Movie tie-in (video game)

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A movie tie-in in video gaming is an authorized product tie-in based on a released film.

Game tie-ins are expensive for a game developer to license, and the game designers have to work within constraints imposed by the film studio, under pressure to finish the game in time for the film's release.^[1] The aim for the publishers is to increase hype and revenue as the two industries effectively market one another's releases.^[2]

Movie license video games have a reputation for being poor quality.^[3] For example, Amiga Power awarding Psygnosis's three movie licenses (Dracula, Cliffhanger and Last Action Hero, all reviewed in June 1994) 36% in total; that magazine being cynical towards licensed games in general, with The Blues Brothers being one of few exceptions. One of the first movie tie-in games, Atari's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) was deemed so bad, it was blamed for causing a game industry crash.^[4] Such poor quality is often due to game developers forced to rush the product in order to meet the movie's release date.^[4]