The Odyssey has been a complete game-changer. It is shattering box office records and shaping up to dominate the Oscar conversation. It is already impossible to imagine any movie, even Dune: Part Three, being bigger than Christopher Nolan’s latest offering.
But it hasn’t just been a massive boon for cinemas and the art of film. It’s actually having a much wider reach than that, as interest in books and video games has spiked after the release of the film.
The Odyssey Movie Spikes Interest in Book and Game
Unsurprisingly, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has driven a massive surge in interest in Homer’s original book. Pretty much every version of the book in every format has spiked since the film was released on July 17. Even Emily Wilson’s translation has seen a huge jump despite her angry, scathing review of the film.
Her translation, often viewed as the most controversial one, has seen an increase in sales of multiple hundreds of percent. Robert Fagles’ translation (Penguin Classics) and Gareth Hinds’ graphic novel version are also bestsellers right now.
Even the audiobook is benefiting from Nolan’s movie. On Audible and Spotify, hours listened to the book have really risen, with Sir Ian McKellan and Stephen Fry’s versions seeing a lot more play now. Even adjacent, unrelated books have seen an increase in interest, including Madeline Miller’s Circe, Homer’s The Iliad, and Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad.
But that’s not all. The Odyssey has driven up the player base for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, an AC game set in ancient Greece. It’s not as ancient as the actual Odyssey, but it’s set a little while after that. You can visit the island of Ithaca, and there are some missions available, including one in Odysseus’ palace (can you tell I also picked the game up?).
Despite the claims that Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is a good game but a bad Assassin’s Creed title, players are flocking to it right now. Across all platforms, the player base has nearly doubled in size. On Xbox, the game has jumped from 36,000 to 84,000 daily active users, which is up 134%, according to IGN.
“Software sales moved modestly at around 400,000 copies year-to-date, but the real [benefit] here is pure player engagement,” Alinea Analytics analyst Rhys Elliot wrote. “The film didn’t make millions buy an eight-year-old game, but it got a massive cohort playing it again. That data gives Ubisoft great ammunition for an eventual ‘AC Odyssey Resynced.’”
“Credit to Ubisoft for leaning into the momentum. They ran timed social campaigns alongside Nolan’s release and resurfaced Discovery Tour (the guided, combat-free educational mode), positioning it as an interactive companion piece for anyone falling down a history rabbit hole after leaving the cinema,” he concluded.
Whether or not this will lead to a remake or not remains to be seen, but the good news is that the existing game, despite its age, is readily available. It’s on both Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, so gamers who have one console or the other can pick it up extremely easily. If you’re a subscriber, it’s no additional cost, but even the subscriptions are cheap compared to new games. It’s up to $23 for Game Pass Ultimate or up to $20 a month for PlayStation Plus.
If you loved The Odyssey and are desperate for more, there’s plenty out there. There are other movie adaptations like The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (yes, that one). There are other books, like the original source, or books like A Thousand Ships. There’s even a whole Percy Jackson franchise centered on Greek mythology. A concept musical album is out there, too. There’s also a video game, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, that’s seeing a huge surge, too.
