Ubisoft has canceled their TV adaptation of Driver. Driver is a video game series that released its first installment in 1999 with Driver. Since then, the action-adventure driving game has released multiple installments, most recently with Driver: Renegade 3D back in 2011. In the intermittent years, video game company Ubisoft previously announced a TV adaptation of Driver back in 2021.

Three years after it was announced, Game File reported the cancelation of the Driver TV series. This information comes from Ubisoft’s annual report, which was a 356-page digest that included updates on everything from the company’s policy on generative AI to how the group is experimenting with more sustainable cardboard packaging. In less exciting news, however, the report revealed that Ubisoft had called off their live-action TV adaptation of Driver.

The Driver Show’s Cancelation Timing Seems Unusual

Video Game Adaptations Are Popular Right Now

While the specific reasons for the Driver cancelation were not detailed, there could be numerous factors leading to the show’s scrapping. For one, Ubisoft may fear that interest in the video game has dwindled over time. While the action driving game remains a favorite franchise for the producer, the lack of new Driver projects in the last decade may mean that the viable fan base for a TV show has dwindled. Additionally, Ubisoft has announced the development of more Driver games, and they might want to focus their attention on those developments rather than a TV adaptation.

Still, the current state of video game adaptations makes it such that the cancelation of Driver is surprising. Video game adaptations have been increasing in popularity over recent years, with several high-profile TV adaptations, including The Last of Us and Fallout. Even in the film landscape, movies like The Super Mario Bros. movie have been huge successes. These adaptations have done well for their streamers, with an increasing interest in adapting games into TV shows and films. This trend would seemingly lead more companies to have an interest in adapting games, making the timing of the Driver cancelation surprising.

Ubisoft also has a Film & Television branch, meaning that they have the infrastructure in place already to support such projects. This leads to even more confusion as to why the Driver adaptation may have been canceled at this time, because one would think that Ubisoft as a company has what it needs to make an adaptation of Driver. The flip side of the plethora of video game adaptations, however, is that Driver would have high expectations to live up to. Perhaps Ubisoft did not want to invest time or money, at this point, to meet this high standard.

Source: Game File