Which Studios Should Acquire Dormant IP?

[Alphizzle]

Greetings C&R Community,

A few years ago I was extremely disappointed to hear that Activision closed down developer, Radical Entertainment, after Prototype 2 failed to meet sales forecasts, despite doing critically well. Understandably, whilst the game had an interesting premise from a game design/game mechanics stand-point, the marriage between narrative and game design was somewhat underwhelming in-execution. On various forums, fans expressed the desire to see developer, Sucker Punch, buy the IP, with many feeling that they could better realise the franchise's creative potential.

So I'm curious: Within the confines of a game's established lore, are there any games that you've played and thought could have been better realised if developed by a different studio?

[Scrustle]

I've got an answer for this which is perhaps kind of obvious. Something I think about quite a lot, and I think a lot of people would agree with. Platinum should be allowed to have all their IP back from when they were Clover Studio. There are loads of people out there who would love to see a new Viewtiful Joe, and I would personally really like to see another Okami made by Kamiya again, since it's his baby. But right now those franchises are just sitting there doing nothing. Capcom does like to occasionally squeeze a bit of money out of the Okami IP by making merchandise of some sort, but we never get a new game.

Apart from that, I would really like to see the Legacy of Kain IP come back. I've not played much of the old games, only dabbled in them, but from what I played they seem like they would benefit a whole lot from being given a revival. They have a great atmosphere and presentation to them, but their mechanics are incredibly dated. If someone could revive that IP keeping the feeling of the old games, but modernising the mechanics, that could be something really special. I don't know who would be good to take up the mantle though. Someone who is good at Zelda-like games and 3rd person melee combat. Preferably not with the kind of Batman Arkham combat system too. That kind of studio isn't really around anymore. Maybe the Darksiders people, but that studio has been split apart too, with that franchise also being relatively dormant at the moment. Plus, if I had to choose between a LoK revival and Darksiders 3, I'd pick the latter.

[KSubzero1000]

PlatinumGames always seems like the very safe go-to answer to that question, given that Capcom isn't doing anything worthwhile with the franchises these very same developers helped creating, like Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Okami or God Hand. I'd also add Silent Hill and Kojima Productions, but that's even more of a pipe dream.

After how the incredible F-Zero GX turned out, I'm convinced that Nintendo should employ the same SEGA development team as contractors to work on a worthy sequel. I've been waiting on that one for 13 years and two entire generations. Get a grip, Big N.

Not exactly a "dormant IP" per se, but I'd like to see a smaller studio take a crack at an Assassin's Creed game. Never gonna happen, of course, what with the bullshit conveyor belt mentality that Ubisoft is churning out these things. But I think that franchise's fantastic potential would be much better utilized as a mid-budget title with more creative freedom and sensible development time.

One last crazy notion to finish this up: If KojiPro is out of the question, just give Silent Hill to FROM and let them work their magic.


Edit: Damn, Scrustle totally beat me to it!

[Flabyo]

I know quite a few of us that worked on the Fable games are of the impression that CD Projekt Red did with Witcher 3 what we were hoping we'd be able to do with a hypothetical Fable 4 one day. I've no idea whether MS have any plans for the Fable IP in the future beyond licensing it out for Fable Fortune, but I'd love to see someone with some good open world building chops give it a go. I think CD Projekt are the better fit for it than say, Obsidian or Bethesda because part of the core of Fable is dryly sarcastic wit and I just think the Poles have more of a handle on that than an American studio would.

Nearly all of the Bullfrog and Lionhead IP is dormant now, one or two have some interesting legal wrangling that would need to be pushed through if someone wanted to use them. Syndicate as an FPS was a bit of a waste, would like to see a Blizzard take on the original design of that.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Tricky question that. I mean some developers do just produce consistently better games than others, so for example you could probably just hand any third person action franchise over to Naughty Dog and there's a good chance they'd do a better job of it than the incumbent!

