Space Nation: Roland Emmerich launches franchise with video game, TV series, animated shorts

Roland Emmerich has launched a couple franchises with movies he has directed – Universal Soldier and Stargate – but he didn’t have anything to do with the stories that followed. He contributed to the Godzilla franchise, but his contribution wasn’t well received. And when he tried to make a “decades later” sequel to his film Independence Day, that didn’t go very well either. His movie Moonfall was supposed to kick off a trilogy, but it bombed instead. Now he’s masterminding a project that’s being called a franchise from the moment it’s announced. It’s called Space Nation, and it’s going to start out with an online video game, which will be followed by a TV series and animated shorts.

Described as a “space opera”, the Space Nation franchise is coming our way from Emmerich; Jerome Wu, who worked on World of Warcraft; Tony Tang, who worked on Warframe; and Marco Weber, producer of Emmerich’s 1999 film The Thirteenth Floor. Deadline reports that the video game will be a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), where players assume the roles of ship captains, embarking on an epic journey to unravel the mysteries of the Telikos Cluster and immerse themselves in the unfolding grand space opera. The game is set in a universe inhabited by alien species and driven by three main factions with distinct ideologies and goals.

There will be an alpha test for the game in August, then its commercial launch is expected to happen sometime in the second quarter of 2024. Then the franchise will expand with the TV series, animated shorts, and eventually spin-off games.

The Space Nation franchise endeavor is being funded with $50 million that was raised through contributions from Chain Hill Capital, Foresight Ventures, Lighthouse Capital, SevenX Ventures, HashKey Capital, Arcane Group, Initiate Capital, JDAC Capital, Assembly Partners, and Cristian Manea. More funds will be raised later this year.

Emmerich provided the following statement: “Hollywood’s increasing interest in video games reflects a wider recognition of gaming’s popularity and storytelling potential. The expansive universe we’re building in Space Nation is a tremendous opportunity to captivate audiences wherever they consume entertainment with innovative new forms of storytelling.“

Wu added: “The landscape of entertainment is evolving rapidly, and we see an incredible opportunity to redefine its boundaries. With our collaborative efforts, we aim to transform the way content is consumed, shared, and experienced.“

I can’t say Space Nation sounds very interesting to me right now, but maybe I’ll be impressed as we hear and see more about it.

Does the Space Nation franchise sound interesting to you? Let us know by leaving a comment below.