Candy Crush appears intent on finding a method other than irritating invites to permeate our lives. In a partnership with CBS and Lionsgate, developer King is helping develop a one-hour, live-action game show based on the Match 3 game. It’s being produced by the man behind obstacle course game show Wipeout.
For those who’ve never played or seen Candy Crush before, it uses the classic formula of shuffling objects around — in this case, fruit– to “match three” together, at which point they disappear and the remainders cascade down the screen. Think Puzzle Dragons, think, Bejewelled, or if you want to go back to its earliest inception, think 1994 DOS title Shariki.
While the formula might be simple and common, it didn’t stop 2012’s Candy Crush from becoming an absolute monster of a hit app, earning King billions of dollars over the years since its release.
And now it’s coming to TV screens, too.
Of course, gameplay will be a little different on television screens rather than smartphones. In the game show, two people will “use their wits and physical agility to compete on enormous, interactive game boards featuring next-generation technology.” It’s not clear what sort of technology will be used, but augmented or virtual reality wouldn’t be surprising.
“We are huge fans of Candy Crush and, like so many others, we know the ‘rush’ of advancing to the next level of the game,” said Glenn Geller, president of CBS Entertainment. “We’re excited to work with Lionsgate and King to adapt one of the world’s most popular and entertaining game franchises for television, and make it available to its massive, passionate fan base, who can watch and play along at home.”
A host for the show has yet to be chosen, but an announcement is expected in the near future. No launch date for the show has been slated, though we’d expect it to show up at some point in 2017.
