As he says, just follow the money.
Well known blogger Tobold today made a post to his blog today called Follow the Money. The basic point he is making is that game companies will continue to make sequels because those are what people are buying, and people are buying them because that generates the most fun for the least money. He seems to be pointing this out to tell people complaining about sequels to shut up. I can see both sides of the argument.
On Tobold's side of things, the evidence does seem to be overwhelming in his favor, including in MMOs. World of Warcraft, the most successful MMO to date, is a sequel. (For those of you who don't remember the original RTS Warcraft games, they're still being updated so go and explore them!) At about the same point in history as WoW was released, SOE released two games, Everquest 2 (a sequel) and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes (a new franchise.) While both survived launch and are still around fighting with WoW today, EQ2 did this swimmingly, while Vanguard was declared a failure nearly from launch day.
On the other side of the argument - while it may be true that people tend to buy sequels there are some questions that haven't been answered. Why do people feel that sequels are more fun than originals? If people only want to buy sequels, how did the originals of their series get cherished enough to spark a sequel? Why doesn't the theory about sequels seem to hold true to other media, such as movies?
Adam Smith said "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." I can only add that it isn't from the benevolence of the game companies that we expect our fun either. The game that makes the most money is the game people were willing to spend the most money on, because it was the maximum fun for the maximum number of people. What the complainers really want is for big companies to spend millions on making a game that is in the little niche they prefer. Hey, I want Blizzard to make a $50 million turn-based strategy game! Not going to happen, because there aren't enough people like me around; I have to play cheap Russian remakes of King's Bounty. Complaining that the game companies make games for the majority and not just for you is just selfish.
Very true Mr. Tobold, but if we just accept it, will the game companies ever be inspired to do something new? I hope so, for man cannot live on just sequels alone.
To see Tobold's post, please check his blog.
