It's not like we get that many these days, I like the trend of getting a few now from capable devs for a change.
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Anyone else slightly bummed out about more and more notable devs working with licensed IP these days?
- Thread starter ToddBonzalez
- Start date
tbh, I don't care about AAA games... So not particularly bothered or excited about this trend, especially when the to-go IPs are film-centric ones such as Bond, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Fast and Furious, and the like. Only Marvel IPs could make those exciting for me, and with a more comics angle.
Call me when we get an open-world tokusatsu, or as someone said before, an open-world Godzilla/kaiju game :U
Call me when we get an open-world tokusatsu, or as someone said before, an open-world Godzilla/kaiju game :U
it's because they stopped being profitable
they also basically require AAA budgets to garner any type of interest
it's dangerous to work with licenses these days. before they could pump out games like no tomorrow and be close to on par with best in business.
now it's not easy to do this.
you may not be able to make the game you want because you're at the whims of the license holder. you may not be able to make a game that is satisfying to play due to those restrictions and on top of it all you have to live up to existing fans expectations.
and in the remote chance you succeed? well, you may not be able to work with the license again and hope people remember it was you that made that game when making your next unrelated title.
you carry most of the risk for a small chance of reward.
Great studios with proven track records working with an interesting IP...what's not to like? The market isn't exactly oversaturated with good Indiana Jones, Bond or, at least until recently, Star Wars games. Also it can serve as some sort of safety net or prestige project that opens other doors or makes publishers more confident about greenlighting original IP. I don't see any problem with that and there's also still plenty of other stuff out there.
I feel the same exact way OP. I'm not super excited about stories I know the lore to already.
But, that being said, these projects are way safer for the studios. So it is what it is, unfortunately.
But, that being said, these projects are way safer for the studios. So it is what it is, unfortunately.
I agree OP, I was recently thinking about this with the Star Wars games. DICE and Respawn, will make amazing profitable games even without the Star Wars IP. I think devs are better off with having full creative freedom. Bioware where able to do some pretty interesting things with Mass Effect when not being tied to the Star Wars IP.
That said I understand using licensed IP's make financial sense.
That said I understand using licensed IP's make financial sense.
To be fair, Rocksteady has been making licensed games since 2009. So it's not new for them. As for rest... it's finally time we have better licensed games. We suffered through 2 gens of mostly average-to-bad licensed with few exceptions being good-to-great. If IO's James Bond is as good as their Hitman games, I don't have any concerns.
First post nailed it.
When the game is actually good I don't have a problem with it. Yeah I'd prefer more new stuff, but I would like to see something like with the 40k games where the devs get to do interesting the the concepts and setting. Unfortunately most licensed games don't go their route and would rather you make you feel like x superhero or something.
I wish more licensed games strived to have something even half as interesting as the nemesis system. Also I really need to finish Shadow of Mordor some day.
People want new IPs for the allure of it being new, but honestly if the core of it is still so fundamentally similar to other existing IPs, the appeal of the newness factor greatly diminishes and doesn't really become new to me.
This is why for new IPs, I much preferred it if we ACTUALLY got something new, like from Resident Evil to Devil May Cry or from Mario to Splatoon, instead of something like Dark Souls to Bloodborne and not really doing too much to distance itself from Dark Souls. And I love Bloodborne, but to me it's basically just like another Dark Souls game with only minor mechanical tweaks overall with the same core design fundamentals. It's like the difference between two different games in an RPG series.
As for licensed games themselves, you can't deny that getting a super good game in an existing IP you already love is very enticing. If I ever got a dedicated Batman Beyond game, for example, that would be my dream come true.
This is why for new IPs, I much preferred it if we ACTUALLY got something new, like from Resident Evil to Devil May Cry or from Mario to Splatoon, instead of something like Dark Souls to Bloodborne and not really doing too much to distance itself from Dark Souls. And I love Bloodborne, but to me it's basically just like another Dark Souls game with only minor mechanical tweaks overall with the same core design fundamentals. It's like the difference between two different games in an RPG series.
As for licensed games themselves, you can't deny that getting a super good game in an existing IP you already love is very enticing. If I ever got a dedicated Batman Beyond game, for example, that would be my dream come true.
I honestly think sequels are a bigger issue for AAA then licensed games are.
I've never liked the idea of Dev studios being tied to making specific ips for eternity. I get that franchises are successful and publishers want to take advantage of that as much as possible. But I'd much rather they show some trust with their Devs and give them freedom to make whatever they want whenever they feel it was time to move on. If that "whatever they want" happens to be a licensed IP or not doesn't really factor into it for me.
Like, I'd rather see insomniac make a Spider-Man game then be stuck making ratchet and clank games forever. Or see IO try their hand at James Bond then see another 7 hitman games back to back.
I WISH coalition were making a licensed movie game right now tbh. Or some of the COD Devs....or the guys behind AC...or 343...
