bylam
Funcom
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2006
- Messages
- 707
Something we've been discussing at work is the value of franchises and intellectual properties as they apply to games. Throwing a few conclusions from our discussion out there to see if folks agree or not.
Conclusion one - Non-gaming franchises don't bring any particular advantage when expanded to games.
Basically, just because The Hunger Games is a successful book and movie series, doesn't mean it would be a successful game series. It might succeed if it is a good game, but being a "Hunger Games" game gives it no particular advantage.
Batman Arkham series seems to buck this trend, but the first game was considered a very good game. And then the rules of the established gaming franchise seem to kick in (see conclusion two).
Conclusion two - The strongest franchises in gaming are original game franchises.
Seems obvious, I guess, but Half Life, Witcher (fail, Witcher is based on the books, of course), Mass Effect, Assassins Creed, Elder Scrolls etc. They all seem to grow more successful with each successive games (regardless of quality increase).
Conclusion three - Gaming franchises rarely succeed outside of the gaming space
Finally, turning it back around, are there any real examples of game ips crossing over into other media forms and being successful?
It seems to me that your best bet as a developer these days is to make a solid game, then work on sequels that expand upon the functionality of the original.
Conclusion one - Non-gaming franchises don't bring any particular advantage when expanded to games.
Basically, just because The Hunger Games is a successful book and movie series, doesn't mean it would be a successful game series. It might succeed if it is a good game, but being a "Hunger Games" game gives it no particular advantage.
Batman Arkham series seems to buck this trend, but the first game was considered a very good game. And then the rules of the established gaming franchise seem to kick in (see conclusion two).
Conclusion two - The strongest franchises in gaming are original game franchises.
Seems obvious, I guess, but Half Life, Witcher (fail, Witcher is based on the books, of course), Mass Effect, Assassins Creed, Elder Scrolls etc. They all seem to grow more successful with each successive games (regardless of quality increase).
Conclusion three - Gaming franchises rarely succeed outside of the gaming space
Finally, turning it back around, are there any real examples of game ips crossing over into other media forms and being successful?
It seems to me that your best bet as a developer these days is to make a solid game, then work on sequels that expand upon the functionality of the original.
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