Thinking about it though perhaps Homefront, which certainly has a interesting premise that's never been delivered on, would be better served at one of the big FPS specialists like DICE or any of the CoD studios. That franchise has had a second chance already though, and after HF: The Revolution I doubt we'll be seeing anyone have another crack at it anytime soon.

As an old skool Sega kid with a love of NiGHTS Into Dreams, I'm always hopeful of that series living on in some form. If I had to pick a dev to do it I'd probably hire the Gravity Rush team at Sony's Japan Studio for the job. Not likely, but one can dream.....

Now that I've opened the Sega can of worms they have a ton of dormant franchises I'd love to see resurrected one day: Panzer Dragoon (Crimson Dragon doesn't count!), Burning Rangers, Virtua Fighter, Dragon Force, Phantasy Star, Sega Rally, Dynamite Cop, Streets Of Rage, Golden Axe, Outrun, House of the Dead & Virtua Cop (in VR please!), Shinobi, Virtual On.....the list of incredible IP that they're sitting on brings me to tears!

Daytona would have been on the list if not for this week's news of Daytona 3, so miracles do happen!

[KSubzero1000]

I know quite a few of us that worked on the Fable games are of the impression that CD Projekt Red did with Witcher 3 what we were hoping we'd be able to do with a hypothetical Fable 4 one day. I've no idea whether MS have any plans for the Fable IP in the future beyond licensing it out for Fable Fortune, but I'd love to see someone with some good open world building chops give it a go. I think CD Projekt are the better fit for it than say, Obsidian or Bethesda because part of the core of Fable is dryly sarcastic wit and I just think the Poles have more of a handle on that than an American studio would.

There is also the tiny issue of Bethesda being seemingly incapable of releasing a product which isn't a glitchy, broken, unpolished mess with soporific mechanics. Neither Lionhead nor CDPR ever had that problem.

I also have a question for you if I understand it correctly that you were a part of the development team on the Fable games at Lionhead. What's your guys's stance on the original Fable? I consider The Lost Chapters edition to be head and shoulders above any other game in the franchise. Wonderful experience with lots of polish and personality. It's also much more tightly designed than 2 or 3 that receive all the attention these days.

[Alex79]

I'd love to see Theme Park and Theme Hospital brought back by someone like Fireaxis .

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

ooo this has really got me thinking now, particularly about who I'd want to take on some of those Sega IPs. I've thought of a few:

- Playground Games (Forza Horizon) to take on Sega Rally.
- Enhance Games (Mizuguchi's new studio) to take on Panzer Dragoon in VR following their success with Rez Infinite.
- Creative Assembly to take on Dragon Force (and they're a Sega-owned studio so not a completely ridiculous idea!).
- Supermassive Games to take on House of The Dead and Virtua Cop in VR having cut their teeth on Until Dawn: Rush of Blood.

[Flabyo]

I also have a question for you if I understand it correctly that you were a part of the development team on the Fable games at Lionhead. What's your guys's stance on the original Fable? I consider The Lost Chapters edition to be head and shoulders above any other game in the franchise. Wonderful experience with lots of polish and personality. It's also much more tightly designed than 2 or 3 that receive all the attention these days.

Bit of a thread derail, so I'll keep it short so as not to break the flow of the conversation.

I didn't work on the first game. I worked on 2, 3 and the Kinect game. I like all the games, I don't really have a favourite because I'm just too close to them to see anything other than the flaws (one of the perils of game development, even when you're on something that people think is great you never see it that way yourself). I think I did my best work on 3, and I'm often surprised that that one seems to be rated as the weakest one.

It's amusing that you feel 1 was more tightly designed, when in actuality that was the one that was mostly strung together on the fly (and had by a long way the longest development time), and its the later games that had a tighter design process. The later games were specifically targeted at a more casual audience, and the sales figures backed up the decision. (well, apart from the Kinect game)

[KSubzero1000]

It's amusing that you feel 1 was more tightly designed, when in actuality that was the one that was mostly strung together on the fly (and had by a long way the longest development time), and its the later games that had a tighter design process. The later games were specifically targeted at a more casual audience, and the sales figures backed up the decision. (well, apart from the Kinect game)

I probably feel this way more because of the design philosophy and less because of the development process I know next to nothing about. The sequels had a bit too much empty space and pointless busywork like the job system to my liking. And I enjoyed the more challenging and layered combat system of the original. I also think the score is very underappreciated. It's in my Top 25!

