to clarify what is and isn’t transmedia storytelling. Transmedia is not simply “more” – it’s not telling the same stories, or non-canonical stories, in other media forms. For example, when Netflix’s hit The Witcher series started streaming, The Witcher 3 video game (released in 2015) saw an all-time high player count on Steam, and the thirty-year-old book series returned to the New York Times Best-Seller list. The audience plainly wanted more – more Geralt, more Yennefer, more outrageously catchy coin tossing songs. But the Witcher television series, books, and games were not telling discrete parts of a unified story: they were simply exploiting the Witcher IP across platforms, often telling the same stories repeatedly.

Transmedia storytelling endeavors to go further – telling discrete parts of stories on different platforms, causing voracious audiences to track down every part of the story and, ideally, driving audience love for the IP involved. The “three C’s” of successful transmedia storytelling have been described as characters (the importance of story), convenience (getting the right content to the right people at the right time), and community (the importance of connecting and rewarding fans). By blending all three effectively, IP owners get something beyond the ability to exploit their characters on different platforms: they can use that synergy to personalize the story for audience members, driving interest in and engagement with the IP. 

Proponents of transmedia storytelling like Matthew Ball, former Head of Strategy for Amazon Studios, view transmedia in gaming as the “final frontier” of storytelling.  He envisions IP holders telling stories across gaming and traditional television series, allowing audiences to watch Iron Man each week on TV and then join a live event playing alongside Iron Man himself (played by a real-time motion capture hero) – allowing the audience to insert themselves directly into the narrative.

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