So, you want to make an award winning video game series, or as they call it in Ubisoft and EA: “a cash cow”? Well, look no further than this simple guide which can get you there in the smallest of steps. First of all you need an interesting and novel idea. Perhaps you are an assassin who jumps into hay bales, perhaps you have a chainsaw attached to a machine-gun. You’re Batman? No, I think that’s been done before… Oh, you want to make a GOOD Batman game? Well, then, proceed directly to Step 2! Step 2 is easy, by now you’ve made a successful and exciting video game which may have even won awards and has generated enough capital for you to make another game. For Game Two *huuurrk* The Revengeancing you just need to have a look at what people liked and didn’t like about the first game! Easy-peasy! They like the combat and the stealth, then give them MORE of it! They dislike the enclosed size of the map and difficulty in traveling around, well make the map bigger and give them the ability to extend their glides almost indefinitely! They think there are a little too many Riddler trophies? Well… Perhaps that’s not the best example… The point is, that making a second game is as simple as simply making MORE of Game One (with the wrinkles ironed out). But then one gets to game three. Game Three is the hard one, by this point people will start expecting good things from your games. They’ll want more of what they liked from the first two, but now will also want OTHER new things to excite them as well. From here, you’re pretty much on your own because the third game often seems to be something of a stumbling block for franchises (unless your Bethesda or Rockstar, who will literally NEVER fail at making a good game). Continue reading →