Playing with the dead: transmedia narratives and the Walking Dead games

This chapter discusses the theory and practice of transmedia narratives within the storyworld created by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard's comics series The Walking Dead. It examines key aspects from the comics series and AMC's adaptive television franchise to consider how both have been utilized and adapted for games. Particular focus will be paid to Telltale Games' The Walking Dead, Gamagio's The Walking Dead Assault and Terminal Reality's The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct. The chapter explains the core concepts of transmedia narratives as they relate to The Walking Dead, places the games in the context of both the comics and television franchise, examines the significance of commercial and grassroot extensions and considers the role gaming and interactive narratives have within rich storyworlds. In examining The Walking Dead as a transmedia property, the authors demonstrate how vast narratives are adopted, modified and transformed in contemporary popular culture.

This chapter was originally published in 2018 in:
Donald, I., & Austin, H. (2018). Playing with the dead: transmedia narratives and The Walking Dead games. In R. Yılmaz, M. N. Erdem, & F. Resuloğlu (Eds.), Handbook of research on transmedia storytelling and narrative strategies (pp. 50-71). (Advances in Media, Entertainment, and the Arts (AMEA)). IGI Global . https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-5357-1.ch004