Tons of popular movies have video game adaptations, but these 10 video game spinoffs are actually canon to their respective film franchises. When a movie is adapted into the medium of video games, the game typically either has the player play through the events of the film, or they will play through an original non-canon storyline, with it having no influence on the movie itself. However, these 10 video games managed to continue the stories of the source material, with each of them being canon to the original movies in small and big ways.
Video games based on movies have been around for decades now, with the immensely popular trend starting with 1982’s Raiders of the Lost Ark video game on the Atari 2600. Studios quickly realized that movie tie-in games were a great way to promote the film while making some extra cash, with the number of games based on movies growing at a rapid pace. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, this trend grew to be especially prominent, with nearly every major movie having some kind of tie-in game. However, this has since slowed down due to the increasing costs of game development.
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10 Enter The Matrix
Ties Into The Matrix Resurrections
Possibly the most famous video game based on a movie that is canon to the franchise is Enter the Matrix, with the game having some major effects on the franchise. Released after the original trilogy, Enter the Matrix made the shocking move to kill off Morpheus, something that remained canon when the franchise came back years later with The Matrix Resurrections. According to the lore of The Matrix franchise, Enter the Matrix is just as important as any of the mainline The Matrix movies, with it being necessary for understanding the franchise’s overarching story.
9 Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora
Co-Exists With The Avatar Movies
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a 2023 video game based on the beloved movie franchise, and the events of the game are actually canon to the Avatar movie series. Franchise creator James Cameron confirmed that Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is canon to the movies at the June 2023 Ubisoft Forward event, with the game co-existing with the lore of the movies. The game focuses on the conflict between the Na’vi and the RDA, with it exploring some more battles and events that haven’t been seen in the movies yet.
8 Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Acts As A Sequel To Ghostbusters II
Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a 2009 game based on the franchise, with it being the last time the four original Ghostbusters actors worked together. Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a sequel to Ghostbusters II, with many considering it to be a video game version of Ghostbusters III, as it continuing many of the franchise’s storylines. Dan Akyroyd has considered Ghostbusters: The Video Game canon for a long time, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife‘s use of Ivo Shandor further cemented the game’s canon status in the Ghostbusters franchise.
7 Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018)
Exists In The Spider-Verse
The PlayStation 4 game Marvel’s Spider-Man and its sequels take place in their own universe, but they are also canon to every Spider-Man movie. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse made the video game canon by having Insomniac’s Spider-Man appear in the Spider Society, with him appearing alongside nearly every other iteration of Spider-Man. The film confirms that Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, The Amazing Spider-Man series, and the MCU’s Spider-Man movies all take place in a shared multiverse, and the PlayStation games exist alongside them.
6 The Thing
Takes The Mystery Out Of The Movie’s Ending
The 2002 The Thing video game is a licensed tie-in to John Carpenter’s beloved horror sci-fi film, but it is also canon to the original film. The game follows a group of U.S. soldiers who arrive in Antarctica shortly after the events of the film, with them investigating the aftermath of the Thing’s attacks on both Arctic bases. John Carpenter has endorsed the game as canon, with it following up on the stories of each original character and even revealing the truth about The Thing‘s ambiguous ending.
5 Saw: The Video Game
Saw’s Creators Contributed To The Game
Saw: The Video Game is a horror game based on the immensely popular horror franchise, and it is also canon to the movie series. The game takes place after the events of the first film, with multiple characters from the original movie appearing throughout. James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the creators of the Saw franchise, helped work on the game’s story and have confirmed its canon status. This makes Saw: The Video Game even more exciting, as it is needed to paint the full Saw story.
4 Mad Max
Introduced Furiosa’s Main Villain
The 2015 Mad Max video game was a fun extension of the franchise, with it building off of Mad Max: Fury Road‘s popularity, but it also happens to be canon to the movies. The upcoming prequel movie Furiosa will confirm this, with Furiosa‘s villain Dementus (played by Chris Hemsworth) being first mentioned in the Mad Max video game, with the movie building off of this setup. Furiosa is sure to have even more tie-ins to the Mad Max game, further cementing its status as canon.
3 The Lord Of The Rings Online
Expands The World Of Middle-Earth
Tons of video games based on The Lord of the Rings franchise have been made throughout the years, and while the canon status of some is questionable, The Lord of the Rings Online undeniably counts as part of the story of Tolkien’s beloved fantasy franchise. The Lord of the Rings Online expanded beyond what the films could show, telling further stories throughout the timeline of Middle-Earth in a way that doesn’t contradict Tolkien’s other works.
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2 Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Part Of The Star Wars Timeline
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a recent and immensely popular game based on the Star Wars franchise, and it too is canon to the movies. Although only a few characters cross over between the games and the movies, Lucasfilm and Disney now consider every Star Wars release to be canon to the franchise timeline, meaning that these characters and stories are happening somewhere. Many fans hope to one day see Cal Kestis in live-action one day, further cementing the effect that the game has had on the franchise.
1 Kingdom Hearts 3
One of the weirdest games that is canon to a movie franchise is Kingdom Hearts 3, the third mainline entry in the franchise that follows Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they explore various Disney worlds. While most of these Disney worlds tell the story of the original films, Kingdom Hearts 3‘s Toy Story world is different, with it being canon to the Toy Story timeline. While Toy Story 5 probably won’t have Woody talking about his time fighting the Heartless, the Toy Story world is meant to take place before Toy Story 3 in the canon timeline of the movies.
