Unlike movie fans, the video game community is more open to the prospect of reboots or radically different re-imaginings of their favourite franchises. Due to the benefits of new technology, the tweaking of genres or even just the shift in what's popular at the time, ideas of what players want out of their titles seem to change every couple of years. So, with the industry constantly shifting, long-lasting video games series have to change radically themselves if they want to survive - but most importantly stay relevant - in the face of increasingly stronger opposition. The best of these ventures usually find a way to follow the mainstream conscious pretty effectively, however, more often than not they have to venture to the brink of being completely left behind by the industry before such a radical change is even thought of. Even a few of your favourite games will have suffered a massive dip in quality before making a triumphant return at some point. Whether that be the low point of Call of Duty 3 that allowed for the original Modern Warfare or Far Cry 2's failure that allowed for that series' glorious third game, acclaimed properties save themselves from the brink of complete failure all the time. Some beloved gaming series' came so close to being beyond salvageable that it feels like a miracle they were ever saved at all. Whether it was because of a creative dry-spell or financial trouble, more iconic franchises than you'd probably name came close to being lost to irrelevancy, only to be saved by a radical reboot years down the line.
Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.