Adi Shankar is one of the most prolific creatives in the video game adaptation space – even before it exploded into the trend we now see across cinemas and television.
But despite being pressed by friends – and asked by GamesRadar+ – whether he would be open to adapting Capcom's latest hit Pragmata, it appears he is heading in a different direction.
"The amount of people that texted me [I should adapt Pragmata] was concerning," Shankar jokes. "They were like, 'Oh my god, you've gotta do this next!'"
But Shankar confirmed: "The next two things beyond Devil May Cry are originals."
For those who haven't engaged their thrusters yet, Pragmata is a sci-fi shooter centering around protagonist Hugh and android Diana as they fight against an army of rogue robots on a spaceship. Fans lauded the novel combat system, which sees Hugh and Diana team up to hack enemies, leaving them open for attack.
At once refreshingly new and harkening back to the 360/PS3 era of action games, our own Pragmata review described it as "nostalgia wrapped in a shiny new spacesuit with plenty of cool tricks up its pressurized sleeve." And with plenty of OTT set-pieces and dazzling action, would seemingly be the perfect fit for Shankar. But that's not to be the case, even if he has only good things to say about the title.
"I feel like one of the reasons people are raving about Pragmata is because it's original. It's not a Dead Space reboot or The Last of Us 3," Shankar says. "I'm very pumped about originals. I think there's room for all of it. [But] the success I've had in the past few years has opened up new lanes for me to do things."
So, despite being "very excited that I was part of the hand that pushed the domino", Shankar, who has adapted both Castlevania and Devil May Cry for Netflix, will be looking to achieve something original in the next few years. Sorry, Hugh.
Devil May Cry season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
If you've already binged the whole of Dante's adventures, check out our spoiler-filled breakdown of the Devil May Cry season 2 ending.
