On 14 October, at Rome’s MIA, Dutch-British-US studio Submarine, along with the European Alliance pubcasters RAI, ZDF and France Télévisions, announced a new series project titled A.D.D.

The show was presented as “a grounded sci-fi thriller about a young, genius gamer who joins the world’s premier e-sports team, A.D.D., in a bid to discover what happened to her older brother – a former A.D.D. megastar who mysteriously disappeared from the spotlight”. She later realises that the team is part of a dark neurological experiment, and gets sucked down a dangerous rabbit hole of corporate corruption, data manipulation and social engineering.

The English-language series, penned by Nick Luddington (writer and co-producer of the Netflix series Arcane), is based on the best-selling graphic novel by Douglas Rushkoff. The project will unpack “how a corporation called Next-Gen may be harnessing the metaverse that our heroes compete within for more nefarious purposes”.

Elaborating on the project, Luddington commented: “As a huge geek and gamer, A.D.D. couldn’t excite me more – delving into the high-pressure world of e-sports and looking at the impact they have on these young players. In the world of competitive e-sports, geeks and gamers are the heroes and celebrities, and yet it’s a remarkably under-explored sphere of society for such a global phenomenon. A.D.D. steps into this arena and explores a thrilling vision of strange metaverses, inter-player relationships and the cost of success.”

Executive producer Femke Wolting added: “A.D.D. is a sci-fi thriller set in the visceral and adrenaline-fuelled world of e-sports, in which teams of highly skilled teenagers battle it out for massive prizes, personal glory and social infamy. E-sports is a vast industry and subculture, with more viewers than professional basketball. It’s a fascinating culture and high-stakes environment that lends itself to a dramatic and visually exciting story. This series fits well within Submarine’s mission to be at the forefront of culture, and we are passionate about Nick's vision for a visually exciting series with a thrilling story.”

The series will be live action, featuring an element of the hybrid animation style that Submarine has pioneered through its projects such as Undone for Amazon Prime Video and Richard Linklater’s Apollo 10 ½. Specifically, this hybrid animation will be used to portray “the endless visual potential and breathtaking cinematics of the metaverse that our heroes play and compete within”.

A.D.D. is a Submarine (Netherlands/UK/USA), RAI (Italy), ZDF (Germany) and France Télévisions (France) presentation. The release date is yet to be disclosed.