id: sequels "unfairly criticised"

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 14 June, 2011

"We do not see Rage as a one-off."

Rage developer id Software has defended the game industry's obsession with sequels, saying they're "unfairly criticised".

E3 2011 went big on sequels: Modern Warfare 3, Mass Effect 3, Saints Row 3, Battlefield 3, Gears of War 3, Uncharted 3, Resistance 3, Far Cry 3, Just Dance 3, Ninja Gaiden 3, Serious Sam 3, Arma3...

Some have complained of sequel fatigue, but according to id CEO Todd Hollenshead, sequels are good for game developers and good for gamers.

"Sequels are unfairly criticised," he said. "One regard is they're not original. You can do a lot of original things in a sequel as long as you're consistent and true to the universe that game comes up in.

"One of the great benefits of sequels is if enough people like the games you've been making and the universe they inhabit, they want to buy the next one. They weren't satisfying enough by it and wanted more of it. That means you've done something right.

"Why throw it all away and have to start all over every single time?"

Hollenshead guessed that criticism of sequels stems from the memory of a single, bad entry in a series that outweighs other entries.

"I'm not sure I can comment expertly on the psychology of all of it, but it's probably related to the fact that somebody always remembers the sequel of some movie that was the worst.

"Like, Road House 2 was really awful, or whatever series of whatever movie or whatever series from whatever game, where it took a nosedive.

"But all the other games that are done within that serialisation of it can be awesome."

One company whose sequels seem immune to criticism is Nintendo.

"Everything Mario started Donkey Kong," Hollenshead said. "How many sequels would that even be? You're getting into high Roman numerals, like Ms or Us.

"Mario Kart, just because you're not calling it Donkey Kong 17, doesn't mean it still doesn't have Mario in it, right?

"The reason why Nintendo has been to a great extent inoculated from criticism along those regards is they execute very well in the games they make."

And that's exactly what id is attempting to do with upcoming first-person shooter Rage – its first new IP in years.

If Rage is a success, sequels will happen. "We do not see Rage as a one-off," Hollenshead said. "We certainly hope we're going to have an enthusiastic response when the game comes out in October. That will drive us to make a next game and a game after that."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (26) Latest comment 11 months ago

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  • Johnson #1 12 months ago

    But... but... Roadhouse 2 was *awesome*

  • habitvate #2 12 months ago

    Does the same logic stretch to Halo 9 and COD 8?

  • Inmediasress #3 12 months ago

    So in other wordds get ready to see yearly installments of rage.
    That is if it is successful also it's funny from a company that didn't doo anything since doom3.
    Oh by the way COD says hello to all the boooooring unimaginetive sequels.

  • Doctor_What #4 12 months ago

    In the post-apocalyptic future there is no tetanus: this is why attractive women all feel comfortable wearing hotpants despite the amount of rusty metal they are constantly surrounded by.

  • bad09 #5 12 months ago

    I dunno, sequels are a weird one we all love seeing new games in a series we love. At the same time it's a double edged sword sometimes sequels ruin a series for you or you do end up with sequel fatigue.

    Look at that list up there all the 3rd game in a series (well MW3 is like the 157th in the series I think), throw in the increasing obession with yearly games and franchises can burn out pretty quickly. As an example I'm really surprised the amount of titles Ubi are squeezing out of AC, 3 in three years not including the handheld stuff.

    I know there is a lot of snobbery at sequels but I think playing more of what you enjoy is perfectly fine and ultimately sequels are good for the industry, just in smaller doses than we are currently seeing with the yearly FIFA like outings.

    / stilll foolishly holds hope for a sequel to G-Police and The Getaway
    Edited by bad09 at 14/06/11 @ 10:59

  • ucankurbaga #6 12 months ago

    we need Borderlands 2 badly.

  • DozyKipper #7 12 months ago

    And when we get to "3" sequels in the same generation, it's time for new hardware.

  • LHH #8 12 months ago

    Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't

    Resident Evil 2 was awesome, Resi 5 not so much. I guess it depends on how many sequels there are. I used to think sequels were a way of refining the game(s) but now it seems it's more for the money generated by the fanbase.

  • IronCladChicken #9 12 months ago

    Is ID Tech 5 just going to be used for this (& I guess Doom4) now?
    Seems a little late in the XBox/PS3 lifecycle to get many other developers onboard.

  • GiarcYekrub #10 12 months ago

    Where was Shadow Complex 2?

  • Pasco #11 12 months ago

    id already announced that they will be not licensing id tech 5 at all.

  • sfp_noodle #12 12 months ago

    I think the biggest issue we gamers have is that out of all those threequels mentioned, only 2 aren't shooters in one way or another.

