5 Free-to-Play Games We'd Like To See Made Into Movies

A Tetris movie was just green-lighted. No, seriously. Tetris. A movie.

Now, just because a few contracts have been signed and hands shaken doesn't mean we'll be seeing falling Z-blocks in theaters next holiday season, or ever, but it got us wondering... what free-to-play games would make for great movies, or at least entertaining, so-bad-they're-good movies?

For the most part, I'll avoid games that already have a robust storyline, like most RPGs, or games based on existing properties, like Hearthstone or The Old Republic. (That said... I sorta wish they'd gone with an Old Republic trilogy instead of Episodes VII-IX.) Instead, let's see what games with minimal to no storylines could be made into full-length blockbusters:

Team Fortress 2

Valve could probably already put together close to two hours of footage of the loveable TF2 scamps in action, but until summer's Expiration Date short, we hadn't seen them in anything resembling a coherent story. And now, we want more.

Unlike most things on this list, this is one that could actually break into the mainstream, with a theatrical release, commercials, mass-market toy line, and so on. I don't think it would do business on par with a Disney or Pixar film, and you might debate whether if would be a good thing if TF2 went too mainstream, but come on... you'd love to see RED vs. BLU on the big screen, right?

PlanetSide 2

The Forgelight engine is nice, but SOE's also capable of doing slick trailers for their games. So why not take the battle for Auraxis to the next level?

PlanetSide 2 is all about three factions fighting each other, but it stands to reason that a movie would have to have one primary character from all three, and you probably wouldn't want them trying to kill each other throughout the film. How about this: A new and plentiful auraxium mine is found. Naturally, all three factions send their forces to seize it. After an FX-heavy, three-way firefight, our three protagonists are trapped together – cave-in, maybe? – and decide to bury the hatchet long enough to find a way out.

Once they're out, they each find they have a problem. The TR has taken the mine, and the NC hero killed a TR soldier, who happens to be the brother of the TR commander in charge of the facility, who wants her dead at all costs. The TR hero, an upright and dependable sort, is fine with fighting the NC but won't condone cold-blooded murder, which puts him at odds with his commander. And the VS soldier – an infiltrator, naturally – discovers Some Terrible Secret(TM) about the facility – something involving way-too-powerful alien tech, perhaps – and sees it as his mission to destroy it, even if it goes against the orders of VS leadership. Naturally, he'll need help, and the closest he has to allies in TR-held territory are... yep, the other two.

They'd have to write around the whole nanite regeneration issue, to give some punch to the concept of death – maybe the thing the VS soldier discovers interferes with the resurrection technology – but it seems like a reasonably solid concept.

Warframe

If you're more in the mood for a “solo hero” type of flick, Warframe might be suitable, despite its focus on multi-player action. And it would probably be a primarily action-heavy flick – I mean, you're a freaking space ninja, and that doesn't exactly scream “Shakespearean tragedy.”

As the tenno are awakened from cybersleep to fight a war, the movie would mostly be a hacking/slashing-fest, with just enough story to tie the parts together and give our hero a reason to move from one band of enemies to the next. They could draw from the various mission types to at least mix up the objectives a bit, and maybe our hero would find himself working alongside the Grineer or Corpus, as per an infestation/invasion mission.

It wouldn't win any Oscars, but a Warframe movie could be a super enjoyable action movie, filled to the brim with ludicrous moves and crazy-bloody dismemberments. Hey, I'd watch that.

Path of Exile

Granted, there's a decent story in PoE, though it tends to be overshadowed by the ARPG's excellent gameplay. It's grim, brooding, and decidedly mature, and it would make for a perfectly watch-it-in-the-dark film adaptation. I'll admit to not being too familiar with the lore, but PoE fans, see how this strikes you:

I'd base the game around the concept of leagues. A number of exiles – all with unusual powers, naturally – are dumped on Wraeclast and forced to survive against the land's dangers... as well as each other. There's a time limit, of course, as there would be in any league; maybe an unfightable enemy swallows up the land behind them as they go, a la Lost's black smoke. In a way, it would be like an adult-themed Hunger Games, with the winner receiving fame and glory – and probably the promise of a way off the island, which is snatched away at the last moment.

Does our lone survivor escape? Does he smite down the great powers that oppose him and claim his rightful prize? Or is he thrust back to the beginning, forced to repeat the agonizing process all over again? You'll have to watch to find out.

ArcheAge

It doesn't matter what the movie is about. But you have to wait in line for six hours to get in.