The Walking Dead IP has emerged as an entertainment powerhouse, with its video game adaptations generating more than $1 billion in consumer revenue across various platforms and genres.
Created as a comic by Robert Kirkman in 2003, The Walking Dead quickly grew into a multi-platform phenomenon. In 2010, Kirkman co-founded Skybound Entertainment with David Alpert to expand his intellectual properties across different media. The first TV episode of the series, titled Days Gone Bye, aired on October 31, 2010, setting the stage for a franchise that would dominate television, movies, and gaming alike.
The franchise’s journey into gaming began in 2012 with Telltale Games‘ critically acclaimed episodic adventure, The Walking Dead: Season One, setting a new standard for interactive drama and captivating a global audience. As the series progressed with subsequent seasons and additional content such as 400 Days and Michonne, players were deeply invested in Clementine’s fate.
Success with these episodic games led to more ambitious projects, including visually immersive VR experiences like The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners and Onslaught, as well as mobile expansion with The Walking Dead: Road to Survival and The Walking Dead: Survivors.
Mobile gaming has been especially lucrative for the franchise. According to Owl & Co.’s reports (via GameBeat), The Walking Dead: Road to Survival, developed by Scopely, has amassed over 100 million downloads and generated more than $500 million in revenue. Similarly, The Walking Dead: Survivals, developed by Galaxy Play Technology, matched with another $100 million in earnings. The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, a VR survival horror title generated $100 million in revenue.
The narrative-driven games have also found significant success. The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series has sold an impressive 80 million episodes, bringing in over $300 million in revenue. Interestingly, when Telltale Games faced closure in 2018, Skybound Entertainment took over control of the development and publishing of the remaining episodes of The Walking Dead: The Final Season to ensure its completion. They released The Telltale Definitive Series in September 2019, which includes all four seasons, the 400 Days DLC, and The Walking Dead: Michonne.
In an interview with GamesBeat, David Alpert emphasized the franchise’s unique approach to gaming adaptations. Rather than simply recycling the same stories, each game exists within The Walking Dead universe while offering fresh perspectives and experiences. This strategy has allowed different games to succeed in their respective categories, from VR experiences to mobile games and narrative adventures.
As Alpert pointed out, “It’s a top three entertainment franchise globally, and the games have played a huge role in keeping it relevant.” Skybound is committed to further expanding the franchise’s gaming universe, with future projects already in the works. Alpert teased, “We’re exploring new ways to tell stories in the gaming space. We don’t want to just repeat what’s been done before—we want to push boundaries.”
The success of The Walking Dead’s video games is part of a larger entertainment ecosystem. As reported by Owl & Co., the franchise continues to attract massive viewership, with 1.3 billion viewing hours on Netflix and 330 episodes across seven TV series.
