Most milked franchise

[Skops]

A lot of us have said it. "They're milking this franchise to death" but really, which game franchise do you think has been the most milked?

For me, I'd have to say Assassin's Creed. I recently looked up AC on wikipedia, and the franchise has thrown out 9 games in just 4 years! NINE! Of course, they're spread out amongst every platform out there, consoles, haldhelds, to phones. Regardless, every game has a different story and a different subtitle, therefore, nine different games.

 

[Vigormortis]

I can give you three.

Call of Duty
Halo
Final Fantasy

The first is the most obvious. The rapid release of each "copy/paste" title and the overabundance of overpriced DLC make that clear.

With Halo, the game releases don't occur that often but the franchise itself, DLC and just the brand name, are milked by Microsoft like I've rarely seen.

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.

 

[Kuma_Nur]

Mario

How Many Games will it take before fans say enough? I'm guessing "Never"

 

[ChildofGallifrey]

Well, I suppose the obvious answer would be Final Fantasy, but I'm hesitant to says it's actually being 'milked'. Sure, it's a massively profitable cash cow, but every major entry into the series (not counting the off-shoots) has been an original story (as original as a story can get now, at least) with original characters, and often in different worlds. The quality of the games is up for much heated debate, but I don't think we should get into that here. Thirteen titles with different characters and stories doesn't count as being milked, IMO.

I have a feeling that this is going to be the popular answer, but Call of Duty has really been milked to death. While I haven't spent a tremendous amount of time with the franchise, I have enjoyed the time I did spend (particularly CoD 2 & 4), but Activision really isn't treating the series very well. They spit out a new, full-priced game every year now with minor gameplay tweaks and call it a new title. They put 80% of their resources into multiplayer and leave single player to whither into a lifeless husk (but I guess that's what the target audience asks for, so can't really fault them for that).

The same could be said for sports franchises. Roster updates (which is all titles really are for a good 3-4 years) should be DLC at this point.

 

[Patrick Hayes]

That's a stupid question. Mario is the most milked franchise, bar none.

 

[Daniel Forman]

Star wars, no doubt =________=

 

[bladeofdarkness]

Starwars
it started out awesome with the X-wing and Tie fighter simulators, but its been drained dry.

 

[Calcium]

I'd have to say Mario. The core platforming games I don't have much of a problem with, but the amount of other games that use Mario to boost sales are ridiculous.

Mario Kart...
Mario Party...
Mario Pinball... (not sure if this was the name, but it was a GBA game)
The Mario RPGs...
Mario Tennis...

 

[Madman123456]

*ahem* I think you Gentlemen overlooked some rather big Franchises which have been milked quite vigorously. Star Wars and Star Trek. While Star Trek at least tried to give us something along the lines of storytelling (and fails as one might argue) Star Wars is Special effects galore and not much more. If one skips the "stories" in the later installments which could be seen as insults to the viewer/player/reader.

But that's not the point really, the question was which franchise was milked for all its worth and then some. Star trek and star wars logos appeared on everything and that's not even much of a hyperbole.

 

[Alar]

Mario, with Zelda or Final Fantasy coming up second.

Mind you, that's just for video games.

 

[repeating integers]

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?

 

[Kramcake2516]

I would say COD kind of getting fed up of the entire series now; if they milk it any more they would put Dairylea out of business.

 

[spectrenihlus]

Star Wars. Just Star Wars. But there is still plenty of milk left.

 

[SpaceBat]

Guitar Hero
Call of Duty
Halo

The Mario RPGs...

Haven't there only been 4 Mario RPG's in 11 years?

 

[Someone lost on TVTropes]

Activision has a tendency to do this with most of their popular franchises... Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero, and it's looking like Call of Duty is next on the chopping block, especially when you look at the annual releases and exorbitantly priced DLC; everyone will soon grow sick and tired of it. And as much as I love their games, Nintendo has been doing this for a while... I'm still waiting for them to announce a fresh, new IP, as they definitely have the talent to make it good.

 

[White_Lama]

Mario of course.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Sports franchises. Easy. But for a less obvious choice:

Now I would not have said Halo and would defend it... until E3 this year.

Remember how Halo 3 was advertised as "FINISH THE FIGHT."? I understood Wars, ODST and Reach, because they were just spin-offs. And I would have even understood 4. But they also announced 5. And 6. And Halo Anniversary Edition. In less than 2 hours, Microsoft announce FOUR Halo games.

And you can't even use the same defense you can use for Mario. For Mario, they are in different genres (This year we have Mario Kart, Paper Mario and Mario 3DS. A racing game, an RPG and a platformer. 3 very different types of games.), different systems (not the case this time, but usually true), use different mechanics and typically have a different selling point. Not the case with Halo. They are all FPS titles. They will all be on the 360 (Actually, I'm calling it now: Halo 6 will try to be the system-seller for the next XBox.). While there will be minor tweaks to the mechanics, it is unlikely there will be any significant gameplay differences in each game. The major selling point of each will be the franchise's multiplayer (not a bad thing, mind you...).

Also, the people picking Mario just makes me sigh at how predictable it's gotten on these kinds of threads... they ignore the obvious answers (see top of post) and go right for their favorite punching bag...

 

[SmilingWorlock]

Star Wars, Mario, and the likes of them.

I

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

But, that's not milking, is it? Every half-life game was great, and they really are sparse. Also, Valve has other games. I think.