9 Reasons You Shouldn't Have Faith In The Video Game Industry

6. Over-Saturation Is Killing Franchises

You know the saying, "absence makes the heart grow fonder"? Well the same could be applied to video games. While regular sequels are the norm these days, the most popular releases are often new entries into franchises that haven't been seen in years. Whether it's GTA V or Fallout 4, if a series has been on hiatus then its eventual return will only serve to send players into a frenzy - just look at GTA V's sales figures. Which is why it's such a shame to see publishers continue to pump out games just to keep a franchise in the minds of players. Although this tactic is just as valid as keeping properties on the back-burner for a while, it's rarely ever executed properly in today's industry. Take for instance Rocksteady's Arkham series. Not content to wait until the developers were finished on the latest game to follow up Arkham City, publishers at WB decided that four years was too long to go without a new Batman title, and drafted in a separate studio to finish the prequel - Origins - in the meantime. Unfortunately, all this did was negatively effect the brand as a whole, as the middling entry served to repeat the formula of the previous two, meaning that when Rocksteady's Arkham Knight finally came out the distinctive gameplay didn't feel quite as fresh. Gears of War: Judgment committed the same crime, as have many other properties over the last few years.