Are big video game franchises a dying breed?

With the fall of the Metal Gear series, the proclaimed end of the Souls franchise, the Uncharted series, and The Witcher it makes me a bit concerned that no new franchises has sprung up to replace these numerous deaths. Sure Final Fantasy is limping along but is almost guaranteed dead when the next game comes out and we haven't heard word of an Infamous since Second Son, I doubt zelda will make it if it's next game isn't a hit (I also doubt Starfox or Metroid are going to get a game anytime soon (for Metroid after Federation that is). What does that leave us with, CoD and Battlefield along with Mass Effect, AC, and FarCry?

Am I just freaking out here or is the role of big tentpole franchises fading away?

Are big video game franchises a dying breed? Absolutely not. The series you mentioned are ending not because they did poorly, but because it makes sense to end them now. New franchises will keep coming as they did before. Look at God of War War and Gears of War, they are returning even though nobody thought they will. And the series you mentioned are not the only ones.

By the way, Final Fantasy XV is one of the most anticipated games of the year.

@whatshisface: your right, there have have been a good amount of franchise revivals as of late. I'm just saying that it seems no new franchises have been able to pick up the torch in the 3 years the current consoles have been out. there were fits and starts with watch dogs and a few other titles at the beginning of the consoles launch but it kind of seems to have died off in favor of singular games with continuous support/content (and with that micro transactions).

It is still early in the generation, so many of the possible new franchises have only had one, or even no, games come out. It looks like we will have a new run of God of War games, Gears is still going with Gears 4 coming soon, Watch Dogs is being built up into a new franchise, Mafia 3 is coming out (though that isn't a large franchise it is an older franchise at this point), Persona 5 is coming, Yakuza games are still coming out (and even in NA now too!), Street Fighter V came out this year, Resident Evil 7 comes out soon, we got another Need for Speed recently, Far Cry has become a big franchise, Horizon could easily become a new franchise for Sony, Halo continues on with Halo Wars 2, and all the ones you mentioned.

Final Fantasy XV is also being hyped quite a bit, with the main complaints I have seen in previews (and from playing the two demos myself) being the technical performance of the game, which is something likely fixable by launch or not long after. The franchise is also been pumping out mobile and spin off games for a while now and shows no signs of stopping. Also remember FFVII Remake is coming as well.

Maybe your underestimating how popular titles like watch dogs, the division, and destiny are. Then we have stalwarts like fallout, but that's not to say there aren't new soon to be franchises like horizon, or cyberpunk 2077.

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@zella:I guess it may be an unfair expectation but from 2007-2009 some pretty huge franchises got started: Bioshock, assassin's creed, rock band, uncharted, the witcher, deadspace, the batman arkham series, borderlands, dragon age, the souls series, and infamous. Maybe it's just because games take longer to make these days but the only new franchises that I can think of from the past 3 years that will continue on into the future is destiny and maybe watchdogs.

[EDIT] @brotherbran I'm optimistic for horizon and cyberpunk but the first three games you listed seem a bit to polarizing to be big franchises.

@katpottz: True but we are at that point right now in the generation. I mean AC was kind of janky and not great, it becoming a big franchise was uncertain, Witcher 1 was the same deal and pretty niche at the time, Bioshock seemed like a one-off game and not a franchise. We have had a good amount of new IPs that could easily end up being new franchises.

Watch Dogs and Destiny as mentioned, plus Sunset Overdrive (unlikely now given Insomniac's core team is likely working on Spider-Man PS4 exclusively), Quantum Break while not received super well is the kind of game that could very well end up as a franchise, Injustice kind of was a cross-gen game and with Injustice 2 could end up becoming a mainline NRS franchise, we could easily get a Mad Max sequel to coincide with the next movie, Shadow of Mordor was very popular and is pretty likely to get a sequel of some kind, me and probably only me have hope for a sequel to The Order, I would consider the reboot of Tomb Raider a modern franchise, Titanfall 2 selling well will likely push for a third, The Division could very likely get a sequel of some kind, and while it is a pre-existing franchise I would consider the revitalised Wolfenstein as a new franchise that should have a sequel coming.

