Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has a Roblox tie-in video game

RIP Homer, you would have loved The Odyssey the video game

You've read the book. You've purchased IMAX tickets to see the movie. Now you can play the game. The Odyssey: Defy the Gods is now available on Roblox as the official tie-in game for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. It is what Homer would have wanted.

The Odyssey: Defy the Gods game is available for free and is rated 18+ for occasional and mild depictions of fear and violence. The Odyssey video game is described as follows on the official Roblox site:

Defy fate. Sail home. The official companion to Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. A survival sailing adventure across the ancient ocean. Pack a crew, ration your supplies, and appease the gods for the right of safe passage.

Gameplay consists of scavenging islands for food, resources, and crew members; sailing while weathering storms; and solving puzzles. The Odyssey: Defy the Gods can be enjoyed with friends. At the time of writing, the game's official page has over 140,000 visits but only just over 100 active players.

Roblox, a game many play on small mobile devices, might not seem like the most sensible place to market a film that was shot for the biggest theaters in the world. This isn't the first time Nolan has brought his cinematic visions to video games. The second trailer for Nolan's time-bending action film, Tenet, premiered in Fortnite on May 21, 2020. The premiere was followed by a Q&A hosted by Geoff Keighley with the film's star, John David Washington. One month later, on June 26, 2020, Epic Games hosted a "Movie Nite" event in the game that allowed players to watch select Nolan movies live in the game world. Depending on region, players were treated to a screening of Batman Begins, Inception, or The Prestige.

Nolan's defense of theaters has led some to assume he hates small screens. That is a misconception. In multiple interviews over the years, Nolan has said he has no problem with people watching his films on the smallest screen they own, as long as it means they watch the movie at all. In a 2023 interview with CinemaBlend, the director compared watching movies on phones to his own experience discovering movies like Blade Runner by watching them on grainy pirated VHS tapes. If it fosters a love of the medium, then it isn't really a problem.

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, which adapts the legendary Greek epic attributed to Homer, is the director's first film since the Oscar-winning Oppenheimer in 2023. Matt Damon takes on the role of Odysseus alongside a star-studded cast that includes Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Elliot Page, and Charlize Theron. The film will be released in theaters on July 17.