5 Reasons Yearly Franchise Releases Should Go The Way of the Dinosaur

As most (or all) of you have noticed, some companies like to release certain games every year, adding another branded installment in a series. While this may excite some gamers, many of us are getting bored of seeing the same games year after year.

We all want to see something new from developers -- the same thing over and over tends to dry up player's excitement, making them move on to other developers and franchises. And that's not good when it comes to a company's assets.

Yearly releases can become tiresome, lose sales, and generate negativity in communities, among other things. They're often rushed to hit their annual release date, and hit shelves in a broken state that leaves fans disappointed. 

It's about time that developers gave these annual releases a breather and let other franchises flourish.

5. To Give Other Games The Chance To Shine

It's perfectly fine to release a trailer for the next up-and-coming game in your established franchise. But instead of releasing the featured game a few months later, why not give another game you're developing a chance to steal the spotlight?

Annual franchises tend to be released just in time for the holiday season, which is obviously a marketing scheme to gain revenue from each unit sold. Developers should instead, use this opportunity to release a new IP to see how it fairs against competitors. An established franchise doesn't need help selling copies as much as a new one does.

And in the long run, that could help the company out financially.

4. Yearly Franchise Releases Can Be Frustrating To Gamers

Let's say you've purchased an annual release and you didn't enjoy it as much as its older companions. Then a few months later, the next game is announced.

You're unsure on if you should buy it, due to the problems that you faced with the previous installment -- lackluster story, broken mechanics, game breaking glitches etc.

You'll most likely not going purchase the next game, due to fear of being disappointed yet again. And that's perfectly understandable, due to how underwhelming some annual franchise releases can be.

Pretty much every annual franchise began as a game that struck gold and got popular, but year after year of releases can be too much of a good thing.

3. Annual Franchises Are Usually Riddled With Glitches

Annual franchises will most likely have less than a year of development time, which doesn't developers enough opportunity to fine tune any bugs they come across.

This can greatly damage the franchise's reputation, as well as the company's itself -- making both a laughing stock among the gaming community. (Looking at you, Assassin's Creed Unity.) And that's something no one wants to see.

Developers should scatter their releases, offering a new game around the winter season and an annual release the following spring/summer, giving gamers enough time to sink their teeth into the latest IP.

2. Games Will No Longer Be Stale

Despite occasional gameplay changes, each annual release tends to be a rehash of the previously released game, adding nothing fresh to the core gameplay.

Developers should give annual releases a 2-3 year break, so they have time to reinvent the series and how it looks/feels, giving it a breath of new life and getting players excited again each time a new release (finally) happens. 

1. Players Will Get Hyped After A Long Hiatus

When a video game series hasn't seen a release for a number of years, players begin to ask when the next release will be, hoping that announcements will be made during big gaming events like PAX or E3.

And the hype train that surrounds long-awaited releases is a great thing for developers. When an announcement is made, it sparks discussion across gaming communities, in forums, on social media, and through word of mouth. That means more exposure, more interest, and hopefully more success. 

I mean, just look at the hype that surrounded games like Final Fantasy XV and The Last Guardian. Both games were over 10 years in the making, and fans nearly lost their minds before release. 

If developers really want people to be excited about the games they're making and generate a lot of conversation that translates to copies sold, they need to give fans a little bit of time away from the franchise to miss all the things they loved about it. 

What do you think? Should yearly franchises be given a break or should they continue to be released year after year? Let me know down in the comments!