The timeline for a profitable online game franchise normally goes like this: The sport comes out and shortly turns into widespread amongst gamers. Avid followers begin creating content material impressed by the sport and their favourite characters, serving to convey that IP into popular culture. There may be a film or TV adaptation. And as extra persons are launched to the sport’s world, extra followers are created, resulting in extra demand for by-product content material. Et cetera, et cetera.
However the leaders at Liithos, a multimedia gaming studio led by former PlayStation executives, are about to do issues a bit of otherwise with their first studio IP, Ashfall, which is about in a post-apocalyptic Pacific Northwest ravaged by local weather change, civilian preventing and mutations attributable to a darkish vitality. The collection follows Ash Naranjo, a personality who was born with out arms and is given cyborg-like implants to assist him save his household and homeland.
As a substitute of ready for the Ashfall comedian guide collection or online game to be launched first, the studio is hoping to drum up curiosity and construct an early fan base by utilizing the skills of Michael Le, a TikTok star often called @justmaiko who has greater than 52 million followers.
Starting Jan. 29, Le will star in a five-episode collection — launched every Sunday on his TikTok account — that can see the creator getting into the Ashfall universe cosplaying as its predominant character for a storyline that includes Le saving his youthful brother Jonathan. The collection may also function Slider Jesus, one other digital creator recognized for his elaborate zombie and monster costumes, as the principle villain.
“Folks sometimes make movies primarily based off of issues that [the audience] already know or like. For me, I really like making animated movies, so I do stuff with Naruto characters or issues that folks already perceive,” Le advised The Hollywood Reporter. “That is type of utilizing that very same idea however creating our personal IP, and I feel that’s one thing nobody’s ever actually finished, particularly for a sport firm on the scale of this one. It’s actually cool to have the ability to simply be part of one thing like this.”
Michael Le in costume filming the TikTok collection impressed by ‘Ashfall’
Michael Mumbauer
Le filmed the TikTok collection at Willow Studios in downtown L.A. and introduced on his VFX crew to offer continuity along with his different effects-heavy movies. After every episode premieres, Liithos may also launch a set of 5 NFTs impressed by every of the episodes and within the model of a comic book guide cowl from Marvel and DC artists like Coran Stone (Batman: The Darkish Knight Returns, Half 1), Fico Ossio (No One Left to Struggle, Spider-Man), John Cassaday (Planetary, Astonishing X-Males), Dave Wilkins (Masters of the Universe: Revelation #3, Star Wars – Darth Vader and the Ghost Jail), Karl Kerschl (Adventures of Superman, Majestic) and Tom Raney (Annihilation: Conquest, Final X-Males).
The digital collectibles will likely be accessible at no cost, apart from a processing payment, on CoinZoom for per week after every episode launch, and the collectibles provide holders an early preview to the Ashfall comedian collection, which is about to launch in March and is created by Days Gone author and Liithos vp John Garvin. Viewers who’ve collected all 5 may also be given entry to a sixth digital collectible.
Michael Mumbauer, the CEO and founding father of Liithos who co-developed The Final of Us and Uncharted as a studio govt at PlayStation, mentioned he views the Ashfall rollout as a “fascinating experiment” given the seemingly reversed timeline and the challenges of introducing a brand new world in a brief format for TikTok. Although the online game continues to be “a number of years away” from an official launch, Mumbauer mentioned he hopes the TikTok collection will provide one thing uncommon to assist captivate followers and reward them for coming into the Ashfall universe early.
“I don’t suppose there’s a extra charismatic individual on TikTok than Michael, to be sincere. And never simply from his means to bop and inform tales, however, actually, it’s simply unbelievable to see his pure appearing means,” Mumbauer mentioned. “The brand new Hollywood is TikTok, and Michael is in that wave.”
