Are sequels ruining Games?

As I look up at my shelves full of video games ranging from PS1, GB Colour to X Box 360 I have realized that the majority of the games are sequels or titles that spawned sequels. Gears of War, Dead Space, Tekken, and Spyro the Dragon. When you look at other artistic formats such as movies, granted there are many sequels but there are also lots of great movies that are not sequels that come out each year. However, if you take 2010 as an example almost all of the games that were nominated for Game of the Year by the press were sequels. Mass Effect 2, Red Dead Redemption and Super Mario Galaxy 2 are all sequels. Of course there is no denying that these are all great, immersive and groundbreaking titles but they are not completely original. 

  Original titles of course are still released but they are swamped by sequels. XBLA and PSN have been the key areas where new titles have emerged providing originality, examples being Trails HD and Super Meat Boy. The reason for this of course is the fact that these games are developed on much smaller budgets and thus published with much less financial risk than full boxed releases. As the costs have increased over time to develop games the creativity seems to have slipped. If you take a look back to the 80s when the NES was king the majority of the release catalogue was original titles. If you cast your eye over this year’s major releases you see that they are almost entirely sequels. Gears 3, Elder Scrolls V, and Battlefield 3 to name a few. Are the sequels killing creativity within the gaming industry?

Arguably yes, if a studio creates one stellar title they just work year in and out to create sequel upon sequel. Take Treyarch for example, all they do is develop their Call of Duty games that are released bi-annually. Could they not just leave Call of Duty to Infinity Ward and develop something new and unique? Do we really need CoD every year? Fundamentally, the issue is money. Activision knows CoD will make millions in profit every year no matter if the game is average of outstanding; they have been able to build up such a base of support that they know people will buy it. It is too much of a risk for them to develop a new IP that will cost money and not necessarily succeed.

It is not all doom and gloom though. One of the big releases this year is Rockstar’s L.A Noire, which is an original title that looks to be very promising. Rockstar are able to develop new IP’s of the success of and recognisability of their name. Titles like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead are extremely successful blazing a trail for games like L.A Noire and Bully. Other Studios and publishers should see Rockstar as an example. I do not mean to pick on Activision and Treyarch but Treyarch is a very recognisable name in the gaming world so they could build on their name and take a risk.

Overall, if the video game industry wants regarded at artistic and creative levels comparable to that of the movie industry then it needs to take risks artistically and creatively. Eventually the industry will stagnate in a sea of sequels ultimately if new IPs are not created.