Until Dawn movie leaves out game writers- here’s what happened

Until Dawn is the recent directorial venture of David F. Sandberg and is adapted from the namesake interactive video game that came out in 2015. While the film takes place in the same universe and has the same mythology, it has an original storyline. It was released on April 25, 2025, by Sony Pictures. Here's the official synopsis:

"A group of friends trapped in a time loop, where mysterious foes are chasing and killing them in gruesome ways, must survive until dawn to escape it."

The video game writers are not credited in the Until Dawn film. Let us find out why.

Until Dawn video game writers aren't credited in the film

Until Dawn was released recently, but it appears few names are missing from its end credits. Graham Reznick and Larry Fessenden, who wrote the 2015 interactive video game, were not mentioned in the David F. Sandberg-directed film. While not giving proper credit has been happening in the industry for years, writers in such cases at least get a special thanks. But The Hollywood Reporter has noted that in video game adaptations, the company behind the game is given credit in the film. Both Larry and Graham gave an interview to THR where they shared their lack of surprise over the entire ordeal. Larry said,

“I didn’t assume anything, but I thought somebody would have bothered to throw in our names, even during the end credits. But there’s no courtesy in show biz.”

The duo holds a Guinness World Record for having the longest script for a video game in the adventure realm, as the script was 10,000 pages long. Both of them have said that they did not know the game's creators but were key parts in its development.

Back in 2015, they were approached by Sony for their pitch for an Until Dawn adaptation. They offered a storyline with a meta-narrative, on the lines of Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. But things did not materialize for them. C. Robert Cargill, who is a script writer and a member of the WGA, shared his views on the matter. He said,

“This is one of those situations where credit is clear, but because the Guild doesn’t know who to ascribe credit [for video games] in general, they don’t have a hard and fast rule about how to do that.”

He added,

“Technically, the studio’s abiding by Guild rules but the Guild has no say or control or deals with the video game industry.”

Because both Graham and Larry are a part of the WGA and there are no set guidelines for video game adaptations, the situation is not working in their favor. They have stated that they are only seeking acknowledgement and not writer credits.

Graham has said that he and Larry wrote the dialogues of the characters as well as the subplots of individual people instead of the overall storyline of the game. Graham has said that the industry is moving faster than any writer can keep up. He said,

“I truly think that the guilds are not keeping up with how fast the industry is moving away from traditional media formats. I don’t know what that’s going to do for the future of the industry.”