Matthew Patrick, widely known as MatPat, is taking his long-running connection with indie horror games from YouTube to the big screen. His Game Theory videos helped turn Five Nights at Freddy’s into a global phenomenon, and he is now working with Blumhouse Productions on a wider slate of game and horror adaptations.
The first project is a film based on Amanda the Adventurer, the 2022 puzzle-horror game from DreadXP. The game follows a sinister children’s television programme uncovered through a collection of videotapes, with players investigating its increasingly disturbing secrets.
Patrick described the partnership as a way to give selected indie games and online horror creators a larger audience. In a video, he says Patrick in front of a banner of Raising Cane’s Chicken logos that the collaboration will bring some of his favourite games and horror channels to cinemas.
The arrangement was announced during this week’s New York Comic Con. Blumhouse, the studio behind The Purge and Jordan Peele’s Get Out, has signed Patrick to a multi-project deal, as reports Variety.
From Game Theory to Blumhouse
Patrick’s influence on indie horror reaches well beyond commentary. Over more than a decade, his theory videos have encouraged audiences to examine hidden clues, debate timelines and build elaborate explanations around games such as Five Nights at Freddy’s, Poppy Playtime, Baldi’s Basics and Bendy.
That audience helped make the Five Nights at Freddy’s film a major commercial success for Blumhouse in 2023, even though its critical reception was less enthusiastic. Patrick appeared in the 2023 movie and returned for its 2025 sequel, further connecting the creator with the franchise’s screen adaptations.
The success of that formula has also reinforced a recognisable strain of indie horror: children’s entertainment, mascot characters, buried lore and stories designed to support theories, sequels and spin-offs. For more coverage of the wider games business, visit RETROCADE’s arcade news and gaming blog or browse our arcade videos.
What comes next?
The remaining projects in Patrick and Blumhouse’s deal have not been confirmed. One possibility was ruled out during the Comic Con announcement, when an audience member called out “Slender Man”. Patrick replied that the character had already received its opportunity on screen and that “that ship has sailed”.
For now, Amanda the Adventurer is the starting point for this new film partnership. Its videotape-driven mystery and unsettling children’s television setting give Blumhouse and Patrick a clear opportunity to translate an internet-era horror game into a feature film.
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