Fallout and the secret of the perfect video game adaptation

The second season of Fallout - Prime Video's mega-hit based on the popular video game series - has landed.

Set in a post-apocalyptic future where Earth has been ravaged by nuclear war, the first series was a commercial and critical hit, impressing long-time fans and viewers who'd never played before.

Its surprising success had a huge impact on Bethesda Softworks, the developer of its source material, bringing back lapsed players and creating new ones along the way.

Key creatives from the company have told BBC Newsbeat about working with the show's producers, and what the success of the programme means for the future of the games.

The first season of Fallout arrived at a turning point for Hollywood video game adaptations.

Often far-removed from their source material, and often just a bit rubbish, they'd gained a reputation as low-quality cash grabs.

Then The Last of Us came along.

The 2023 adaptation of the PlayStation blockbuster, released ten years earlier, was a smash hit.

It impressed fans of the games, as well as winning over critics and viewers who'd never picked up a controller.

But there were those who argued the show's creators were running on easy mode.

Because the post-apocalyptic story of bounty hunter Joel and his adoptive daughter Ellie drew heavy influences from prestige TV shows, there was an obvious road map for bringing it to the screen.

The drama's story closely followed the game's, with a few deviations, and fans pointed out shot-for-shot comparisons where sequences were almost identical to their pixelated inspiration.

While The Last of Us was wowing audiences, the producers of Fallout were putting the finishing touches to the first season of their adaptation, one which took a different approach to its source material.