Brandon Sanderson Says He Is in Early Talks with AAA Game Studios to Bring Mistborn to Gaming
Brandon Sanderson has confirmed he is actively exploring a Mistborn video game, revealing that he has begun early stage conversations with AAA developers as he looks to finally bring the fantasy saga to interactive form. The update comes from his annual recap post, where he explains that there is now real momentum on the video game front and that he is working to retain stronger control over his video game rights than he did in previous adaptation attempts.
In the post, Sanderson describes this as Step 1, but still a meaningful one because his ability to pursue a game deal was constrained for years by how the rights were packaged. He states that the video game rights were tied up with the film rights for roughly 6 to 7 years, limiting his ability to test interest or negotiate with studios until recently. Now that the market is open again, he says he already has interest from major players and is explicitly inviting decision makers at AAA studios or major independents to reach out through his representatives.
This is a significant inflection point because Mistborn has long felt like it was built for games. The setting offers a strong sandbox for traversal, stealth, and combat, and the magic systems offer an immediately readable gameplay hook. Allomancy creates a natural framework for moment to moment action mechanics and mobility. Feruchemy adds depth for progression, build identity, and long term character expression. With the worldbuilding already established at scale, a studio can focus on systems, pacing, and player fantasy rather than building lore from scratch, which is exactly where AAA budgets are best leveraged.
There is also meaningful context around why this is only happening now. Sanderson explains that bundling film and game rights limited his flexibility in the past, and that he is deliberately approaching licensing differently this time to preserve control of his video game rights. In practical terms, that signals a creator led partnership model rather than a traditional rights sale where the author steps back and the studio takes full control. For gamers, that could translate into a project that protects the tone and rules of the world more aggressively, while still giving developers room to build a modern action RPG, an immersive sim, or even a genre hybrid built around movement tech and combat layering.
While none of this confirms a specific partner, timeline, or genre, the direction is clear. Sanderson is looking for the right studio fit, and he is prioritizing both creative alignment and long term rights control. For the market, that is a strong signal that Mistborn is no longer a fan wish list item, it is now an active business development conversation with AAA stakeholders.
Separately, the history of past game efforts is a reminder of what is at stake. A previous project known as Mistborn Birthright was announced in 2012 but ultimately canceled, and the developer Little Orbit later became widely discussed in connection with Unsung Story. That background reinforces why Sanderson is emphasizing control and partner selection now, because a Mistborn game will live or die on execution quality, not just brand recognition.
If a Mistborn game does move beyond Step 1, the next major milestone will be clarity on who is building it and what core fantasy it aims to deliver. A great Mistborn adaptation should not just reskin an existing action RPG template. It should make movement, resource decisions, and systemic creativity feel inseparable from the world’s rules, with mechanics that reward mastery while staying approachable for newcomers.
If Mistborn gets a AAA game, do you want a pure single player action RPG, a choice driven RPG with systemic stealth, or a co op focused experience built around duo synergy and buildcraft?
