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[StueyDuck]

Will we ever see a game in a well established IP that isn't advertised as such.

I recently stumbled upon a "impressions" vid on alien Isolation and about a certain moment where you can track the alien using the motion sensor before a scripted event even plays out, this put me on a thought tangent of how awesome that game would have been if i had played it having absolutely no clue it was a game In the alien franchise.

Now obviously not a perfect example due to so much iconography in the IP like weyland yutani and the motion sensor itself even being iconic.

Do we think any publisher will ever take such a risk for one of the biggest payoffs.

To be clear I don't mean game x is secretly in universe y. But a game that is secretly a sequel of a franchise.

We almost had this with PT.

 

[SmokedMeat]

No.

Firstly shareholders aren’t going to want this, and neither would the publisher. They want to make money, and this hampers that ability. Especially in regards to prepurchases.

Secondly gamers tend to have a fit when developers aren’t giving them updates or enough info on games. Such a game would be dragged through the mud if over the years of development, all they showed were a few nondescript trailers that give nothing away as to what the game’s about.

 

[nkarafo]

Conker kinda did this. With the same franchise you used as an example no less.

Than again Conker is a parody of popular things so it doesn't count.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Even assuming they'd be willing miss out potential hype, it'd be kinda pointless in today's world as it would become known in no time

 

[poppabk]

The pay-off isn't worth it. 99.9% of people will know the secret before they get to play it.

 

[killatopak]

I think the only game I experienced that was Muv Luv.

 

[Wildebeest]

There was talk and hints about Halo being a continuation of Marathon, but if that was ever the case Halo has drifted and since the IP are not even owned by the same company now that is a big no no.

Dead Space was initially planned as a System Shock game early in development, and there are still some similarities, but they made a hard break from that IP when Resident Evil 4 came out, and they chased that trend. I think for all the talk of Bioshock being a System Shock successor, it would still be easier to thematically put Dead Space in the same universe as System Shock, but I'm not even sure the ownership of the IP was settled back then and anyway EA don't have it now.

 

[Hudo]

Will we ever see a game in a well established IP that isn't advertised as such.

I recently stumbled upon a "impressions" vid on alien Isolation and about a certain moment where you can track the alien using the motion sensor before a scripted event even plays out, this put me on a thought tangent of how awesome that game would have been if i had played it having absolutely no clue it was a game In the alien franchise.

Now obviously not a perfect example due to so much iconography in the IP like weyland yutani and the motion sensor itself even being iconic.

Do we think any publisher will ever take such a risk for one of the biggest payoffs.

To be clear I don't mean game x is secretly in universe y. But a game that is secretly a sequel of a franchise.

We almost had this with PT.

I am actually not sure if you can do that legally. I think for most IPs it is kinda mandated that a product using such an IP has to be branded as such. I could be wrong, though.

 

[Deft Beck]

You can't really do this with most AAA mainstream games because of how the marketing cycle works. Even "The Phantom Pain" didn't make it until release before rebranding as MGSV.

The only example of this in recent memory was probably Deltarune, and Toby only got away with it because Undertale is a massive indie hit.

 

[The Fuzz damn you!]

For any game within an established IP setting, there are precisely zero game mechanics or experiences that rely upon that IP. Every such game could be reskinned and play out the same. The IP connection is pure marketing. It would be counter-productive, then, not to use that marketing for marketing.

 

[StueyDuck]

It really is sad that corpor

I am actually not sure if you can do that legally. I think for most IPs it is kinda mandated that a product using such an IP has to be branded as such. I could be wrong, though.

I think that depends on the IP though, but I get hear what you are saying.

Imagine playing a scary ass horror survival game from the coalition, playing like RE2remake or callisto protocol. And then halfway through the game you come to a point where you meet a Cog soldier or something. I think it would be such a fun twist we haven't seen in gaming before.

You can't really do this with most AAA mainstream games because of how the marketing cycle works. Even "The Phantom Pain" didn't make it until release before rebranding as MGSV.

The only example of this in recent memory was probably Deltarune, and Toby only got away with it because Undertale is a massive indie hit.

