The upcoming video game “Spine” is already being eyed for film and TV adaptations. Variety learned exclusively that “Spine” developer Nekki has teamed with Story Kitchen to develop potential adaptations of the game.
“We’re pleased to begin our journey with Story Kitchen,” said Nekki CEO Dmitry Terekhin. “We believe that truly great stories always stand out, and ‘Spine’ universe will captivate audiences across any media.”
“Spine” will be released on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox, though an exact release date is still pending. The official description of the game states it is “a female-led cyberpunk Gun Fu story set in a dystopian world. The main character, Redline, is an adventurous street artist battling against an autocratic AI regime -and its goons- to rescue her captive brother.” No writer is currently attached to the project.
Nekki is already planning a media franchise built around the world of the game, including DLC after release, comic books, a board game, and merchandise. Recently, the company published nine episodes of a “Spine” webtoon.
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“When we first learned of this upcoming game from Nekki, we lost our collective minds as Redline could not be more badass!”, said Story Kitchen’s Dmitri Johnson, Mike Goldberg, Timothy I. Stevenson, and Dan Jevons in a joint statement.
Nekki, which is based in Cyprus, is known for games like the “Shadow Fight” fighting game series as well as the parkour runner “Vector,” with over 1 billion registered users globally between their various titles. The company also created the 3D animation program Cascadeur.
Story Kitchen was founded in 2022 by Johnson, a producer of the “Sonic the Hedgehog” films and the founder of dj2 Entertainment, and Goldberg, who was formerly a parter and agent at APA. Jevons serves as head of development with Stevenson as head of production.
Story Kitchen is repped by WME, Pryor Cashman, and TriplePoint PR.