Tie-in games have become obsolete, but the Russo Brothers, directors of Avengers: Endgame, want to revive them with The Electric State: Kid Cosmo.
The game is said to be a canon prequel to the events of their upcoming Netflix film The Electric State, and it should offer some relevant backstory for anyone excited about the movie.
The Electric State: Kid Cosmo
While Kid Cosmo looks to be one of the characters in the movie, it seems like he was originally a mascot for a low-bit handheld video game—the very same game you’ll get to play.
The official description reads:
“Kid Cosmo needs your help! Blast through an '80s-inspired puzzle adventure game-within-a-game alongside boy wonder Chris and his big sister Michelle.”
While the actual game includes some retro game elements, it also has a narrative element that follows the story of Chris (Woody Norman) and Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown) years before the movie's events.
Talking to Variety, Anthony Russo describes the story:
“It does expand upon the relationship that the lead characters have in the movie, Michelle and her brother Chris. So it does get into a part of their relationship that we don’t follow in the film, that kind of predates the film, but also post-dates the film as well. And the game is able to explore the relationship in more depth.
“We certainly explore the relationship very thoroughly in the movie, but there’s just a limit in a two-hour medium to how much ground you can cover, in terms of story. So the game does hold something very special in terms of like, who these people are, what their relationship is to one another, and how it evolves and grows over time. And I think people will find it very relatable. It’s a wonderful, complicated brother-sister relationship in everything that that entails.”
Could Kid Cosmos Set the Standard for an Avengers MCU Game?
Kid Cosmos is untested territory for the Russo Brothers’ company, AGBO, but the duo plans to expand into games with their narrative projects moving forward.
With the Russos currently working on Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, though, they have confirmed that they are very open to developing a game that comes with those films, but for now, it doesn’t seem like they have any solid plans.
With Doomsday set to release next year, any game with a narrative connection to the movie may be a cookie-cutter puzzle game or a simple visual novel, like a Japanese dating sim.
Why They Don’t Make Tie-In Games Anymore
Though tie-in games were common in the early days of gaming, modern standards have made them too expensive and risky to produce in the 2020s. At best, video game tie-ins for properties are just reskins of puzzle games or any genre that a small team can put together.
Sure, LOTR: Return of the King was a big hit for gamers in the 2000s, but they can’t expect the same kind of game to come out nowadays. Dune tried to make a tie-in game with Dune: Awakening, but the work behind the game was so expansive that they missed their deadlines, and both Dune movies had already been released even though their original plan was to have Awakening come out between the films.
Going back to Kid Cosmo, though, it looks like the Russos are taking a swing at this game, and maybe it will pay off when it comes out later this month.
The Electric State: Kid Cosmo launches on March 18 on iOS and Android via Netflix. The Electric State movie premieres on March 14.