Kojima is really the only one who has at least attempted something like that. I don't know much about deltarune to be honest but if it is a secret sequel then that is cool.

There was talk and hints about Halo being a continuation of Marathon, but if that was ever the case Halo has drifted and since the IP are not even owned by the same company now that is a big no no.

Dead Space was initially planned as a System Shock game early in development, and there are still some similarities, but they made a hard break from that IP when Resident Evil 4 came out, and they chased that trend. I think for all the talk of Bioshock being a System Shock successor, it would still be easier to thematically put Dead Space in the same universe as System Shock, but I'm not even sure the ownership of the IP was settled back then and anyway EA don't have it now.

I did not know that about dead space. You learn something new every day.

I remember destiny also being considered a pseudo halo sequel until announced because it was semi teased in odst

 

[StueyDuck]

The pay-off isn't worth it. 99.9% of people will know the secret before they get to play it.

Well it hasn't really be done yet...

But I guess a good example is no one expecting split to be an unbreakable sequel leading up to glass.

We have such a unique medium in gaming I just find it so weird it hasn't been attempted.

It's part of what makes Kojima announcements fun (also insufferable because now everyone thinks every Kojima announcement is some sneaky twist)

Sometimes the dude just likes his food

 

[StueyDuck]

I think the only game I experienced that was Muv Luv.

I have no idea what that is so please do elaborate

 

[justiceiro]

Don't confuse courage with stupidity. It's a novel idea, but just that, novel. It won't make or break a big game.

Also, the phantom pain was basically that, but people figured out in like one day.

This isn't true for indies though. I'm still trying to find frog fractions 2.

 

[Hudo]

Maybe it is possible between IPs from one IP holder? For example, Sega could easily make a game that starts out as a Yakuza game and at some point Kiryu goes for a drive in his Subaru Impreza and suddenly he drives outside Yokohama on gravel and a late title card pops in saying "Sega Rally rev. 3". And suddenly the game is Sega Rally.

 

[StueyDuck]

Don't confuse courage with stupidity. It's a novel idea, but just that, novel. It won't make or break a big game.

Also, the phantom pain was basically that, but people figured out in like one day.

This isn't true for indies though. I'm still trying to find frog fractions 2.

I mean we all know it has the least monetary return to gain. Again that's why I say will they ever have the balls to do such a thing.

I think it can be done. Like elden ring easily could have ended with a splash saying dark souls 4 and it still would have murdered in sales. It would definitely take the right game in the right franchise.

 

[StueyDuck]

Maybe it is possible between IPs from one IP holder? For example, Sega could easily make a game that starts out as a Yakuza game and at some point Kiryu goes for a drive in his Subaru Impreza and suddenly he drives outside Yokohama on gravel and a late title card pops in saying "Sega Rally rev. 3". And suddenly the game is Sega Rally.

Hahaha the fact that hasn't happened yet disappoints me.

 

[killatopak]

I have no idea what that is so please do elaborate

It’s not exactly a game. It’s a visual novel. You know standard anime dating stuff and lots of comedy sprinkled. So it’s marketed as such. What’s surprising is that game you spent like 10-20 hours dating anime girls is actually a dream. The world is currently invaded by aliens in a post apocalyptic setting and that’s the real start of the game. Of course those people in your dream are there, it’s just not sunshine and roses like it did.

 

[Games of Today]

Absolutely not. It makes no sense from a marketing standpoint and you would be alienating half of the hidden IP's fans.

The closest thing to this is something like Control that takes place in the same universe as Alan Wake.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

OP, the complete opposite did happen once though. Metal Gear Solid 2 was entirely marketed as you playing as Snake, and then less than a quarter through the game you play an an entirely new, entirely different in every way, protagonist.

I think this is probably the only type of twist that can realistically occur, because it allows them to use the IP for all the benefits while still being able to do something creative. It also will never happen again because as MGS2 showed gamers are incapable of handling it.

 

[RoboFu]

IDK but Think maybe Gran Tourismo falls under this category? Awesome series but it really never have an extreme in your face its GT!!! marketing. It's always been more elegant and understated. At least in NA.

