10 Video Game Spin-Offs Nobody Asked For (That Were AWESOME)

Metal Gear Rising is a GOAT.

metal gear rising revengeance
Platinum Games

Surprises are a controversial thing. Some people hate them and those people are well within their right. Sometimes surprises can be disappointing and unwanted and it's hard to hide your disappointment.

Good surprises though? The best feeling in the world. Whether it's a gift so thoughtful you never even considered it or a much anticipated game stealth-dropping, an awesome surprise can make your entire week.

Video game development is not always about reading the room, sometimes it's about taking a risk. In order to stay fresh, franchises need to do new things but they can't always be the expected otherwise they run the risk of making their audience tune out. We as gamers crave wild and amazing things that were previously unthinkable. We need to be kept on our toes.

This list will highlight the times that iconic franchises put out spin-offs that absolutely nobody saw coming or maybe even downright didn't want... and yet they turned out to be the best kind of surprises.

10. Hooked On You: A Dead By Daylight Dating Sim

metal gear rising revengeance
Behaviour Interactive

Dead by Daylight is an asymmetrical online survival game where four players do their best to escape the fifth who is controlling one of the game’s many powerful killers. It’s known just as much for its crossover potential as it is for just how damn thirsty a portion of its fanbase is.

Asking the developers Behaviour Interactive to add promiscuity to Dead by Daylight became a community meme years ago and has persisted ever since. Even the people who are serious about such an idea scarcely expect it to actually happen. Most likely that they also didn’t anticipate that the developers would tip their hat to this themselves with a decidedly unexpected spin-off.

Dropping the player onto a desert island with four of the title’s original killers, the cute little $10 non-canon side-game Hooked on You is purely made for the giggles and allows the typically serious and violent nature of Dead by Daylight to take a rest in lieu of levity and fourth-wall breaking antics.

Whilst it might make some DBD’s most hardcore of fans hot under the collar, it’s also just silly, fluffy fun for just about anyone remotely aware of the characters as it pokes at the tropes of the genre and the franchise at large.

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The Red Mage of WhatCulture. Very long hair. She/they.