"Ex-PlayStation Director Criticizes Sony for Omitting Until Dawn Writers from Movie Credits"

A former PlayStation narrative director, Kim MacAskill, has launched a petition urging the creators of the Until Dawn movie to properly credit the game's writers. As highlighted by Eurogamer, MacAskill's petition seeks to influence Sony, a major player in the gaming industry, to set a new standard for crediting in transmedia adaptations.

In her petition, MacAskill expressed frustration that while the film's director and writers were credited, the game developers who crafted the original Until Dawn were merely acknowledged with a generic "based on the Sony game" credit. She emphasized the hard work and creativity of the game's developers, stating, "They spent years breaking their brains to make something incredible, and the world DESERVES to know their names... instead… No credit. No thanks. No honor."

Expanding on her concerns in a LinkedIn post, MacAskill compared the treatment of the Until Dawn creators to that of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us, where both the studio and Neil Druckmann received proper credits in HBO's adaptation. She revealed that Sony executives had informed her that her personally created IP would never be credited to her due to her salaried status, which included no royalties, control, ownership, or acknowledgment. MacAskill directly challenged Sony, questioning the disparity in treatment between creators.

Despite her inquiries about the rights to the IP she developed, a Sony representative told her that the company's policy was firm and "nothing personal," applying across the board. MacAskill's primary desire was to be credited and potentially have some ownership over adaptations of her work.

The petition calls on Sony to revise its approach to IP crediting, especially in transmedia projects, suggesting that an executive producer credit or equivalent acknowledgment would appropriately honor the creators. MacAskill stressed the importance of recognizing creative voices to inspire future generations and maintain the integrity of the industry.

In other news, it was recently announced that Until Dawn Remastered will be available as part of the PlayStation Plus games for May 2025, possibly as a promotional tie-in with the Until Dawn movie, which released just before the weekend. The movie, however, received a lukewarm reception, earning a 5/10 in IGN's Until Dawn movie review, which criticized it for failing to capture the essence of the horror game and instead offering a disjointed collection of horror-movie tropes.