by Roald
Why No New IP?
Wasn’t that shadow drop of Oblivion Remastered an awesome surprise? As a massive TES fan, it was for me, and of course I insta-bought it. But beyond the hype, it made me reflect on a bigger trend: how AAA studios today increasingly rely on old IP, and why that’s both understandable and a warning sign.
Over the years, plenty of AAA studios have tried to build new IP, and have failed to garner the success they wanted around this. Their answer seems to be the safe solution; building on existing IP by creating prequels, sequels, or remastered versions. Leverage their existing audience rather than delve into unknown territory. While this solution is understandable, especially in a time where revenue often comes ahead of the art and passion of building cool new games (or communities), it might be one of the reasons AAA studios are suffering right now.
But first, it’s worth looking at how AAA studios managed to build successful IPs back then, and why they struggle now. To me, it seems quite simple; when most of those successful IPs launched, there weren’t as many games around. As an example, 2004 saw around 500 game releases in total, while 2024 had nearly 20,000 releases.
Every year, you had the choice of a few major AAA shooters, some RTS titles and a handful of RPGs. A community would form naturally; you either played Call of Duty, Counter-Strike or Medal of Honor when it came to tactical shooters, and the community around it grew organically.
Nowadays, dozens of new titles come out every day. A game is not guaranteed on the frontpage of Steam, so building a community is absolutely vital to your game’s success. Not after you go to market, but already before your game launches. You need to speak the language of your audience today (and the future), rather than the audience of the past.
Many AAA studios continue to thrive off the success of old IP, and seem to believe that’s still the way to market new games. You can no longer just launch a game and expect it to thrive. A community now needs to be molded, engaged with and supported. Those who have adapted to this have thrived, those who don’t will fall by the wayside.
The developers that master community building aren’t just marketing their games, but they’re building movements. In a crowded, noisy world, that’s what sets apart the next generation of IP.
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