It is fair to say that 2017 was a very good year for the Planet of the Apes franchise. Not only did audiences get to see the grand finale of Andy Serkis’ rebooted film trilogy in War for the Planet of the Apes, but gamers were also treated to a tie-in in November with Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier.

Set between the newest movie and its predecessor, the game was a narrative adventure that told a side story with new characters and expanded upon the film’s universe. While it has received a mixed response from critics, it was praised for its storytelling and use of motion capture technology, the latter of which was implemented by the same production team that worked on the films, the Imaginarium.

It is certainly a welcome addition to the genre of narrative games and, despite its flaws, does enough things right that competitors like Telltale Games could stand to take note of it for their future releases. Having said that, the very existence of Last Frontier is a curious matter in and of itself, not least because of the decline of movie tie-in games in recent years. However, the main reason for this is due to the relative lack of Planet of the Apes games in general. To date, the series has only spawned a handful of videogames, almost all of which are based on the original 1968 film with Charlton Heston. Even if one were to include casino games such as Leo Vega’s Planet of the Apes slots, which incidentally has a free spins offer available via Oddschecker, it would be difficult to make a list of games based on this franchise with numbers that reach double digits.


It really is a shame that such a beloved sci-fi franchise as Planet of the Apes is so underrepresented in the gaming industry, since it offers a lot of potential in addition to its wide brand recognition. Even if one were to ignore the originals and focus entirely on the recent reboot trilogy, there are many possibilities for a creative developer to experiment with.

A first-person shooter playing as one of the apes? A strategy war game where players command each of the opposing factions? A management sim centered on building a society of apes or humans that must survive in the series’ post-apocalyptic world? These are all perfectly viable options that could produce some very interesting game concepts.

Of course, this is all conjecture at best – Planet of the Apes is owned by 20^th Century Fox, so it is really their decision at the end of the day whether another game is made at all. On top of that, War for the Planet of the Apes brings a conclusive ending to the trilogy, meaning the future of the franchise is once again unknown. As with all things, only time will tell what the future will bring to this series.