Whatever breaks the franchise fatigue is good in my book...and what's great about licensed games these days compared to the PS2 generation is that they're not direct movie tie-ins most of the time. They're given the time and money they need to be great games.
I've never liked the idea of Dev studios being tied to making specific ips for eternity. I get that franchises are successful and publishers want to take advantage of that as much as possible. But I'd much rather they show some trust with their Devs and give them freedom to make whatever they want whenever they feel it was time to move on. If that "whatever they want" happens to be a licensed IP or not doesn't really factor into it for me.
Like, I'd rather see insomniac make a Spider-Man game then be stuck making ratchet and clank games forever. Or see IO try their hand at James Bond then see another 7 hitman games back to back.
I WISH coalition were making a licensed movie game right now tbh. Or some of the COD Devs....or the guys behind AC...or 343...
Whatever breaks the franchise fatigue is good in my book...and what's great about licensed games these days compared to the PS2 generation is that they're not direct movie tie-ins most of the time. They're given the time and money they need to be great games.
These days? Sega, Capcom, Atari, etc. often did this back in the day. I'm not a fan of it because licensing fucks up re-releases of games in the future.
I wish FROM would go back to making Gundam and other licensed Japanese mecha games again.
The Another Century's Episode titles on the PS2 and Gundam Unicorn on the PS3 are all fantastic.
The Another Century's Episode titles on the PS2 and Gundam Unicorn on the PS3 are all fantastic.
As long as they aren't shovelware, which I think the industry has more or less moved beyond, what's the problem? I don't even enjoy a lot of the properties themselves, but Star Wars Squadrons was incredibly fun IMO. Never been into comics or heroes but both Spidey games were fucking prime. If the action type games aren't your bag though, I could see why it's not as appealing. But given that most adaptations stem from movies now, and action is the name, it's not surprising. The license isn't what makes the game bad - it's the association of yesteryears cash ins that were primarily tied to licensed games that make it seem like there's a shit covered umbrella.
If they gonna make em, I'd rather devs of pedigree try than some nonames looking for an easy gig.
If they gonna make em, I'd rather devs of pedigree try than some nonames looking for an easy gig.
Can depend on the I.P and studio I guess, like there's definitely some studios I'd want doing their own thing, but think it's been mostly good matches (Insomniac with Spidey and IO Interactive with 007 is pretty much dream tier), even Avengers was a good match on paper, but they decided to make it a loot based MP game with a poorly marketed SP.
I have no problem with it. As long as they're good games the added spice of Licenses we love the better.
While I don't care about AAA games, I do see some potential backlash of fans if a favourite studio decides to make an licensed IP. Some fans don't like or don't care about said licensed IP. The studio ends up working on it let's say, for 4 years. It ends up being successful and said studio decides to make a sequel to the licensed IP. In the process a few more years pass by...
Those are just my first thoughts while reading the first post of op. Some studios could turn to the "safer" option especially if it makes enough money, but I don't think we'll see any less original content in the future.
Those are just my first thoughts while reading the first post of op. Some studios could turn to the "safer" option especially if it makes enough money, but I don't think we'll see any less original content in the future.
Nah, licensed IP's can be fun. I hope someday we can get a Clone Wars game in the style of XCOM.
I mean, if the devs are passionate about it the way Insomniac was passionate about Spider-Man, why not?
not really
most of these are done by big AAA publishers and I don't care for the story in a lot of big AAA games
most of these are done by big AAA publishers and I don't care for the story in a lot of big AAA games
Not if said projects allow devs to fund passion projects in the future.
I'd rather they do new ip but I won't knock anyone for leveraging an existing fan base.
I'd rather they do new ip but I won't knock anyone for leveraging an existing fan base.
Yeah, since I'm typically not interested in the IPs themselves, like Star Wars or any comic book character. That's their play to drag in more people who don't normally play games. As someone who mostly plays games, I'm more interested in IP that originated in gaming or something new entirely. Besides, the world is better with more IPs, not fewer.
Hmm, don't know about that. I feel that Bond with it's spy stuff really does suit them better. John Wick is so direct action and gun oriented (and pencil tbf), not sure how well they could pull off such fast paced action. Not saying there's no chance at all that they could do it well, but there's really no precedent for that in their prior work. Hitman games aren't exactly bullet ballet.
Not really. Getting to work on licensed games pays the bills for some of those developers as they are either waiting/working on their own IP's
As long as they're more Butcher Bay and Mad Max and KOTR, less [insert bad licensed game here], it's fantastic news
IOI doing Bond is one of the most perfect pairings of dev and IP ever
IOI doing Bond is one of the most perfect pairings of dev and IP ever
I'm excited for a bond game but very skeptical about Indiana Jones. Like there's a 0% chance that LucasFilm will let MachineGames have a pregnant naked woman power sliding across the floor covered in blood while dual wielding shotguns and blasting nazis into giblets.
