Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe spans sixteen books, a film in development, board games, and a tabletop RPG. The one medium it has not yet conquered is video games — and in a new interview with IGN, Sanderson made clear that is not for lack of wanting. The author, who described himself as a “lifelong gamer,” confirmed that adapting his work into games is something he has thought about considerably, and that Mistborn would be his starting point.
Mistborn Is His First Choice
Asked directly whether he had considered a video game adaptation of his books, Sanderson gave a characteristically thorough answer:
“As a lifelong gamer, suffice it to say that yes, I’ve thought about this a lot. The key will be the right partner. Video games, even the smaller indie games, are huge investments these days. Mistborn would almost certainly be the first thing I would try, as the mechanics of the magic and world very naturally lend themselves to such an adaptation — but again, I’d need the right partner.”
The framing is cautious but meaningful. Sanderson is not entertaining a generic “wouldn’t that be fun” answer — he has clearly thought through which property would work, and why. The emphasis on Mistborn’s magic system is particularly telling for anyone who knows the series: Allomancy, the ability to burn ingested metals to gain powers, is exactly the kind of structured, rules-based magic system that translates naturally into combat and progression mechanics.
Why Mistborn’s Magic Works for Games
Sanderson’s enthusiasm for Mistborn specifically is not arbitrary. The Allomantic magic system — where characters burn different metals to access different abilities, from enhanced strength and speed to emotional manipulation and the ability to push and pull on metal objects — is unusually game-ready compared to most fictional magic systems.
Allomancy has clear ability categories, resource management through metal supply, risk/reward trade-offs, and an established power tier between regular Mistings and full Mistborn. For a developer, that framework essentially hands over an ability tree on a silver plate. The industrial fantasy setting of Scadrial, with its ashfalls, mists, and Lord Ruler’s oppressive empire, offers the kind of atmospheric world-building that rewards visual game design.
Context: Allomancy lets users “burn” ingested metals to gain specific powers — enhanced senses from tin, physical strength from pewter, the ability to push on metal from steel. Each metal does something different, giving any Mistborn game a natural skill and combat system.
Where the Cosmere Already Is
A Mistborn video game would not be the franchise’s first step outside literature. The Cosmere RPG tabletop series is already live, with a Mistborn expansion preordering in November 2026. Sanderson recently finished a first draft of the Mistborn film screenplay, though he noted there is still considerable work to do before production begins.
On the video game front, Sanderson’s 2025 State of the Sanderson address revealed he had already begun preliminary conversations with AAA developers — describing it as “Step One” of a longer process. The IGN interview suggests those conversations, or awareness of the landscape, continue to inform his thinking about what would be required for a successful adaptation.
He also teased that discussions around a Cytoverse tabletop game — based on his Skyward/Starsight/Cytonic series — have taken place, though no announcements have followed.
Nothing Announced — But Closer Than It Sounds
It is worth being clear about what Sanderson’s comments are and are not. There is no game in development. No studio partnership has been confirmed. The “right partner” qualification is doing real work in his statement — video games are expensive, development cycles are long, and the wrong adaptation of a beloved fantasy universe causes lasting damage.
What has changed is the degree of public specificity. Sanderson has gone from vague openness to naming Mistborn directly and articulating why its mechanics are suitable. That is a meaningful shift from earlier, more general statements about someday making something. Combined with the existing AAA studio conversations and the Cosmere’s growing multimedia presence, a Mistborn game feels less like a fan wish and more like an industry question of timing and creative match.
For now, the Cosmere RPG is the closest fans will get to playing in Sanderson’s universe. But the author himself seems increasingly ready for the next step.