 

[kuncol02]

Imagine playing a scary ass horror survival game from the coalition, playing like RE2remake or callisto protocol. And then halfway through the game you come to a point where you meet a Cog soldier or something. I think it would be such a fun twist we haven't seen in gaming before.

And how would that work without player realizing that enemies are locust, weapons are straight from Gears and architecture, characters and vehicles scream Sera?

 

[StueyDuck]

And how would that work without player realizing that enemies are locust, weapons are straight from Gears and architecture, characters and vehicles scream Sera?

Well adding new creatures to the gears franchise is hardly a new idea.

And make it take place in some sort of giant run down mental asylum or something. You wouldn't need vehicles or anything like that.

But imagine the last 3rd of the game you break your way out,stuck on a massive frozen tundra and while walking through a storm you hear a distant rumble then you see a Cog infantry transport roll up or anything like that.

That's far more exciting to me personally than anything that's been set up for gears 6.

 

[Drew1440]

Unreal Tournament 3 kind of did this, at least according to the fanbase. Many saw it look and act like Gears of War rather than the traditional Unreal tournament games.

 

[StueyDuck]

I think the biggest miss was ubisoft not just saying watch dogs is future ass creed...

It would have given watch dogs at least some sort of interesting world story

 

[Bartski]

 

[Grildon Tundy]

This isn't true for indies though. I'm still trying to find frog fractions 2.

If you're being serious, this is Frog Fractions 2. I'm being serious:

Spoiler

 

[EverydayBeast]

For games to be a success developers got to take risks somehow otherwise it’s on automatic release like call of duty every year.

 

[ViolentP]

Videogames exist to generate revenue. If an IP has selling power, it will be capitalized on.

 

[The Stig]

Westwood Studios kiiiiinda did that with the first Red Alert game

Spoiler

Kane appears in the soviet ending

 

[Roni]

Will we ever see a game in a well established IP that isn't advertised as such.

I recently stumbled upon a "impressions" vid on alien Isolation and about a certain moment where you can track the alien using the motion sensor before a scripted event even plays out, this put me on a thought tangent of how awesome that game would have been if i had played it having absolutely no clue it was a game In the alien franchise.

Now obviously not a perfect example due to so much iconography in the IP like weyland yutani and the motion sensor itself even being iconic.

Do we think any publisher will ever take such a risk for one of the biggest payoffs.

To be clear I don't mean game x is secretly in universe y. But a game that is secretly a sequel of a franchise.

We almost had this with PT.

Game demos should do this, like a first level anyone can play through and the genre, some gameplay and the name of the game is then revealed at the end.

 

[Gojiira]

There was talk and hints about Halo being a continuation of Marathon, but if that was ever the case Halo has drifted and since the IP are not even owned by the same company now that is a big no no.

Dead Space was initially planned as a System Shock game early in development, and there are still some similarities, but they made a hard break from that IP when Resident Evil 4 came out, and they chased that trend. I think for all the talk of Bioshock being a System Shock successor, it would still be easier to thematically put Dead Space in the same universe as System Shock, but I'm not even sure the ownership of the IP was settled back then and anyway EA don't have it now.

Well Destiny is exactly that, there is a ton of references to Marathon and Durandal. Some of the warmind content in the game directly references events that were alluded to in Marathon.
I have no doubt the upcoming Marathon will come full circle with references to Destiny.

 

[Gojiira]

Also MGSV kinda did this, all the initial press and trailers were just ‘The Phantom Pain’, As soon as I saw a one armed man crawling though I got all giddy ‘Its MGSV!’ BUT it didnt stop a huge amount of discourse about it and the weird burn victim director.
Man that was a really hype period of time

 

[radewagon]

Shadow of the Colossus kind of did this, but I wouldn't call Ico an established IP, so not really. It's a neat idea, though. I hope we see an honest attempt at it at some point.

 

[MrKainobi]

Expecting to land on a planet in Starfield that looks like Skyrim. You get out of the ship, the HUD switches and the Dragonborn theme kicks in.

