Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Franchise Health Check 2025

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Franchise Health Check 2025

    A new year sets in and after a long pandemic and also big budget dev cycle paralysis we should start to see the delivery of major new games increase in pace at long last. But, many popular franchises and projects were already MIA even before lockdowns started to be imposed around the world.

    Time for a 2023 check on where our beloved franchises stand right now:


    Bioshock 4
    Rumours have long circulated and an announcement of sorts has come and gone and yet the silence has broadly continued with even the team that wanted to get away from it years ago having come back with a very similar looking game as well as the predecessor to this series as well, all without the main franchise itself rearing its head - 10 Years Since Last Entry

    Burnout 6
    EA has pulled Criterion apart, then tried to put it back together and mined all sorts of approaches from Burnout to try and keep the tired, knackered old wheels going on the Need for Speed franchise. Yet, outside of a remaster, they have never followed up on the last Burnout despite the obviousness of the move - 15 Years Since Last Entry

    Castlevania
    Silent Hill might have finally reared its head out of this category but Castlevania remains untapped despite being used by Netflix. With the resurgency of development from Konami could it come back... - 9 Years Since Last Entry

    Fallout 5
    A harder one, Fallout 76 has been keeping the torch going despite it not being for everyone, but the central franchise is amongst the ranks of Bethesda RPGs where the wait for a new entry is getting longer and longer without end in sight - 8 Years Since Last Entry

    Grand Theft Auto VI
    Retouched and rereleased and milked till its teats run dry, when a sequel does arrive there's a good chance several of us could genuinely be dead before another game comes out at the rate Rockstar is going about the franchise but 2022 did provide some sign of life with the leaked footage from early builds - 10 Years Since Last Entry

    Mario Kart 9
    An eye watering wait and yet at the same time it's never truly away from us thanks to the high sustained sales and belated content coming to the last entry. As big as the game is, it's now an old title and whilst spin-offs have also arrived such as Tour and Live fans eagerly await the next numbered entry - 7 Years Since Last Entry

    Mega Man 12/X9
    Capcom continues to monetise Mega Man in many ways but new games aren't really amongst them. A new title could in theory come via any one of a number of arms this franchise has but as things stand the company still seems intent on allowing the rust to build up - 5 Years Since Last Entry

    Metal Gear Solid VI
    An easy one to put aside after Kojima went his separate ways and Konami threw their gaming division out with the baby water but the company has been making moves to get back into the tentpole game business and this remains their biggest franchise - 7 Years Since Last Entry

    Ridge Racer 8
    Despite rumours of an attempt a year or two ago, Namco has revived each of its key franchises in some form except this renowned racer which still sits languishing in the pits - 11 Years Since Last Entry

    Super Mario Bros 12
    The world is never short of Mario titles being released by Nintendo and sometimes they will only release a single new main entry per generation but the Switch train continues a pace and the time that has passed since Odyssey is now the second longest gap ever between main entries, closing in on the longest - 5 Years Since Last Entry

    The Elder Scrolls VI
    Another franchise who's latest and biggest entry has been heavily milked. Bethesda has also had to sustain Fallout fans and build Starfield so hasn't been as singularly minded as Rockstar but making a sequel has taken a lot longer than you'd ever expect the maker of a mega-hit to wait. Here we still are though - 12 Years Since Last Entry

    Uncharted 5
    It's not uncommon for Naughty Dog to move on from franchises but the series remains a key property for Sony who not only is making a push on PC for it but also at the box office. Rumours of a new developer taking over have circled but despite this the franchise is sliding into the long term group - 5 Years Since Last Entry


    Which of these do you think we'll at least see concrete news or reveals on in 2023?
    Which long absent sequels not on the list are your watching for?
    Last edited by Neon Ignition; 03-01-2024, 09:46.

    #2
    Nice, thought-provoking post, Neon Ignition.

    For me, a new Castlevania would be nice. Bloodstained didn't do it for me, strangely. Given the stellar job Mercury Steam did on Metroid Dread, I think they should be given another shot at it. I'm also looking forward to the console release of Baldurs Gate 3 (22 years and counting since BG2).

    Comment


      #3
      Oh wow; Skyrim is twelve years old. I had to look it up.

      Comment


        #4
        Still waiting for Gradius 6…

        Comment


          #5
          It's nice to not be able to include Dead Space in the discussion for once

          Comment


            #6
            Bioshock 4

            I suspect a new one is coming. I don't think it needs one though.

            Burnout 6
            Never coming back.

            Castlevania
            Konami...so, probably never coming back. Who knows at this point.

            Super Mario Bros 12
            Yeah there'll be another. It can't die.

            The Elder Scrolls VI
            Well, we've seen nothing. Starfield probably is the main focus. I'll come though. And I don't think it'll be very good.

            Uncharted 5
            Reboot. 100%. Its a money spinner.
            Fallout 5
            Bethesda/MS have to sort this out between themselves. With MS in command though, its likely we'll never see another one again. Bethesda need to get Starfield and ES6 out of the door first, so it'll be 2029 at the earliest if it does happen.


            Grand Theft Auto VI
            Its coming.

            Mario Kart 9
            Nintendo will have another one coming soon surely??

            Mega Man 12/X9
            Probably dead. I don't think 11 was very well received. Does Capcom still own it? They'll have other fish to fry im sure.

            Metal Gear Solid VI
            A remake of MGS will be coming soon. Konami might be nuts enough to pump out a sequel without HK.

            Comment


              #7
              I'd love to play another Fallout game.
              I hope the approach is "how can we make another amazing fallout game?" rather than "how can we make as much money from as little effort as possible?"

              Comment


                #8
                Okay, bear with me with this but what about...

                Cel-Shaded Megaman X9... by the DMC5 dev team

                Comment


                  #9
                  Awesome thread Neon. I have nothing to say other than No HK? No MGS, but great thread nonetheless.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    ridge...raceeeeerrrraaaaaagh...(turns to dust)

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Ridge is a good call and shockingly isn't even the series to top the wait time

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Are you counting Unbounded? Because I don't count Unbounded.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I maybe count Ridge Racer 7 (Possibly 6 as they shared very similar content) as the last true entry. Though they had a RR: Draw n Drive or something game on mobile and other ****e. I understand the game's arcade roots may never be triple A material in these trying times, but I'm down for a double A, £29.99 remaster with added bells and whilstles helped by M2 or someone who will make it with care. Ridge Racer Ultimate Anniversary. I wanna see those Ryukyu and Rave War cars.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Yeah 7 was brilliant. Another game trapped on PlayStation3.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I said Rave War above as that's what I remember the red car have on the side, then I noticed the Starblade version like above. Rave War is the JP version and Starblade was EU (I think, on the box art at least). The US box art has that text blanked out. But what is Rave War? Turns out it was what Tekken was called before it was called...um Tekken.

                              Comment

                              Working...