Then we also have games yet to come out that could very well produce a big franchise, Horizon, whatever Naughty Dog's next thing after Uncharted 4 dlc is, Scalebound, Sucker Punch has gotta be working on something right now, Death Stranding could be anything and knowing Kojima a big sprawling franchise, the NX is almost certainly gonna get a Splatoon 2 I bet with how popular the first was, and For Honor looks like it could end up becoming a franchise.

@zella: You might be right, but if you are then my god this generation is taking a long time to do it.

We really haven't had a Rockstar game yet, or a good Bioware game. I have high hopes for Cyberpunk.

Also I'm really looking forward to P5.

I kinda get what your saying though. It just feels like there are a lot less big games than last gen three years into the this cycle.

Franchises might not be as huge among the more "hardcore" gamer but the world at large will still buy Call of Duty so I'd say no they are still here to stay.

There are still tons of big franchises chugging along, but as far as new sequelized franchises go, one big thing has changed. Games are now much more likely to be free to play, a model that doesn't lend itself to sequels. Then you have Overwatch. Overwatch is HUGE, but we won't likely see Overwatch 2 any time soon, because they'll try to keep it profitable with micro transactions.

Oh, and you're crazy if you think Zelda is in danger of disappearing.

I dont think ANY of those game franchises are dead, including Uncharted. I think I herd somewhere that Uncharted will likely continue, but at a different studio and not nathan drake. The Witcher as I've herd will probably continue at some point, but with a different protagonist, the story (from the books) is complete. Final Fantasy 15 isnt guaranteed to kill Final Fantasy, I don't know why people think that. Zelda will be around until the end of video games... Starfox might be dead tbh, but was it really a franchise to look forward too to begin with? Metroid will be around when its time for another Metroid, the thing Nintendo does right is not letting their franchises get stagnant.

tbh i think it's the opposite- big franchises refuse to die (due to corporate risk aversion)- i'm not sure their collective deaths would suddenly produce a new crop of fresh new IPs (in general there's a trend towards big-budget stagnation), but if you're looking for big budget franchises there's still PLENTY to go around.

see: final fantasy, gears of war, god of war, call of duty, battlefield, dead rising, pokemon, zelda, etc.

There are just different franchises. Stuff like League of Legends, DOTA, and Minecraft are huge. I think there are a lot still around but some of the biggest franchises are just in different spaces than your typical big AAA game of the last few generations. But there are a lot of those still around as well.

But really look how big Pokemon still is.

@katpottz: Regardless of their critical reception or how they landed with everyone they sold well, REALLY well, and will all get a sequel relatively soon. I think the previous point about dota, league and CS GO is really valid as well. Overwatch even, titles that won't get a sequel anytime soon but are a constantly evolving franchise.

The opposite is true. AAA entrants are now designed as franchises at the outset, rather than taking a wait-and-see approach. These are seen as the 'sure bets', and get a lot of attention and cash. If anything, there is a glut of franchises, and few (if any) AAA entries which aren't formed as a new franchise. Very few AAA experiences are designed to be one-off.

We are still innundated with AC, Batman, Gears, CoD, FF, Fallout, Tomb Raider, Far Cry, Just Cause, every fighting game, etc... Games that aren't franchises yet will be (or are coming out now) like Titanfall, etc etc etc etc.

We aren't seeing the END of franchises, we are seeing a lack of creativity from an industry that absolutely RELIES on them. It's like Hollywood and sequels right now. We need FEWER franchises; their are WAY too many, and the ones that aren't, will be. For every great franchise that (thankfully) ends, 5 more take its place.

Absolutely not. Established names will always do a bit better than new IPs because people know what they're getting. You've just picked some examples where developers have ended some series. Except they're nearly all going to be working on new ones in their place.