 

[Robb]

No.

Firstly shareholders aren’t going to want this, and neither would the publisher. They want to make money, and this hampers that ability. Especially in regards to prepurchases.

Secondly gamers tend to have a fit when developers aren’t giving them updates or enough info on games. Such a game would be dragged through the mud if over the years of development, all they showed were a few nondescript trailers that give nothing away as to what the game’s about.

Pretty spot on.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Will publishers ever have the balls​

Accolade did back in '94.

 

[Muffdraul]

Halo Reach. Bungie wanted to title it simply Reach. Of course, MS made the final decision, "no, obviously it's going to be called HALO Reach." Reminiscent of how the first game was supposed to be simply Halo, but MS forced them to staple on the 'Combat Evolved' tag. But yeah, I get it. It probably would have sold a few thousand fewer copies if it was just plain Reach.

 

[CamHostage]

Absolutely not. It makes no sense from a marketing standpoint and you would be alienating half of the hidden IP's fans.

The closest thing to this is something like Control that takes place in the same universe as Alan Wake.

Or Days Gone, which is quasi-connected to the Syphon Filter series.

There's an easter egg you can find which ties the Syphon program into the Days timeline plus there are agents wearing similar CBDC gear, and also, you can collect a taser towards the end. It kind of tries to make a connection but then the Syphon Filter virus wasn't really a monster-maker, it was a gene-targeting killer.)

Some people take that as an official tie-in, and sure, it makes enough sense for that to be taken as truth. However, it doesn't seem to add up to much more than fun fan fiction ultimately since there'd be no reason for Days to explore the lore of Syphon when it's got its own baggage to carry forward if it ever gets a sequel. So sure, Days Gone is Syphon Filter 7 if you want it to be, but without the characters or gameplay or lore or play style of Syphon Filter... in which case, does that matter?

And in these days of the internet, is it a special value in adding a big secret tie-together into a new product when it'll be spoiled within hours of the product's availability? PT had impossibly cryptic puzzles, yet it was solved while most people were still downloading the thing. I probably just now spoiled the Days Gone secret for some people who were still planning to finish the game some day. How could they possibly hide a game-changing secret for long enough that people might discover it themselves? And would the product be good enough (and sell well enough, even with the surprise kicking in extra sales afterwards,) to work as a stand-alone before people realize it's in a shared universe?

 

[cash_longfellow]

 

[Mr Hyde]

Would love something like this. PT is a great example of this. I remember how shocked I was when it was revealed to be a new Silent Hill. The best game that I can think of that resembles this idea is The Evil Within by Shinji Mikami. It felt like it could change into another Resident Evil anytime during the course of the game, given how much Mikami drew inspiration from his earlier work. The game has several callbacks to both Resident Evil 1 and Resident Evil 4. And honestly, I would've gone nuts if that was the case. That would be the most epic of twists.

It's a great idea if used properly but I don't think any publisher in the AAA-space would take such a risk. And I struggle to find any game director capable of pulling this off successfully. Shinji Mikami as mentioned earlier. Maybe Hideo Kojima because PT. Hidetaka Miyazaki could perhaps do it, seeing as he links most of his games to the Dark Souls -formula.

 

[CamHostage]

Would love something like this. PT is a great example of this. I remember how shocked I was when it was revealed to be a new Silent Hill.

Problem with that model is, they did this so early that there never ended up being a Silent Hills to tease. Just a name and a bodyscan of Reedus. (It's unlikely that SH would have played like PT, and nothing has leaked since of any actual gameplay developed for the project beyond PT.) You can kind of do that under the Publisher model, but with independent studios, it's hard for them to keep a secret (both in team control, but also in financing without reporting) all the way to launch.

The cool thing about modern digital distro though is that you can drop a release day-of-disclosure, if need be. So if a production could be made fast and cost-effectively, you could do it and stealth-release a big project. Very hard to keep in those parameters, but it worked for HiFi Rush and that game had no name to bank on (... but also, no name to value its announcement in a traditional fashion.)