ARC Raiders and THE FINALS Are Being Developed for Film and TV
Chernin Entertainment has signed a deal with Nexon to develop film and television adaptations of ARC Raiders and THE FINALS. GamesBeat The agreement covers both properties for both formats. It was reported on October 5, 2026.
Embark Studios, the publisher of ARC Raiders and THE FINALS, will be involved in the adaptations. Engadget
ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure set on a future Earth damaged by a mechanized threat known as ARC. THE FINALS is a free-to-play game built around team combat in virtual arenas that can be altered, exploited and destroyed. Embark Studios No release dates for the films or shows were announced at the time of reporting. The Verge
Interest from screen producers started earlier. By early January, Embark had already received movie and TV show offers for ARC Raiders. IGN At the time, the head of the studio said the game "fits quite well" for a game-to-TV adaptation.
When it comes to adaptation, the challenge is translation, not copying gameplay directly. In ARC Raiders, tension comes from inventory risk, meaning what you carry you can lose, and from choices about when to stay in a dangerous zone or leave with what you found. In THE FINALS, tension comes from round economy, or how teams spend limited resources each round, plus set team roles and destruction used as a tactic. A show cannot let viewers play those loops. It has to replace controller-in-hand pressure with character stakes that still feel like the same systems.
In my view, putting the two titles in one deal makes practical sense for development. ARC Raiders offers continuing story material. A depopulated future Earth and a machine enemy give writers a location, scarcity, and an antagonist that can support a long series. THE FINALS offers a repeatable format. Teams, competitive seasons, and breakable arenas provide a clear setup for episodes built around preparation, match play, and a broadcast-style presentation. Each game supplies what the other lacks as source material.
The broader context here is how carefully the production pipeline is managed. Having the original studio involved from the start should help keep story canon, visual style, and game logic consistent as scripts move away from gameplay. It does not fix pacing. Play is elastic and driven by the player. Screen time is fixed and driven by writers. The teams will need to decide what to compress, what to show through dialogue and set design, and what to invent.
From watching my own children move between a game and its adaptation, they do not expect the same experience from both. They look for familiar tone and rules they recognize, not replayed missions. That distinction matters here. If these films and shows make the logic of extraction and the spectacle of collapsing arenas clear even to non-players, they will have handled the central task of adaptation. The deal sets the intention. Production will test it.
