Summary
Secret Levelis one of the last video game adaptations to be released this year. It brings to the screen not just one game but over 15 different stories, but its release schedule is not the most typical.
Coming from the creators ofLove, Death + Robots,Secret Levelis a new anthology series consisting of short animated stories based on the worlds of popular video game IP. Secret Level has a voice cast stacked with A-listers including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Keanu Reeves, Kevin Hart, Temuera Morrison, and Gabriel Luna, to name a few. The series adapts some of pop culture’s most popular games such asDungeons & Dragons, Armored Core,and it even hasa surprising take onPAC-MAN.
Those looking forward toSecret Levelshould be aware that its release schedule is not typical. The series comprises 15 episodes, eight of which have been released on Prime Video as of December 10. The second batch of episodes is set to arrive a week later on December 17. The schedule is as follows:
December 17 (7 Episodes)
Why Secret Level Opted For A Staggered Release Schedule
Producers Tim Willer and Dave Wilson explained whySecret Levelchose the split release schedule rather than a weekly or all-at-once drop in an interview withColliderearlier in the year. Miller pointed to best practices in the industry and the potential to gain momentum between episode drops as the main reasonsSecret Levelwent with the split release idea.
“15 is not divisible by two. It’s two drops. The main reason, for a variety of reasons, is I like the idea of the show building a little momentum. Hopefully, there’s word of mouth, and people can come back. But also — I think it was you that told me — that’s been established as best practices.”
The split release strategy has become something of a trend with new TV shows in Hollywood. Netflix in particular has adopted a two-part release schedule for its shows and utilized it for recent seasons ofEmily in Paris, Stranger Things,andBridgerton. However, usually, Netflix’s split releases include a gap of a few months, whereasSecret Levelfans will only have to wait one week.
Secret Level’sfirst episodes debuted to mixed reviews. Many have praised the animation quality throughout the series, but have also pointed to the stories of each game adaptation being hit or miss. As of the time of writing, the series sits at 64%on Rotten Tomatoes. Some of the standouts from the first half of the season have been theWarhammer 40,000episode and theKeanu Reeves’ starringArmored Corestory. Looking ahead toSecret Level’ssecond batch, fans have the much-anticipated PlayStation-focused episode to look forward to, which has already hinted at the appearance of beloved characters like Kratos fromGod of Warand Jin fromGhost of Tsushima. The Outer WorldsandMega Manepisodes are also highly anticipated.
Secret Level’sfirst eight episodes are available now on Prime Video. The second batch will be available from December 17.
Secret Level
Amazon Prime Video’s Secret Level is an animated series that explores different gaming worlds, telling short stories within them. Some of the featured games include Armored Core, Sifu, Unreal Tournament, Concord, Ghost of Tsushima, Pac-Man, and The Outer Worlds.
