Success of Fallout proves video game adaptations have gone mainstream

In the first few days of its release, Fallout – the Prime Video adaptation of the post-apocalyptic video game franchise – has become a hit with global audiences, shooting to the top of the UK chart and ranking among Prime's top three most-watched titles ever. On Friday, just a week after the show debuted in more than 240 countries and territories, Amazon announced it had renewed it for a second season. "The bar was high for lovers of this iconic video game and so far we seem to have exceeded their expectations, while bringing in millions of new fans to the franchise," the streamer said. The success of the show, which is set 200 years after a nuclear armageddon and stars Ella Purnell, Kyle MacLachlan and Aaron Moten, demonstrates the extent to which video game adaptations have improved in recent years and finally pierced the mainstream. A slew of commercial and critical hits, including last year's HBO series The Last of Us – which won eight Emmys – and The Super Mario Bros Movie – which made 1.36bn ( 1.094bn) in the global box office – has led to market experts comparing them to Marvel adaptations, which have long been big moneymakers for studios.