One of the most acclaimed and popular TV shows of the last few decades was breaking Bad on AMC. Its spin-off, Better call Saul, was also very popular and successful. Well, before Saul‘s last episode, the creator of both shows, Vince Gilligan, has confirmed that there have been plans and attempts to make a video game set in the series breaking Bad universe, but it never happened. And he warns those who still want a game not to hold their breath.
As discovered by Comicbook.comGilligan appeared in a recent episode of the In the Gilverse Podcast to talk about the latest episodes of Better call Saul, Breaking Bad’s legacy and future of the franchise and its characters. But at one point in the podcast, Gilligan was asked about the shortage breaking Bad
“I’m not a huge video game player, but how can you not know that Grand Theft Auto?” Gilligan said on the podcast. “I remember saying to the boys -[who are] Don’t let Apple run now… who originally said yes breaking Bad– ‘Who owns Grand Theft Auto? Can’t you have a module, can’t there be one? breaking Bad [add-on]?’ Still makes sense to me!”
It seems Gilligan is suggesting that at some point he or his people got in touch with Rockstar Games to make something based on breaking Bad, although by his own admission he’s not a big player so it’s unclear. Regardless of who he spoke to about making one GTA-how breaking Bad game, it never happened. And this is not the only time that a breaking Bad Game was discussed, planned and then finally put on hold.
“There’s been some attempts at video games,” Gilligan said. “And some of them somehow made it to market. We tried to make a VR experience with the Sony PlayStation VR headset. We made a mobile game that took a while…”
According to Gilligan, a lot of “energy, effort and talent” went into writing new storylines for various games that never happened. And while a mobile game was released, it barely lasted a year before closing in 2020 with little fanfare. Why none of these projects and planned games ever happened seems to come down to one simple fact: Making video games sucks.
“Making a video game is bloody hard, judging from what little I’ve learned through the process,” Gilligan admitted. “It literally takes years and years and millions of dollars, especially when you’re trying to break new ground with VR and stuff like that. Never quite came to fruition. It’s a shame.”
Another possible hurdle is that Gilligan and his team are very particular about securing everything with the breaking Bad Name on it corresponds to their high quality standards. He joked about it during the podcast notoriously bad ET game for the Atari 2600, joked that they didn’t want a game based on the show, which was so bad it got buried in a desert. Instead, every game with breaking Bad Characters and locations in this world would have to be “great” and include all the details.
With all that has been said and with Better call Saul Graduated later this month plus Gilligan saying he has no plans It seems unlikely that the world will revisit the franchise anytime soon breaking Bad game it deserves. In fact, Gilligan has warned those of you who might be waiting for a GTA-Similar game with Walter White that you shouldn’t “hold your breath” at this point if it ever happens.
