How Was This Generation for New IPs?

[A Link In Time]

I felt the 360/PS3/Wii/DS/PSP generation had so many major new IPs. Bioshock, Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, Dark Souls, Gears of War, Uncharted, The Last of Us, No More Heroes, and Xeonoblade Chronicles are a few that come to mind.

But this generation was definitely weaker. We had a few worthwhile new IPs. Splatoon, Sunset Overdrive, Horizon, Bloodborne and Gravity Rush were a few that stood out. But it wasn't nearly as much as last generation. There was a bigger reliance on already established franchises.

So overall this generation felt a little lackluster for new IPs.

Do you agree or did you think there were quite a few notable new franchises?

 

[Mido]

I think that I overall agree with your assessment, especially when I look at the Microsoft/Nintendo front (I can't really peak for Sony's end of things, although it seems to have provided the most fresh content by comparison). The Xbox One, save for the occasional drop of a new IP like the aforementioned Sunset Overdrive, was buoyed mainly by its established properties from the last two generations via Halo and Gears (of War). It was still nice to see some more overlooked titles take the stage this generation as well with Crackdown 3 as a big example.

As far as Nintendo goes, they already have a strong, established playbook; so I don't think they needed to necessarily move the needle this generation aside from doing good on their work with the Switch (the strength of Nintendo's IPs a bonus for such work).

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

yeah I agree, we got way more out of last gen compared to this one, ghost of tsushima and arms are a couple other new ones too, but I guess we'll see if they're just one offs or if they'll stick around
astro bot's making the transition to next gen though

 

[Turo602]

Definitely. I've noticed for a while just by looking at my collection just how much of it is filled with remasters and remakes compared to last gen. Granted, that hasn't necessarily been a bad thing either when some of those games are things like Resident Evil 2, Crash Bandicoot and Spyro, Tony Hawk, Final Fantasy VII, and so on, which have all been some very refreshing and worthwhile experiences despite not exactly being new ideas.

I'd also say game development has a lot to do with it as well. Games just seem to have been coming out at a much slower pace this generation. We got so many new franchises and sequels last gen only for a lot of IPs to either go dormant or see just one more entry for this entire generation. Triple A games are getting more expensive to produce and taking longer to release, and Double A games are starting to become a thing of the past with indie developers filling that gap.

Smaller straightforward games just don't seem worth the effort for a lot of the major companies these days, which is why Ubisoft refuses to give us games like Splinter Cell and Rayman and are barely starting to test the waters on Prince of Persia with a remake. It's honestly tiring how every game has to be this huge open-world experience, but it's consumers fault that it's gotten this way since nobody wants to spend 60 dollars on a linear game anymore.

 

[Princess Niki]

I mean Nintendo wise we had Splatoon and the lore behind those games is fascinating. It will be interesting to see them build on the Arms lore in the future if they ever make a sequel.