  • IronCladChicken #13 12 months ago

    @Pasco
    Do you know if they still plan to make it open source?

    & Any idea how much that's going to hit their bottom line? - Wasn't it originally showcased back in 2007?

  • coolbritannia #14 12 months ago

    "I kinda have to play through ME3 just to see the end of Shepard's story"

    And that is why we have sequels. I want to see Fenix rescue his dad, and Shepherd save Earth, and Makarov get what's coming to him. Those are 3 games series I've invested in and I want to see the conclusions.

  • rudedudejude #15 12 months ago

    ROADHOUSE

  • Lankysi #16 12 months ago

    IMHO if a sequel is brought out for the sake of squeezing more money out of an IP and really doesn't push the series forward any, then yes, it should get all the hate and criticism it deserves.......for this read FIFA, Guitar Hero etc etc.

    If a series is pushed forward, if a story is seriously developed, if there are major new additions, if there was literally too much stuff to squeeze in the prequel, and above all, a really good job is made of it, I don't see a problem with a sequel.

    As someone said, if playing more of what you enjoy is what you want, a sequel is great.

    Borderlands 2 and Shadow Complex 2 are DEFINITELY in need of release!!!

  • nuanimal #17 12 months ago

    Three! Is the magic number!

    Three.

    Is the magic number (Lalalalala)

    No more less.

    Three..."



  • Tryhard #18 12 months ago

    Hell yeah to Borderlands 2.If it is good we want more of it.But there has to come a point where enough is enough...cough...COD...cough.

  • Rack #19 12 months ago

    "You can do a lot of original things in a sequel."

    Indeed, for example Portal 2 (2011) and Dune 2 (1992)

    Was there anything in-between those two? Can't think of anything off the top of my head...

  • Mister-Wario #20 12 months ago

    Rack: Red Steel 2 and Jak 2 went in pretty radical new directions from their predecessors.

  • Magrippinho #21 12 months ago

    I don't think many people despise sequels on principle, it's shameless sequels we hate.

    Whether you liked the previous two, Mass Effect 3 is a good thing because the whole "saga" was originally envisioned as a trilogy, which has allowed them to build an interesting story arc. The inevitable Mass Effect 4 will be "bad", because it means they intentionally left enough wiggle room to squeeze out more sequels.

    The same goes for Assassin's Creed: I find 2 to be a much improved and much needed sequel, while Brotherhood and (presumably) Revelations might be tweaking the base formula enough to be technically better and have important plot points dropping in, but they're mostly just stalling, just filler before we move on, on account of us already knowing where Ezio ends up.

    And, of course, I don't think anyone can defend the shamelessness of the Modern Warfare games.

    For a film analogy, The Hangover Part II is getting loads of bad press for being so much like the first one; But why? No day-one DLC, it doesn't crash and has new locales, new textures, new one-liners! What more could you possibly want?

  • mcreddie #22 12 months ago

    Egh, you know what this means? Rage will have one of those bloody cliffhanger endings...

  • TruWari3r #23 12 months ago

    @Iron Chicken

    Apparently Zenimax only wants to use the Id tech 5 engine for their own developers.

  • Snake_2011 #24 11 months ago

    if there great games I have no problem with it.
    Edited by Snake_2011 at 14/06/11 @ 17:30

  • BuckEntropy #25 11 months ago

    Umm, Nintendo also gets little criticism for "sequelitis" because it's virtually a taboo, and because the whole thing's an institution. Individually plenty of those games have been panned even. But one way or another no one cares, for some it's all they want and expect, for the rest it's invisible.

    And in the larger scheme the criticism is a completely rational response to the percentages. The vast majority of sequels ARE just more of the same and/or blatant cash-ins on the good will towards a clearly more inspired original. And there's no getting around the reality that the moment a mainstream game is popular enough to warrant a sequel, the concerns of second guessing expectation stifle at least half - and in practice more like 90% - of the potential for subsequent creativity.

  • petran79 #26 11 months ago

    Also some sequels have nothing to do with the original due to copyright and are rather spin-offs. Eg the neo geo fighter 'rage of the dragon', loosely tied to double dragon

    Compare titles like Metal Gear. What started as a good game with an ok b-movie plot in the 80s, expanded into a vast universe with the solid series that the creators had to cover some loopholes.

    Same with Resident Evil, Castlevania, Sonic, Mario, Monkey Island, Metroid etc. Like with american super heroes comics we get countless spin-offs
    So i get to know samus childhood or why mario choose to have a moustache or that link had a sister.

    I'd rather read a comic or watch a cartoon series or movie than having to play a whole game for such trivial issues
    (wishes secretly for a bubble bobble and dig dug epic story sequel)