Lionsgate Entertainment, the movie maker behind the blockbuster film franchise The Hunger Games and critically acclaimed TV series such as Orange is the New Black and Mad Men, has just made a “significant” investment in video game studio Telltale Games.

Telltale CEO Kevin Bruner told Entertainment Weekly that the game developer would be working with Lionsgate to create new “Super Show” games that would combine Telltale’s unique brand of interactive storytelling with aspects of a scripted television series.

“Telltale has spent the last 10 years working with Hollywood biggest licenses, so it was inevitable that we’d cross paths with a giant like Lionsgate,” Bruner said of the new partnership. “We quickly found out that we share many similar ideas about the future of scripted entertainment. Lionsgate has already made bold moves with shows like Orange Is the new Black, which aren’t just distributed via emerging digital channels, but are actually written, designed and produced to leverage that environment.”

He added, “Successfully bringing a Super Show to market requires more than just game development and television acumen. It needs an entire integrated development, production and publishing strategy. We felt Telltale and Lionsgate are both best in class at what we do and we’re eager to combine our efforts and compliment our skills.”

“It’s an amazing time to tell stories in this new frontier”

Bruner says that the first Super Show game will be a new IP, but the partnership with Lionsgate opens up the possibility for the game developer to use hundreds of different franchises in the future. Many of the developer’s games release episodically, telling a story over the course of several games. This includes its games set in The Walking Dead series, and more recently in Game of Thrones.

Telltale’s games share more in common with “choose your own adventure” stories than with many other modern video game formats, focusing on interaction between the player and the story.

“Imagine your favorite author or movie director writing a book or making a movie just for you,” Bruner told EW. “That’s ultimately how we’re using new technologies to empower storytellers, just like sound did for film or cable networks did for television. In the right hands, interactivity is as significant as any of those tools. It’s an amazing time to tell stories in this new frontier.”

Image credit: Telltale Games (c)