I'm just fanboying out. Sorry for the derail...

[Scrustle]

PlatinumGames always seems like the very safe go-to answer to that question, given that Capcom isn't doing anything worthwhile with the franchises these very same developers helped creating, like Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Okami or God Hand. I'd also add Silent Hill and Kojima Productions, but that's even more of a pipe dream.

After how the incredible F-Zero GX turned out, I'm convinced that Nintendo should employ the same SEGA development team as contractors to work on a worthy sequel. I've been waiting on that one for 13 years and two entire generations. Get a grip, Big N.

Not exactly a "dormant IP" per se, but I'd like to see a smaller studio take a crack at an Assassin's Creed game. Never gonna happen, of course, what with the bullshit conveyor belt mentality that Ubisoft is churning out these things. But I think that franchise's fantastic potential would be much better utilized as a mid-budget title with more creative freedom and sensible development time.

One last crazy notion to finish this up: If KojiPro is out of the question, just give Silent Hill to FROM and let them work their magic.


Edit: Damn, Scrustle totally beat me to it!

Ha, I was expecting someone else would bring up the Platinum/Clover thing. Definitely a popular one.

You mentioning Kojima reminded me of another too! I'd really like to see them get back the IP to Zone of the Enders. They were already working on a third game when the whole Konami thing went down, only dubbed Project Enders at the time, and it looked really cool. I'd love to see how that kind of game could be done again with modern technology. It also provided something quite unique in that subgenre, when you compare it to the likes of Bayo, DMC, or Ninja Gaiden. Had its own very specific little niche, that I'd love to see KojiPro work on it some more.

On Assassin's Creed, Ubi are already taking a bit of a break to reinvent that series. I don't expect whatever they come out with next time around will be too drastically different from what they've done before, but they have slowed down on the production line mentality of that series. Or at least it seems that way. Might be that we're simply getting the same thing, but alternating every other year between AC and Watch Dogs now.

Sinclair Gregstrum mentioned Playground Games too. I was actually thinking about them for something else. I'd like to see the PGR games make a comeback, and I think Playground would probably be the best people to do it. Especially considering how much DNA from PGR is in the studio and their games already. But much like with Darksiders, I wouldn't want to give up Horizon for PGR.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Sinclair Gregstrum mentioned Playground Games too. I was actually thinking about them for something else. I'd like to see the PGR games make a comeback, and I think Playground would probably be the best people to do it. Especially considering how much DNA from PGR is in the studio and their games already. But much like with Darksiders, I wouldn't want to give up Horizon for PGR.

Yeah that's a great shout and would be even better suited to them than my suggestion of Sega Rally. Plus PGR is essentially Metropolis Street Racer which is another Sega franchise, so the fanboy in me can buy into it as well! Like you say, would be shame to see them taken off Horizon though.

Microsoft has to bring back PGR in some form one day though right? It's too good a series to let die! I've thought in the past that they could integrate it into their cycle of racers with Motorsport and Horizon so as to ease the brand fatigue of the Forza name. Xbox is already the console platform of choice for racing fans, but if you had a three year loop of the two Forza's and PGR that would just be sublime

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Sinclair Gregstrum mentioned Playground Games too. I was actually thinking about them for something else. I'd like to see the PGR games make a comeback, and I think Playground would probably be the best people to do it. Especially considering how much DNA from PGR is in the studio and their games already. But much like with Darksiders, I wouldn't want to give up Horizon for PGR.

