Summary
- Fallout beat out Arcane to win “Best Adaptation” at The Game Awards.
- Ella Purnell was double-nominated, receiving praise for her performances in both shows.
- Arcane fans are disappointed at the loss, but happy for Ella.
This year’s “Best Adaptation” category at The Game Awards was a hotly-contested one, with Arcane, Fallout, Knuckles, Like a Dragon: Yakuza and Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft all receiving nominations. Although this category can often be a foregone conclusion, this year was a real toss-up between Arcane and Fallout, two excellent shows fully deserving of the prize. Ultimately, Fallout was last night’s big winner.
Fallout may have had some advantages in this category as Arcane previously won the award in 2022, and the second season of Arcane was only released a week before The Game Awards while Fallout had eight months to ruminate in the minds of voters. The award was accepted by Jonathan Nolan (director), Todd Howard and Ella Purnell. Purnell didn’t get a chance to speak on stage, however.
The Great Unifier
As you may know, Purnell was double nominated for this category, having played Lucy MacLean in the award-winning Fallout and Powder/Jinx in Arcane. Although there are Arcane fans bothered by the show not becoming a double winner, a lot of them are simply happy that Ella was the recipient of an award.
There are a multitude of threads on the Arcane subreddit regarding this bittersweet moment, from Mr_Boombastic_18, Songkolmae and in the comments of a thread by PhOhThree.
“Arcane lost at [The Game Awards 2024] to Fallout, but let’s congratulate and support Ella for her performance in both shows!” writes the aforementioned Mr_Boombastic_18. “She did a spectacular job in both shows, she deserves it,” concurs Interesting_Move_919.
“Ella wins either way,” says KingJTt. “At least it’s a win for Ella!” adds dx3756. Purnell has become a universally beloved figure in the gaming community over the past year, though she recently expressed that she doesn’t want to be type-cast as the “video game girl” despite the success of her adaptation projects.
“I feel I can be happy for Ella technically winning yet miffed that Arcane didn’t win at the same time. Congrats to her, though!” comments PalmTreeGoth, reflecting the simultaneous joy and disappointment felt by a lot of Arcane fans.
It would appear that Purnell’s role in the Arcaneverse(?) has concluded following the ending of Arcane’s second and final season, but she’s set to star in the second season of Fallout, which has begun filming but doesn’t currently have a release date.
