Carrier Command, a 1988 Strategy / simulation
game by Realtime Games, reborn in 2012 as a sci-fi
action / strategy game by Bohemia Interactive.
Nobody knows why a classic sim needed to be
remade as a far future action strategy game set on an
alien planet, but nevertheless, here we are.
Fantasy VII remake is still ambling along at its own
pace, but that’s a remake, not a complete reboot of
an old title. In all likelihood there are others in the
pipeline that haven’t been revealed yet - so that’s
something to look forward to at E3 - but certainly
the trend of the last few years seems to be coming
to a halt.
Moreover, we’ve had several months now that have
been peppered with some exciting new intellectual
properties. There’s Blizzard’s Overwatch, Guerilla
Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn, Microsoft’s Quantum
Break, and Team Ninja’s Nioh to name but a few, and
thats just the big name games - and there are plenty
more to come.
Does this mean the industry is finally overcoming its
infection of sequelitis and is ready to move on to new
challenges? It’s probably too early to say. But with
sales of ‘triple-a’ sequels down last year - Dishonored
2, Watch Dogs 2, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Street
Fighter V and Titanfall 2 all underperformed or
outright bombed - it’s clear that publishers will need
to consider their next moves very carefully.
Now, I get that investing in a new, untested brand
is difficult when you can re-use an old one and get
a certain amount of guaranteed sales, so from a
publisher point of view, investing in a sequel that’s
likely to be a sure-fire hit seems sensible, and this is a
strategy that’s sadly proved true by sales figures.
There ar e, however, signs that the industry is
beginning to change. Sales of yearly franchises have
fallen - last years Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was
still the biggest selling game of the year, but sales
were almost half those of its predecessor. There
were no major Assassin’s Creed titles (though two
Chronicles games did get a release). Forza was the
only yearly franchise to see a new title, but that
was with its offshoot Horizon series, not the core
Motorsport series.
Likewise, the constant cycle of reboots seems to be
slowing down; TimeSplitters Rewind is the only big
name series due for a rebooted game in the near
future, and Rewind is a fan-created project (albeit
one being made with official license). The mostly
forgotten Prey is getting rebooted this year. The Final
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