Breaking Bad's creator wanted to create a GTA-inspired game adaption

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Vince Gilligan reveals new details about a canned pitch

Walter White (Bryan Cranston) in Breaking Bad
(Image credit: AMC)

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan once tried to pitch a video game inspired by Grand Theft Auto based on the former series.

Speaking on the Inside the Gilliverse podcast this past week (thanks, Comicbook.com), Gilligan revealed there had once been an attempt at a Breaking Bad-inspired video game. "I'm not much of a video game player, but how can you now know Grand Theft Auto?" the Breaking Bad lead said in response to a fan question about a potential game adaptation.

"I remember saying to the guys, that are off running Apple now, who said yes originally to Breaking Bad, 'Who owns Grand Theft Auto? Can't you have a module, can there be a Breaking Bad [game]?'" Gilligan continued. "That never came to fruition. There have been quite a few attempts at video games, some of them kind of made it to market. We tried to do a VR experience with the Sony PlayStation VR headset. We did a mobile game that lasted for a little while."

The mobile game Gilligan refers to is Breaking Bad: Criminal Elements, first released on Android and iOS devices in June 2019. Players would build a drug empire under the tutelage of both Walter White and Jessie Pinkman, but the game wasn't a hit, going on to be shut down less than two years after it launched in September 2020.

The creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul revealed that the creative teams behind both series' had drafted out several pitches for multiple video games based on the world of both TV shows. However, nothing would ever come to fruition from any of the pitches the teams assembled, and we're left without any Breaking Bad-inspired video games.

As for current developments on the TV side, we're now waiting for the final episode of Better Call Saul, before the Breaking Bad prequel is done for good. The final season of the series has certainly gone out with a bang so far, complete with appearances from Walter White and Jessie Pinkman, and even an entire episode simply called "Breaking Bad."

Head over to our Better Call Saul season 6 release schedule guide to find out when and where the final episode will air. 

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.