Some game series are so intertwined with their developer that we can’t imagine another studio taking them on. Take Nintendo’s key franchises, for instance: could you imagine another developer handling a mainline Mario game? Or Nintendo outsourcing Breath of the Wild 2 to someone else? The idea is preposterous, yet for every The Legend of Zelda, there’s a long-dormant or under-performing series that needs some time away from its creator.
Below, we’ve listed which game series we believe should be handled by a different developer (even if only for a game or two). Let us know your responses in the comments section below, and we’ll feature our favorite response in tomorrow’s Tell GR!
Paul Tamburro, executive editor: “It feels like Sonic Team go through the motions so often with its namesake that it should hand over the reins to someone else for a mainline Sonic game. Sonic Mania was a passion project published by Sega but handled by a different developer, with all gimmicks stripped away in favor of offering us what we loved in Sonic games of old. I’d like to see this approach for its 3D Sonic games, with another studio coming along and injecting a fresh idea into the troubled franchise. Imagine a Retro Studios Sonic game?!”
Jason Faulkner, senior editor: “Konami should just hand over the rights to its franchises to its former employees who are actually passionate about the IPs. P.T. showed that Kojima could take the Silent Hill franchise to new heights, and I think the cancellation of the Silent Hills project robbed the world of what might have been a horror masterpiece. After playing Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night it’s obvious that Koji Igarashi has created a series that succeeds Castlevania and is sure to make any of Konami’s future projects irrelevant. Instead of just churning out anniversary collections and video game franchise-themed pachinko machines, Konami should show some respect to its work and let its IPs continue to live and grow.”
Mack Ashworth, lead editor: “Square Enix taking over Pokemon would be… interesting. Frankly, I’m not very impressed by what I’ve seen from Pokemon Sword and Shield. Give Square Enix a go at providing a proper, “next-gen” Pokemon game. They can push things into the online space, or keep things tight with a Final Fantasy-esque single-player experience.”
Bradley Russell, news editor: “With recent talk of an Ape Escape revival, nothing would please me more than Kojima binning off Death Stranding and instead going full steam ahead on a Metal Gear Solid reboot, complete with a bananas (…) story. Just imagine what Kojima could do with all of the Ape Escape 3-style TV and movie parodies. A full-on Third Man level, complete with smoking simians and monochromatic monkeys? Bliss.”
Michael Leri, features editor: “CD Projekt Red should get a crack at Assassin’s Creed. Ubisoft has obviously been trying to ape that studio’s style for the last few entries but the relatively “rushed” nature of the AC series means that it can’t quite have the same level of Polish polish. CDPR would take its time and make a huge game that knew how to tell its story and effectively use the space it was in. Assassin’s Creed has almost always had mediocre side missions too so why not let the side mission masters do their thing. But best of all, there would probably be no damn tacked on boat sections.”