Yeah that's a great shout and would be even better suited to them than my suggestion of Sega Rally. Plus PGR is essentially Metropolis Street Racer which is another Sega franchise, so the fanboy in me can buy into it as well! Like you say, would be a shame to see them taken off Horizon though.

Microsoft has to bring back PGR in some form one day though right? It's too good a series to let die! I've thought in the past that they could integrate it into their cycle of racers with Motorsport and Horizon so as to ease the brand fatigue of the Forza name. Xbox is already the console platform of choice for racing fans, but if you had a three year loop of the two Forza's and PGR that would just be sublime

[Scrustle]

As much as I'd like to see PGR come back, I can't really see it fitting in to MS's line-up these days. While it could actually be a good thing if the Forza games got an extra year in development each if they did slot PGR in to the rotation, but I'm not really sure if PGR can really justify its existence against both of those games. While they have a different driving feel, pretty much everything else it does it covered by the existing Forza games. MS probably think the same thing, given how we've not seen a PGR game since Bizarre closed down and Forza blew up.

[gallo_pinto]

We can call Half-Life a dormant IP, right? While I'd love to for Valve to make Half-Life 3, in their absence I think a Bethesda published Half Life 3 could be fun. They'd be VERY different, but I think either an id or Arkane Half Life would be a blast. But I would take anything to be honest....

And I'm just gonna leave this one here: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 6, developed by thatgamecompany.

[KSubzero1000]

You mentioning Kojima reminded me of another too! I'd really like to see them get back the IP to Zone of the Enders. They were already working on a third game when the whole Konami thing went down, only dubbed Project Enders at the time, and it looked really cool. I'd love to see how that kind of game could be done again with modern technology. It also provided something quite unique in that subgenre, when you compare it to the likes of Bayo, DMC, or Ninja Gaiden. Had its own very specific little niche, that I'd love to see KojiPro work on it some more.

Great pick! I feel mildly ashamed that I didn't think of it on my own, but yes, that's one of the most egregious examples of a franchise with enormous untapped potential to be left to die. Just imagine Z.O.E.3 with the production values of God of War 3, the pacing and energy of Bayonetta 2, and the depth of Ninja Gaiden Black!

Also, you guys talking about PGR made me think of Burnout... While it's not strictly on-topic on account of me not wanting to see that IP in anyone's hands other than Criterion, I just want a proper successor to 3 and revenge already! Speaking of which, where did arcade racers go? The current market is way too homogeneous for my taste...

And I'm just gonna leave this one here: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 6, developed by thatgamecompany.

I'm not exactly a fan of the Tony Hawk IP, but that does indeed sound intriguing.

[Scrustle]

Also, you guys talking about PGR made me think of Burnout... While it's not strictly on-topic on account of me not wanting to see that IP in anyone's hands other than Criterion, I just want a proper successor to 3 and revenge already! Speaking of which, where did arcade racers go? The current market is way too homogeneous for my taste...

Yeah, Burnout is another series I'd really like to see come back. The thing is, it kind of is! Honestly I wouldn't trust today's Criterion to make a new Burnout, since that studio isn't what they used to be. The good news is that the people from the studio who were responsible for making it what it was have set up their own indie studio (Three Fields Entertainment) and are working on a successor. It's going to be taking most of its inspiration from Burnout 3 as well.

I get where you're coming from on the whole racing genre too. Even though it's still one of my favourites, and I love the Forza games, pretty much nothing else in the genre right now is interesting to me, outside of a couple of indie games. Almost everything in the AAA market though seems to be going for this kind of middle-of-the-road (pun not intended) style where things seem believable, but aren't strictly realistic. Trying to be "serious", but not so serious as to actually bring the depth of a simulation. But usually that means they lose the sheer fun of arcade racers that throw any allusions to believably out the window. These middle-ground racers aren't bad on their own, but when it gets to this point where there's nothing else, it makes the genre feel really stale.

