10 Hugely Popular Licenses Video Games Can't Get Right

Maybe 2015 will put an end to awful tie-ins?

By Sam Coleman /

Merchandise is a beautiful thing. After all, the best way for someone to prove their love for a television or film series is to spend immense volumes of cash on any product featuring that series' logo. Video games have been getting in on that action for sometime now with mixed results too. Most titles based on popular licenses are simple cash-in opportunities; awful games which feature a vague likeness of a well known character to help get across the inevitable illusion that you're getting a quality product. Some licensed series' are repeat offenders with a consistently awful output. No matter how much potential a series might have, developers will find a way to squander it and create a series of bad video games which leave fans feeling robbed. Still, that potential means that there is still a light at the end of the tunnel for many franchises. Batman was a license which was always used to sell fairly awful, generic games, but under Rocksteady's guidance the character has had a resurgence - the Arkham series is now one of the best gaming has to offer. The ten film, television or comic licenses in this article could all be used to make great video games with the right developers; sadly, that hasn't been the case for them so far. If you can think of any other properties or licenses which are being under-utilised or ruined with underwhelming video games, leave your thoughts in the comments below.