Most milked franchise

[TheLoneBeet]

Lots of them. The point has been made lots of times on this site. They make these games because they're safe. If the first ten sold well then the eleventh is sure to follow. It's a shame because the originals are usually really good. Once they get into a pattern it becomes a shame.

Gun to my head?.. Star Wars.

 

[The Youth Counselor]

Half-Life. Valve has based all their reputation on one game and have been selling it (and it's mods) ever since.

I disagree. For a franchise that's been hugely successful and has the age of 13 years, they only have six official games and four of them are just short expansions. Whereas other games would have many numbers following it right now, we're still at Half-Life 2.

We still haven't seen action figures, comics, novels, or movies that have been licensed for this franchise and only recently have we gotten a limited amount of official posters, plushiest, and overpriced statues.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Warhammer 40K: Halo, only darker and better

You do realise that W40K has been around way longer than Halo has, how can you compare it to Halo?

 

[Sancrkf]

I know some will argue that Final Fantasy doesn't count because it's been around for more than a decade, but that doesn't change the fact that there's been well over twenty different games, remakes, reboots, and spin-offs within the series. Over twenty. At this point, even as they announce more titles to come, it's painfully obvious Square-Enix is milking the franchise.

Final Fantasy is a special case.

The main games are disconnected from one another, having extremely little (moogles, gil, aesthetic) in common, and having different gameplay and story for each one.

Square essentially just made 14 completely different games and gave them all one title.

There's no real sense of a "franchise" amongst them beyond the name.

Nothing to say really, just wanted people to read this one more time.

 

[TRR]

Mario by far. Mario Tennis QED
Runner ups include Sonic and Star Wars.

 

[chuckman1]

Star wars wins the award for so much milking over the years.

 

[Curlythelock]

Star Wars is definately up there, along with Final Fantasy and basically the entire Nintendo catalog.

 

[subject_87]

Half-Life. Valve has based all their reputation on one game and have been selling it (and it's mods) ever since.

By 'mods', do you mean 'games made with the Source engine'? Besides, if they were really milking Half-Life, then they'd be up to Episode nine hundred billion instead of the 3rd one being nowhere in sight.

OT: Star Wars definitely wins the gold medal here, there's no question about it.

 

[mikespoff]

CoD
HALO
Mario
Zelda
Sonic
...any Nintendo title ever.

 

[Crelda]

I disagree with anybody who has said Final Fantasy. Sure there are alot of games all with the same title and are all JRPGs but they mix up the art styles, story and gameplay too much for any of the games to be considered so similar that they could be considered milking anything.

In fact if you look at the FF games they have produced recently they are a perfect indication that SquareEnix aren't milking the franchise. They aren't just following the same formula and instead opting to try new things. Admittedly they aren't working for alot of people but my point stands.

I somewhat feel that if they were trying to be more like the older games in the series then they would probably make better games...

 

[Timedraven 117]

Zelda it is basically the same story.... like everything sure a few changes here and there but really same protagonist antagonist princess Zelda equipment weapons places dont let me go on

 

[Timedraven 117]

I disagree with anybody who has said Final Fantasy. Sure there are alot of games all with the same title and are all JRPGs but they mix up the art styles, story and gameplay too much for any of the games to be considered so similar that they could be considered milking anything.

In fact if you look at the FF games they have produced recently they are a perfect indication that SquareEnix aren't milking the franchise. They aren't just following the same formula and instead opting to try new things. Admittedly they aren't working for alot of people but my point stands.

I somewhat feel that if they were trying to be more like the older games in the series then they would probably make better games...

they dont even bother to change the name... and i now absoloutly hate captcha

 

[TheCommie12]

Call of Duty
Final Fantasy
Halo
and.... Pokemon

 

[mrdude2010]

I am surprised by all the people not saying Madden or FIFA. I mean, not that this makes them worse at what they do (if you like sports games), but haven't they had a yearly release schedule for ages, and changed little for many, many installments?

I think those are given a pass because they want to release yearly installments to reflect the new rules/player rosters, and they each do change year to year in terms of control refinements, balancing events (interceptions used to be stupidly common in madden '08 for example), etc.

 

[coolkirb]

hmmm when you say milked I take it as a game series that has just dropped to cheap games that arnt very good, so although mario has made a lot of games his games maintain a certain level of quality as mario kart and the sports games are pretty fun. So for most milked Ill say................COD, new game every year/map packs and its basically the same thing

 

[Aprilgold]

Not Mario, you see, milking something means that it stops trying to do something new or interesting, INCLUDING being fun to play.
Call of Duty is the most milked franchise out there on todays market, because its just NOT FUN, like, anymore. A game only becomes milked once it stops being fun to play.

 

[Hyperrhombus]

As a franchise in general? Star wars.
As a franchise in gaming? Mario, Mario, Mario. What are they going to call the next 3D mario game? Super Mario Multiverse? or a re-re-release of Super Mario 64 (sigh) IIINNNN THREEE DEEEEE?

 

[Spartan448]

A few defenses, then my own opinion:

AC is not a milked franchise. You define a milked franchise as a series of games (or brands), where something to do with it is released and no new innovations occur. This immediately takes AC and Halo out of the picture: Each Assasins Creed game has added something new (and the 3 main console games really can't be considered "milked"), such as the momentum-based gameplay in AC II: Discovery. Halo, on the other hand, had released the first three for the purpose of the story, and most of the spin-offs to either expand the universe or experiment with and refine new concepts. Halo Wars was an experiment with turning Halo into an RTS. Not that much of a success. ODST wasn't that good either, and was really more for big fans of the Halo franchise, as it was mostly made for players to experience what it was like for you if you DIDN'T happen to be an incredibly lucky super-soldier. As far as Reach, I think that game was mostly a test for the new versions of Forge and Firefight, and to test the waters with the Armor Abilities. As far as the new trilogy... let's wait and see, before we judge. (Though the grenade pistol looks cool XD)

So my thoughs on milked franchises:
1: Call of Duty, SORT OF. While the more recent games haven't added much (the COD points don't count), they ARE an improvement from some of the earlier games. WaW is still king of that franchise, IMO. (REZNOV FOR THE WIN!)

2: Lego. The few Lego games have been mundane, and never added anything new. They had a certain comic element to them, but they are still poor quality. As one of the top toymakers in the world, with plenty of funds, they could do better.

3: NOT Madden. You can't give people new stuff unless the rules of the sports changed.

4: Heroes of Might and Magic. Bet ya didn't see that one coming. The games have been around for a long time, and they have yet to get past the idea that turn-based RTS's do NOT work well in multiplayer settings.

5: Mario, Sonic, Zelda, Kirby.... Pretty much anything that came over in the Gaming Revolution of 1985. Heck, you could even add in the more recent Final Fantasy and Pokemon series!

6: Fallout. They just don't know where to go with this series. They should find SOME way to wrap the whole thing up. It doesn't make sense to leave the world of Fallout in a nuclear wasteland for all eternity.

7: Oregon Trail: It's been I think 5 or so games, and it's always the same thing: Has died of Dissentary

8: YuGiOh: Again, quite a few games, nothing new.

I could go on and on, but I'll settle with those for now. Fire away, Escapist community.

 

[Aura Guardian]

All the ones people seem to hate.