There’s a feeling that perhaps they’re falling from grace somewhat these days, but annual franchises are still big business. Everyone loves to have a good moan about them from time to time, but millions upon millions of us keep buying.
To be honest, there aren’t a huge number of them. But, year after year, the likes of Call of Duty, FIFA, Madden, and WWE 2K roll out like clockwork. They are a conveyor belt of content built to a finely-tuned formula destined to be lapped up by fans of the franchise. Some players will dip in every now and then to see what’s changed, while others will religiously pick up every outing each and every year.
It sometimes feels like the publishers are just printing their annual paycheck with these franchises, getting too concerned with how much they can reliably make, which then stifles their creative improvements on a series. As they seem to fear that if they change anything and move outside their comfort area then the annual purchaser fans will not pick up a copy and that almost guaranteed paycheck for the next years player roster wont come in.
NBA 2K20 has just been announced and is the only basketball game available that has the NBA players. The fans of the series and of basketball seem to be sick of the lack lustre improvements that each year brings with it. But worse still is that 2K Games seem well aware of their trapped audience, knowing the numbers keep returning year on year to scoop up their latest player roster version of the game. Last year's NBA 2K19 included 30 second unskippable adverts and micro transactions to speed up in game career building.
But what brings us back to these annually released games year after year, often when little has obviously changed? Which franchises are solid and safe, constantly trying to innovate while maintaining their credibility with their die hard fans, and which franchises will strip the soul out of a series to cash in on their trapped audience? Share your thoughts below
Our first poll is looking at which annual release franchise (or nearly annual release) are you most likely to pick up every time a new version of the game comes out.
Our second poll is looking at how frequently we are likely to buy a game from a series we are invested in.
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PC Specs
I used to do it for AC, NFS and COD, but now i've got a Job.
PC Specs
I have been a BF fan ever since the first release 1942!
PC Specs
Haha, same here. BF for life.
PC Specs
None. I don't play sports games, I don't play Assassin's Creed, I don't play COD/BF. Mortal Kombat could have been the one, but they keep majorly f*cking up the PC ports, so they won't be getting my cash.
PC Specs
Football Manager.
PC Specs
Shouldn't there be an option in the 'what franchise do you buy annually' poll for 'i don't buy any franchise annually' ?
PC Specs
Do read the question in the poll again.
PC Specs
I understand that, but I thought someone who wanted to survey what the community thinks of annual releases would at least want to know how many people don't get involved as well. Would provide useful information. Why ignore it, when you can still compare b/w the franchises. It's not like it changes the other numbers in the poll either.
PC Specs
“We work in the Dark to serve the Light. We are assassin's.” - Ezio
PC Specs
I never buy any games from any franchise anymore after the fallout 76 incident. From that time onwards. I always get my games on pirate sites!
PC Specs
I really don't know what to say...
PC Specs
Assassin's Creed, i used to buy pre order, nowadays? i can't stand the 'release and we patch later' schedule, i wait they launch the whole crap and buy then with a fat discount, but even like this, the game is looking more of something else than Assassins Creed - - sad days.
PC Specs
All the franchise's I care about don't release annually so none
PC Specs
PES, but I usually wait for mod support (PTE, Fire or PesEco) patches first, and they usually align with price sales so it had worked out for me so far.
PC Specs
Only Battlefield, though haven't played Battlefield for the longest time.
Most recent Assassin's Creed games no longer feel assassiny enough especially Origin and Odyssey - those 2 should've been made into their own franchise. Basically AC 2, Brotherhood, Revelations and Black Flag were the only ones I genuinely enjoyed the most.
Another thing is I never have understood why people are buying annual re-skins that are sports games.
PC Specs
I feel you brother, the hidden blade days are over, Odyssey and Origins should be named something else, but guess they needed the IP weight name hu? About sports, need those peoplet because i dont understand LOL full price every year for the same candy? No thanks.
PC Specs
Where is none option?
PC Specs
I also wanna select it. Wonder why it wasn't added on the poll?
PC Specs
Read the question on the poll.. it's not a yes or no question...
Unless you have never bought a single game from an annual franchise then you can't say none.
PC Specs
I have two AC games, one on PC and one on Vita. I have Mortal Kombat on steam and MKX on Xbox. When I get back home I'll get Division 2 to play along with the same guys I played Division with. That's about the closest I get to a franchise.
PC Specs
none :D
cant trust no one nowadays
PC Specs
I pick up every Assassin's Creed game eventually. I was getting them as soon as they came out, from AC:Brotherhood through AC: Unity, but then I started waiting a while until after they'd been released.
I bought the original Battlefield games at release, up to 2142. I skipped 3 and 4 and all the Bad Company games, but I hear great things about 4 and I wish I'd got it. I still could, I guess, since I think a lot of people still play it.
Way, way back, I got every annual release of EA's NBA Live series from 1997 to 2003, on consoles.
PC Specs
For me, I kind of can't really say I buy much annually. I guess if World of Warcraft expansions count, then that I buy every time. Rest of the franchises always had breaks for me I guess you could say Assassin's Creed, but that is only since Origins, I only have previous ones, because I got them with Humble Bundle, I think, otherwise I didn't buy many of them in between.
PC Specs
Battlefied and COD are for me occasional, though I haven't played COD for a while, like since Modern Warfare 2 I think. Similar is with Far Cry, though I buy those when they get on sale and are cheap, at least that is how I got most of them since FC1 and 3. And while I got Battlefield 1, I didn't get V or most of them before. I did get Bad Company 2 and BF2. And rest I pretty much don't play.
PC Specs
Guess the WoW xpacs count pal, since is from the same franchise, too bad is in a loop of Good..Bad...Good again...rockbottombfa and all that kkkk.
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I don't. Most of those games are from EA and Ubisoft. I don't buy games from those companies based on their over use of DRM (Ubisoft) or surprise mechanics (EA).
PC Specs
Hmmm....nope
PC Specs
I get every Far Cry that comes out. It's not a great franchise, but it's good for some mindless fun. I used to get every AC, but I didn't Origins until I got it on sale for a huge discount after all the DLC was out, and I haven't bought Odyssey yet. There are other games I buy every game too, but none of them are annual releases. Watch Dogs, Hitman, Thief, Deus Ex, and so on. They aren't annual trash though.
PC Specs
for me its usually the cod series, halo, battlefield and assassins creed but probably the best i bought was cod and halo.