Top 10 Video Game Franchises that Have Become Most Stale in 2022

Whether you like this franchise or not, there is no denying that Call of Duty has shaped the gaming world into what is it today, with the many first person shooter games that are currently on the market. One of the reasons why this franchise is so well known is that there are many games in the series, some might say too many. At this point in time however, it feels like the developers are just releasing new games because they know they will make money and while there is no denying that the franchise still makes tons of money, it doesn't make it feel any less stale.

Though there are not many main games in the series, one thing Capcom loves doing is giving their games re-releases. The second game in the series for example has 6 different editions. Capcom also pissed off many fans by making four different editions of Street Fighter 4 and still they made a fifth game which to be honest is just more of the same. Street Fighter V is no better, the game has 3 different editions so far.

I'm sure if Street Fighter 6 came out it would sell well and have good reviews, but yeah, Capcom making money with different editions, it kills the mood.

With Hideo Kojima gone from Konami, people have lost a lot of interest in the Metal Gear series, especially since the dumpster fire that was Metal Gear Survive, and fans have much less faith in Konami's ability to release a good Metal Gear game in the future. Without the original creator of the series, any future game that might come out is almost doomed to fail and be blasted by fans.

It is sad for me to admit this, but as a big fan of the Metal Gear series, fan interest is not there anymore. Metal Gear Survive was complete garbage, Konami just took the game mechanics from MGS5 and made a cheap survival game. Yeah, without Hideo Kojima, I'm out.

The rhythm game craze would take over the market for a good while, but fast forward to 2022 and this genre has completely fallen from grace, especially the Guitar Hero franchise, same goes for its competitor Rock Band. This is in part because of oversaturation and lack of innovation. Some rhythm games have released since the hype surrounding the genre died off, but these failed to capture mainstream success.

These games use to be fun. I'm sure if I booted one back up and played it for a little while I'd have a lot of fun, but yeah, once you've played one of them, there's no reason to purchase another.

One of Ubisoft's newer franchises which now seems like it's completely dead after only 3 games, the last one being underwhelming. The first Watch Dogs was a success and is a solid game despite what certain people on the internet will have you believe after the controversy regarding the downgrade in graphics. The second installment had fun gameplay, but a poor story. The last game as of the making of this list is Legion, which admittedly took many risks, which Ubisoft can only be applauded for as it was very creative to be able to recruit any npc and then play as this character, but ultimately it fell short and the game killed most of the fan interest in the series.

Battlefield is becoming stale like its competitor Call of Duty, but I'm placing it lower, because it doesn't feel like the franchise overstays its welcome as much. The reason why the franchise has fallen from its former glory is because the last few games have failed to make fans of the series happy, especially the most recent entry, Battlefield 2042, which was slated at launch for bugs, missing content, disappointing implementation of new features like the tornado, and annoyance at a lack of "legacy features". Since its launch, the player count has dropped to never before seen lows.

Uncharted is one of the biggest PlayStation exclusive franchises and for good reason as these games have top notch storytelling and amazing voice acting. But now with main protagonist Nathan Drake's story having seemingly come to a close in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and with the recent live action film that came out in 2022 receiving mixed reviews, interest in the franchise is now at an all time low. We'll have to wait and see what the developers over at Naughty Dog have in store for the future of the franchise.

Gears of War was in its prime with the first three games, which are considered all time classics. The last two mainline games Gears of War 4 & 5 are struggling a bit to find their footing, so to speak, and have not garnered as much enthusiasm from fans compared to their predecessors. The latest game in the series is a spin-off game called Gears Tactics, a turn-based tactics video game, which is not terrible, but it is not what fans of the series are looking for obviously. There is still a chance that the developers can make a sixth game that will change all that, but we will have to wait and see.

The reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise with the 2013 game was a massive success and many games followed after it including two mainline titles, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and multiple mobile games. Unfortunately, the developers decided to keep the core gameplay of each game practically the same, making each game more boring than the last for many players.

Insert any sports series here. FIFA NBA2K but none are more so obvious rinse and repeat from year to year than Madden. EA is dirty and knows they don't have to try and people will buy the game because it's Madden. Just change the visuals slightly and call it a day. That's why I've lost some interest in this series over the past like 6-7 years

Same game with a upgraded roster. The plays have been the same since back in the ps2-Xbox era.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this on the list yet especially with how dry the Switch era is.