Popular comedy streaming service and website Dropout, formerly known as College Humor, has become more and more famous online thanks in large part to its hit show Game Changer. The series, hosted by Dropout CEO Sam Reich, features comedians playing different, often complex, devious, and hilarious games each episode. It’s a great concept for a show, and I wondered if Dropout would ever make a video game version of its viral sensation. The answer: Yeah, probably!
I recently sat down and chatted with Reich as part of a larger interview about Game Changer and how the different games are designed, playtested, and balanced. And during that interview, which will be up at a later date, I had to ask if Reich and others at Dropout had ever contemplated a video game version of any of the streaming service’s shows.
“Yeah, for sure,” said Reich during our Zoom interview. He clarified that it would likely be a game based on Dimension 20, the service’s super-popular D&D series, or one based on Game Changer.
“I think that we would be into that and we’ve talked about it,” explained the Dropout CEO and Game Changer host. “And I think it’s like, at this point, it’s honestly more than anything else, just like a bandwidth issue, which is if we’re going to do it, we want it to feel like us, which means we need to work on it. We’re not going to farm the IP out to some third party. We want it to feel personal. And it needs to be something, therefore, that we’re excited enough about and feels differentiated enough from what’s out there that it feels worth our time.”
He also admitted that another big barrier to Dropout developing something is just how expensive games are to create and how long it takes to make them.
When I asked if Reich had really thought about this much and had some ideas for a Game Changer game, or if it was just a far-off fantasy that might happen, he confirmed that they “definitely have ideas” of what a Dropout game would be, and they are working toward making one.
“Part of wanting to develop more of that competency was releasing all of those little web games [featured in Game Changer],” said Reich. “Let’s start dabbling, you know, and like, see if we can speak this language at all.”
In our interview, Reich sounded very confident that a Game Changer game is coming…one day, adding: “So I would say we probably will do one. And it’s just a question of what and when.”
Game Changer’s season 7 finale airs exclusively on Dropout on August 11.
