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Myst Is Becoming A TV Series

By - Source: Variety | B 14 comments

Variety reports that Legendary Pictures has signed a deal with Washington-based Cyan Worlds to bring the popular game Myst to the small screen. The deal was made with Legendary's TV and Digital Media division, which has yet to determine if the series will be offered digitally through Netflix or Hulu Plus, or through traditional network TV.

According to the report, creators Rand and Robyn Miller are taking advantage of the TV deal to create a companion game to "expand plot points" on a number of platforms including desktop and mobile. Currently, they're working on Obduction, a real-time, first-person adventure powered by Epic's Unreal Engine 4 that draws on what made Myst and Riven so popular.

Published by Brøderbund, Myst made its debut on CD-ROM back in 1993 for Mac OS and then found its way onto Windows PC, the original PlayStation, the Sega Saturn, Panasonic's 3DO, the Atari Jaguar and more. Myst was a huge hit and remained at the top of the PC gaming chart until The Sims dethroned Myst's position in 2002.

Myst is a first-person adventure game that relies on puzzles and beautifully-rendered backdrops to set the scene. The game has sold more than 15 million copies and was followed by Riven in 1997, Myst III: Exile in 2001, Myst IV: Revelation in 2004, and Myst V: End of Ages in 2005. There are also a number of console and PC remakes as well as a version of Myst for iOS. There are even several novels based on the series.

"Cyan's goal in working with Legendary is not just to create a compelling TV drama but to develop a true transmedia product that will include a companion video game that extends the story across both media," Blake Lewin, the vice president of business development at Cyan, told VentureBeat. "With 70 percent of tablet owners using their device while watching TV, Cyan sees the potential to push the boundaries of interactive storytelling to a new level."

Could Myst become another Lost-style series on TV? In Myst, players assume the role of the Stranger, who uses a book to travel to the island of Myst. There he must interact with the world to find clues and additional books that help tell the backstory and lead the player to other "Ages" (realms). That said, we could so see this TV show appearing on the SyFy channel.

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  • 0 Hide
    TechyInAZ , October 8, 2014 3:58 PM
    No way! I used to play those games when I was a kid. That's funny.

    Hope the TV series is just as good as it's puzzles.
  • 0 Hide
    Ramshot , October 8, 2014 6:04 PM
    Insta hit. I loved that series for PC. Bring it
  • 1 Hide
    usertests , October 8, 2014 6:27 PM
    I'd try to watch it if it featured a reimagining of some of the original music.
  • Add your comment Display all 14 comments.
  • 0 Hide
    FloKid , October 8, 2014 8:28 PM
    I thought, "the series is going to be made in Unreal Engine 4."
  • -2 Hide
    agnickolov , October 8, 2014 10:09 PM
    I'm pretty sure the first Myst did not originally appear on Windows for PC - it appeared on DOS for PC instead.
  • -1 Hide
    gaborbarla , October 9, 2014 2:08 AM
    15 million copies in the nineties for a game? How do you drop a ball like that?
  • 0 Hide
    COLGeek , October 9, 2014 7:43 AM
    While Myst was visually stunning, at that time, it simply won't make it today as a game or a TV show. It is simply too slow for an audience with zero attention span. Flop, at best, regardless of venue.
  • -1 Hide
    Haravikk , October 9, 2014 9:17 AM
    How… why… what? I mean come-on, it's a game that thrives on creating a haunting, lonely atmosphere with puzzles to solve, often through a lot of thought, reading, exploration or just plain frustrating trial and error, how in the hell are you supposed to adapt that to a TV series? My money's on it either being boring, stupid or both.

    They really just want to cash in on the Myst name, probably to make something a bit like Lost. A mysterious steam-punk style series could be great, but if they force it to have the Myst name then it's probably just going to alienate fans and make other people wonder why they should watch it as soon as they find out it was a video game, just seems like a really bad idea.
  • 1 Hide
    wishtar , October 9, 2014 10:12 AM
    Some of you seem to be confused by this. The Myst and Riven games are only a small part of the "Myst Universe'. There are also three novels that tell of the D'ni society who are masters of 'The Art'. There's plenty of material for a TV series. There were plans for a movie a number of years ago but it never happened.
  • 0 Hide
    darkbreeze , October 9, 2014 10:14 AM
    I disagree. Not everybody want to watch tv or movies that are ALWAYS about shooting, killing, hacking or dead things that walk around. Those things are all ok in the proper context and amount, but I think there is plenty of room for something off the path a bit. Consider as well that "based on" rarely means "same as" or even "alike". It's likely they would add a higher level of interaction with other individuals and possibly some action to invigorate the plot. It could work. Maybe not for everybody, but I don't know of anything other than air that everybody can agree on being a good thing. There's probably even some folks that would say something against air too, yes, the kind you breathe.
  • 1 Hide
    gmarsack , October 9, 2014 1:01 PM
    Awesome to hear this. Myst was a ton of fun back in the day.
    If it makes it to the SyFy channel it'll get cancelled after a season or two despite the ratings or SyFy will put it on a terrible time slot and then cancel it. I hate you SyFy....
  • 1 Hide
    darkbreeze , October 9, 2014 1:10 PM
    I hate Sci-Fi channel too. They have some good shows, occasionally, but as you say even when they do they always cancel them but continue running the really cheap stupid shows. Netflix would be the better option as they have been producing some decent original content lately. Just look what Sci-Fi did with Riverworld. Great idea, that somebody else would have probably done well, but they did it EXTREMELY poorly and then cancelled it after the pilot for lack of positive feedback. What did they expect. You can't spend ten bucks and get a fifty dollar product. Hopefully, they aren't involved in MYST so it can be successful, or at least have a shot at it.
  • 0 Hide
    cryoburner , October 10, 2014 12:25 AM
    This has the potential to be cool. One possibility is that they'll tell the story of when Atrus was younger, and was first introduced to writing linking books. They won't have to worry so much about recognizable characters being portrayed by different actors than in the games, since they'll be decades younger, but they can still tie in to scenarios and locations that will be familiar to those who have played them.

    Let's just hope they put production values into it that can live up to what people expect from the series.
  • 0 Hide
    Bipity Bop , October 10, 2014 2:37 AM
    My guess is it will be short story arcs with a larger overall conflict. Probably similar to Doctor Who and Warehouse 13.
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