“Hawken”: A year and a half ago no one, beyond the team of nine working on the game, had ever heard the name. But by the end of this year, if all goes to plan, “Hawken” the game will launch in the eye of a transmedia storm that includes a video web series, a graphic novel, a feature film and plans for an animated television show, action figures, a novel and perhaps, one day, lunch boxes.

Some, including director Scott Waugh, believe “Hawken’s” tale of a dystopic future set on an over-industrialized colonized planet featuring battling mechs could become this generation’s “Star Wars.”

And it all started with a failure.