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 original writers. As reported by Eurogamer, MacAskill's petition targets Sony, urging them to set a new standard in how intellectual property (IP) credits are handled, especially in transmedia adaptations.
In her petition, MacAskill criticizes the current credits of the Until Dawn movie, which simply states "based on the Sony game" without acknowledging the key developers who crafted the iconic game. She emphasizes the dedication 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."
Further elaborating on LinkedIn, MacAskill draws a comparison between the treatment of the Until Dawn team and the credits given to Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann for HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us, which acknowledges both the studio and Druckmann's contributions. She questions the disparity in Sony's crediting practices, noting that Sony executives informed her that the IP she created would never be credited to her due to her salaried status, which offered no royalties, control, ownership, or acknowledgment.
MacAskill's petition calls for Sony to reconsider their approach to IP crediting in transmedia projects, suggesting an executive producer credit or equivalent acknowledgment to honor the creators. She argues that recognizing these creators is vital for the integrity of the industry and to inspire future generations of creators.
In a related development, it was recently announced that Until Dawn Remastered will be part of the PlayStation Plus games lineup for May 2025, likely as a promotional move for the Until Dawn movie, which received a lukewarm reception with a 5/10 rating from IGN. The review criticized the film for failing to capture the essence of the horror game, describing it as "more disappointing than deadly, leaving all the promise of the horror game behind for a jumble of horror-movie re-creations."