[KSubzero1000]

Yeah, Burnout is another series I'd really like to see come back. The thing is, it kind of is! Honestly I wouldn't trust today's Criterion to make a new Burnout, since that studio isn't what they used to be. The good news is that the people from the studio who were responsible for making it what it was have set up their own indie studio (Three Fields Entertainment) and are working on a successor. It's going to be taking most of its inspiration from Burnout 3 as well.

I get where you're coming from on the whole racing genre too. Even though it's still one of my favourites, and I love the Forza games, pretty much nothing else in the genre right now is interesting to me, outside of a couple of indie games. Almost everything in the AAA market though seems to be going for this kind of middle-of-the-road (pun not intended) style where things seem believable, but aren't strictly realistic. Trying to be "serious", but not so serious as to actually bring the depth of a simulation. But usually that means they lose the sheer fun of arcade racers that throw any allusions to believably out the window. These middle-ground racers aren't bad on their own, but when it gets to this point where there's nothing else, it makes the genre feel really stale.

Thanks for the info on Three Fields Entertainment! I had never heard of the studio until now. Excited to see what they come up with, though it will of course depend a lot on the publisher and budget and working conditions. The Evil Within and Devil's Third should be sufficient proof that great talent alone is not enough to create a masterpiece out of thin air if the other elements don't add up.

Your analysis of the current state of the industry in regards to racing games seems very accurate to me. Not much to add to that. There is however one little title on the horizon for me, RedOut. It's a mid-to-low-budget futuristic arcade racer in the style of WipeOut and F-Zero. It's already out on Steam, and the user impressions tend to be positive. I don't play on PC, so I'm really looking forward to the PS4 release in early 2017. I hope it's good and sells well enough to signify that there is still interest in the genre out there.

Here's the trailer, in case you haven't heard of it:

[Scrustle]

Your analysis of the current state of the industry in regards to racing games seems very accurate to me. Not much to add to that. There is however one little title on the horizon for me, RedOut. It's a mid-to-low-budget futuristic arcade racer in the style of WipeOut and F-Zero. It's already out on Steam, and the user impressions tend to be positive. I don't play on PC, so I'm really looking forward to the PS4 release in early 2017. I hope it's good and sells well enough to signify that there is still interest in the genre out there.

I had heard of RedOut, but haven't really paid much attention to it. I usually don't go for the futuristic racers like that. But I had a lot of fun with Fast Racing Neo, so perhaps I'll check it out. Looks pretty good.

[Todinho]

One I would really like to see would be Obsidian taking on Vampire the Masquerade,since the downfall of Troika and White of Wolf being a bunch of horders that dont want anyone to touch their property even when they arent doing anything with it there was very little hope for that to happen,now since last year that's no longer the case thanks to Paradox and hopefully there's already behind the scene work going on about making this happen and given that many former Troika members are in Obsidian now Im very hopefull about what could happen.

Since you allowed dream projects I would love a Snatcher sequel done by Suda51(which kinda happened in Radio Drama form in Sdatcher) or by the author of the Zero Escape series I think there's alot of interesting concepts he could bring in.

Staying on the Kojima topic,the only metal gear I would be interested to see would be a standlone new game in continuity but written by Gen Urobochi,for those unaware he's an anime writer and quite a good one tends to have a soft spot of tragedy and darkness in his stories but he knows what he's doing and has written: Madoka Magicka,Fate Zero,Psycho-Pass among others, I would be really interested to see what he could come up with in that universe given all it's complexities and themes many of which he likes to explore himself in his own work.

Still on Kojima this is gonna sound boring because of all that happened but I would really love to see him take a crack at Silent Hill,hell I've been wanting him to do that for years and once he finally gets to Konami messes it up,robbed of that I think a version of his of Dead Space would be really interesting hey maybe that's what Death Stranding will essentially be finger's crossed.

And lastly SEGA give Matsuno a Valkyria Chronicles game! The dude has a track record in making good games in that genre and he knows how to write a good a appropriate story for those settings so please stop letting that great setting go to waste trying to make it as generic anime as possible and let Matsuno make a game were it's essencially Paths of Glory the videogame!