From Hype to Hesitation

Why Video Game Sequels Like Ghost of Yōtei No Longer Excite Fans

by Lonex Louisdor

Ghost of Yōtei looks like a quality product. It introduces a new fighting system and plenty of fresh features. So why are some fans underwhelmed?

This isn’t just a Ghost of Yōtei problem. More and more, we’re seeing highly successful games followed by sequels that land with far less fanfare. God of War Ragnarök sold less than God of War (2018). Horizon Forbidden West sold less than Horizon Zero Dawn. Tears of the Kingdom sold far less than Breath of the Wild. What’s happening to video game sequels?

The Sequel Hype is Gone

In the ’90s and early 2000s, when your favorite game got a sequel, it was an event. The change in fidelity, controls, and vision usually exceeded expectations. Mass Effect 1 to 2, Diablo 1 to 2, and God of War 1 to 2 are examples of franchises that evolved rapidly and excited fans. The second or third entry often crystallized the developer’s vision, typically increasing sales and growing a loyal fanbase.

The Golden Era of Video Game Sequels

During that time, the video game industry was rapidly growing, with consoles like the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and PlayStation 2 opened the floodgates for more players. Sequels often capitalized on established franchises and improving technology, so each iteration of a game would have the compounding factors of technology, a growing market, and an expanding group of talented visionaries from different industries bringing their talents to gaming. Meaning that each sequel felt exciting and fresh.

So, What Changed?

The industry, despite still growing, experienced a stronger-than-expected market contraction post-pandemic. Mass layoffs, consolidation, and geopolitical factors strongly impact both the worker and consumer base. People who’ve worked in the industry for 20+ years are leaving without properly empowering the people below them. Talent is leaving the tumultuous industry while customers have less money in their pocket.

On the consumer side, it becomes a problem of market saturation and competition. The gaming market is more crowded, with thousands of titles vying for our attention. And when tools like Unreal Engine 5 empower smaller teams to achieve great results (see Expedition 33), the power of a sequel has less weight in the eyes of the consumer. Not to ignore the elephant in the room: live service games, which consume, on average, 50% of gamers’ time and money. Put simply, there are too many games and live service games are a blight on other experiences.

On the talent side, it’s a bit more complicated. Mass layoffs occurring at the same time as record profits don’t help build any confidence in the industry, but this is mostly a recent problem. The growing scope and cost of video games are making managing these larger projects impossible. The industry has set expectations of the experience so high while failing to achieve those expectations on day one, often delivering products that don’t work as advertised—and it takes 5–7 years to get a sequel. This leads to consumers trusting new products less, even if it’s a new game in a series that they loved.

So, what’s the solution?

Unfortunately, there’s no easy solution here. Consumer expectations of sequels to critically acclaimed games face immense pressure to innovate, but in a mature market, it becomes incredibly difficult for larger teams to be malleable enough to change with the coming tides. In a world where a sequel doesn’t assure more sales; do we see fewer sequels or do the sequels we do get, feel more like a half step than an actual sequel?

I’ve always been partial to letting other teams take a crack at an IP, taking it in a slightly different direction. Fallout: New Vegas or Cadence of Hyrule, I think, are great examples of IP holders seeing avenues for IP expansion. This could provide a path where the player gets access to new experiences in the world they love without the expectation of a sequel.

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