Why Don’t Some Beloved Games Ever Get Sequels?

Have you ever ever fallen in love with a recreation, just for its sequel to by no means see the sunshine of day? Whether or not it is a hidden gem or some of the common recreation franchises of all time, the wait is countless. So what’s stopping these beloved video games from seeing the sunshine of day?

Monetary Viability and Profitability

Let’s be real looking: the first purpose most video games are developed and revealed is cash. Gaming is a enjoyable pastime for you and me, however for the builders, it is their livelihood. Triple-A games take years to make and value tens (or lots of) of tens of millions of {dollars} to develop, so if the sport is not a smash hit, the studio will lose cash, and a sequel turns into unlikely. That is why the Past Good & Evil 2 announcement was such a shock, because the original game did reasonably poorly.

A extra constructive instance is the unique Alan Wake. Whereas the unique recreation’s did high-quality, promoting round 1.5 million units in 2011, it is nothing in comparison with the 4.5 million items it later shifted in 2015, which is why we most likely ended with a sequel in 2023. Treatment Leisure (the builders behind Alan Wake) shifted focus to extra attention-grabbing initiatives and returned to the franchise as soon as a sequel made monetary sense.

Publishers must be comparatively certain that the sport they’re funding will probably be a smash hit and switch a revenue. An enormous a part of the decision-making course of includes following confirmed and “secure” online game trade tendencies.

Mental Property Turns into Stranded

Licensing mental properties (IPs) to make a recreation can flip right into a authorized mess when the builders do not personal the IP. The IP holder has the final phrase in how their property will probably be used, so the builders must shuttle with the IP holders when making a recreation, which prices numerous money and time.

That is on high of regardless of the IP holder is charging to be used of the property, which may typically be as substantial as FIFA’s $1 billion charge for less than 4 years, which is why EA determined to make EA Sports activities FC as an alternative.

Different occasions, the IP holder merely does not wish to make any extra video games for a sure interval. This often occurs when a writer holds the rights to the IP and does not want to proceed releasing new video games below it. System Shock was tangled between a number of events, which is why it took greater than 20 years for brand new video games to be launched below the title.

The Altering Face of the Video games Trade

Video video games have all the time adopted and constructed upon tendencies. Simply up to now few years, we have seen the rise (and fall) of live service games, battle royale games, mobile gaming, indie games, and an emphasis on vast open worlds. These tendencies are common amongst shareholders, as they’re confirmed to work and infrequently promise vital monetary returns because of excessive gross sales.

If builders resolve to make a sequel to a much-loved however old-school recreation, they’ve two choices: flip the sport into one thing fully totally different that hardly pays homage to the unique, which could anger followers, or follow the unique script and threat making a recreation that will not promote outdoors of the pre-existing fanbase.

An honest instance of the previous is the 2013 recreation DMC: Satan Could Cry. Though it was a strong title that many individuals loved, DmC followers weren’t too comfortable about all of the modifications to lore and gameplay. For the latter, Shenmue III stayed true to its roots, but it surely virtually completely appealed to longtime followers of the collection, struggling to draw mainstream players who had by no means performed both of the unique video games on the Dreamcast.

Studio Closures and Crew Reshuffling

On the finish of the day, it is not the mental property, ideas, and mechanics that make a recreation; it is the individuals behind it. When massive elements of the event group depart, or a studio is dissolved and there is little or no left apart from the IP, it turns into tough to seize the magic of the unique recreation.

For instance, Mass Impact: Andromeda was technically made by BioWare, the identical studio that made all the opposite Mass Impact video games. Nonetheless, all key builders had left the studio, so what we bought in the long run was a recreation that many felt lacked the “particular sauce” that made the earlier video games particular.

IP homeowners can all the time attempt bringing the mission to a brand new studio, however there is no assure that they’re going to do the franchise justice. Typically talking, it is extra worthwhile to depart the franchise behind and deal with one thing new, recent, and thrilling.

That is what occurred when Blizzard noticed success with World of Warcraft, which led to StarCraft: Ghost, a recreation that is also known as “vaporwave,” being placed on an indefinite hold earlier than its official cancelation in 2014.

Growth Hell and Lengthy Delays

When builders face quite a few obstacles throughout improvement, it is also known as “improvement hell.” This may be right down to monetary struggles, however it could actually additionally occur when the scope is simply too nice, or there are inventive variations among the many group.

The boomer shooterDuke Nukem Without end is a first-rate instance. The sequel to Duke Nukem 3D was caught in improvement hell for over a decade. 3D Realms had no financial support from Take-Two and the studio finally needed to shut store. Gearbox Software program took over and at last managed to finish the sport, but it surely was poorly obtained as a result of the ultimate product was fairly dangerous.

Area of interest Markets

The world of video video games is full of hidden gems from lesser-known builders, particularly within the “double-A” section. These are the kinds of video games which have extra funding than an indie however considerably lower than a real triple-A recreation. If you come throughout such a recreation, you may discover that the standard is there, but it surely’s not a very common and well-known title.

For instance, I am an enormous fan of Criterion Video games’ (owned by EA) Burnout franchise, however these video games by no means got here near the scope and recognition of EA’s different racing franchise, Want for Velocity. Burnout Paradise Remastered from 2020 solely offered round 250,000 copies, which is nothing in comparison with Want for Velocity Warmth‘s 3–4 million.

Because of this, EA has Criterion Video games engaged on video games that promote, equivalent to new Want for Velocity video games and different common EA titles like Battlefield and Star Wars Battlefront.

Generally They Do

The excellent news is that some glorious video games do get sequels finally, even when it takes a decade. Rockstar Video games used to launch Grand Theft Auto video games each different 12 months, however the tempo slowed considerably after GTA IV.

The time and assets required to develop these video games have grown exponentially, so it is higher to attend a bit longer and get a worthy sequel. We will all the time play different open-world games while waiting for GTA VI, so it is not a giant deal.

Even sequels that appear caught in improvement hell typically emerge as profitable. Useless Island 2 was initially introduced in 2014, but it surely modified arms a number of occasions throughout improvement. Nonetheless, it nonetheless obtained largely constructive evaluations when it was lastly launched in 2023.

Just a few different examples of sequels that took their valuable time embody Crash Bandicoot 4: It is About Time, the DOOM reboot, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, and Kingdom Hearts III. Let’s hope the following Elder Scrolls recreation may even be no less than nearly as good as Skyrim.