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On March 11, famed showrunner Ronald D. Moore (or simply Ron Moore; whichever makes you happy, Google) appeared on the Katee Sackhoff-hosted Sackhoff Show Podcast to discuss a variety of his past work. During the course of the conversation, however, Moore did briefly touch on his next project, Amazon's Prime Video adaptation of the God of War games. And though the chat did produce one exciting piece of news (namely, that Prime Video has already greenlit 2 seasons of the show!), the interview is drawing ire from a confession that Moore made at one point.

Apparently, the showrunner of the upcoming God of War series has only dabbled in the game, calling himself "not a gamer" and admitting to never having finished it.

Despite the fact that Moore has been at the helm of some of the most-watched TV in the modern era (Outlander and Battlestar Galactica come to mind), this revelation has got certain fans of the franchise nervous that Moore's lack of paying the game will lead to a disastrous adaptation. But with all the humility in the world (and a great deal of understanding - we love our favorite franchises too), we'd like to offer you this positive assertion: Ron Moore doesn't need to have played the God of War games to make a great God of War series.

Let us explain.

It may surprise you to learn that, in one notable case, a creative that took gameplay into account too much may have just ended up hurting the movie they were tasked with making. In 2010, director Mike Newell spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about his then-upcoming flick, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Though he admitted to being "hopeless" at playing the games the movie was based on, Newell proved he understood the gameplay appeal. 

"It’s a very athletic game," Newell told the interviewer, "that depends on the hero evading all sorts of traps like Indiana Jones." 

Right he was, but that understanding didn't produce positive results. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was ranked as Entertainment Weekly's 9th worst video game adaptation ever made, and currently sits at a 37% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

In contrast, look at recent smash-hit video game adaptations such as The Last of Us and Fallout. Pedro Pascal, who was widely praised for bringing the character of Joel to life, told IGN in 2023 that series Craig Mazin forbid him from playing the game before shooting the series and that, even though he tried it, he was just like Moore in his inability to complete the game. Meanwhile, in the Wastelands, Fallout star Walton Goggins told TotalFilm that he "never played the game."

Completing every level at 100% in a video game is not necessary to adapt that game to film. So what is necessary? Well, we're not exactly filmmakers over here at Popverse, so far be it from us to say. However, we'd venture a guess that it all comes down to the faithful worldbuilding that transports players into their favorite games, and the ability of the storytellers to find the human stories within those worlds. Outlander and Battlestar Galactica have proven, over and over again, that Moore has those capabilities, which is why we're approaching his take on God of War with hope.

Then again, maybe the issue really is just making sure Pedro Pascal and/or Walton Goggins are in your adaptations' starring roles. And if you show me a person who says they can't see those two as Kratos and Baldur, respectively, then I'll show you a liar.

Prime Video's God of War is without a release date as of this writing.

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