A former PlayStation narrative director is petitioning the creators of the Until Dawn movie to credit the game’s writers in the film.
As spotted by Eurogamer, Kim MacAskill’s petition is “calling upon Sony, a leader in the gaming world, to set a precedent for change by revising the Until Dawn credits” by “asking for them to revise their approach to IP crediting, particularly in transmedia adaptations.”
“I’ve just left Until Dawn where the film director, writers, etc, were all credited, but instead of [Sony] mentioning the leading game dev(s) who created this ICONIC game you’re clearly proud of, [Sony] just wrapped it as ‘based on the Sony game’,” MacAskill wrote.
“They spent years breaking their brains to make something incredible, and the world DESERVES to know their names… instead… No credit. No thanks. No honor.”
MacAskill went into more detail on a LinkedIn post, asking what the difference was between HBO’s adaptation of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us — which credits both the studio itself and Neil Druckmann as both writer and director — and the Until Dawn movie.
The director said Sony execs “firmly told” her that “the IP I personally created would NEVER be credited to me as I was salaried (no royalties, no control, no ownership, no acknowledgement)”, addressing Sony directly with: “I am struggling with the difference between Neil Druckmann’s favor and that of others in your company.”
The creative director said that when she enquired about the rights to the intellectual property she created while working for Sony, a company rep told her the megacorp “understood” her position but “this is not something that [Sony] can do,” and that it was “nothing personal” — “this is not specifically for you, but this is completely firm-wide.”
“All I wanted was to be credited and to potentially have enough ownership for adaptation,” she added.
“I am asking for [Sony] to revise their approach to IP crediting, particularly in transmedia adaptations,” the director wrote on the petition. “Providing an executive producer credit or acknowledgment equivalent would honor those creators whose visions and passion have given birth to these incredible stories and design, proving transformational in the entertainment landscape.
“Let’s advocate not only for the Until Dawn creators but for the integrity of the industry. By ensuring that creative voices are properly recognized, we can continue to inspire future generations of creators who dare to dream beyond current constraints. Sign this petition to urge Sony… and stand with all game creators… demanding well-deserved recognition in transmedia narratives.”
In related news, we reported earlier today that it appears one of the PlayStation Plus games for May 2025 will be Until Dawn Remastered. It could be a means of promoting the new Until Dawn movie, which released just ahead of the weekend. It didn’t particularly impress us; we awarded it 5/10, writing in IGN’s Until Dawn movie review: “Until Dawn is more disappointing than deadly, leaving all the promise of the horror game behind for a jumble of horror-movie re-creations.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
