You need to watch HBO’s Westworld if you’re a geek or gamer

HBO’s new TV series Westworld has already created quite a buzz, with some already declaring it to be a worthy Game of Thrones successor just two episodes in.

While we will reserve judgement as to how good the show really is for the moment, there definitely is one good reason to watch it – it’s aimed directly at geeks and gamers.

Despite being based in a theme park, the series is taking serious inspiration from Rockstar game’s like Red Dead Redemption and GTA V as star Jeffrey Wright explained.

“The guests in the park have really stepped through the virtual reality lens into the experience,” he explained to host Ricky Camilleri.

“So now they’re interacting in full form with the game that is the park, and with the characters and hosts in a way that now, we kind of experience through GTA V and these type of role-playing games.”

He’s not the only one who’s pointing to a direct connection between Westworld and games however.

Chris Suellentrop, the host of the podcast Shall We Play a Game?, and Simon Cox, Glixel’s content director, also recently chatted about how video games influenced Westworld, and what it might tell us about the future of games.

In fact it’s almost impossible to separate the two, as even reviewers have resorted to video game comparisons to describe the new series.