James Wan’s production company, Atomic Monster, has acquired the rights to adapt Pacific Drive into a television series, Variety reports.
Developed by Ironwood Studios, the game challenges players to survive a surreal exclusion zone with their car as their only lifeline. Released in February, Pacific Drive earned a nomination for Best Debut Indie Game at The Game Awards 2024, won Best Gameplay at the BIG Festival, and was added to the Nebula Awards’ suggested reading list by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.
Wan will serve as executive producer alongside Atomic Monster’s Michael Clear and Rob Hackett, with Jeff Ludwig of The Menagerie Productions also attached. The series does not yet have a network or streaming platform.
Atomic Monster’s growing television slate includes Peacock’s horror-thriller Teacup, the Simu Liu-led espionage drama Copenhagen, and Obsession–an adaptation of Catherine Ryan Howard’s novel 56 Days–for Prime Video. Other projects in development include 1313, a Munsters reboot, a Robocop TV series for Amazon, and Disney+’s live-action Gargoyles.
Pacific Drive is set in the fictional Olympic Exclusion Zone, blending survival mechanics with roguelite gameplay. Players scavenge resources, upgrade their car, and navigate anomalies in a dangerous, unpredictable landscape. The game has drawn comparisons to Stalker and has been praised for its atmospheric tension and immersive depth.
Atomic Monster’s adaptation adds to the growing wave of video-game-to-television projects, following the success of HBO’s The Last of Us and Amazon’s Fallout.
In his review for GameSpot, Mark Delaney praised Pacific Drive for its “intoxicating atmosphere” and called it “a true RPG–a caRPG, if you will,” where overcoming the game’s “unpredictable anomalies” feels like “a joy ride through one hell of a winding road.”
