5 Video Game Franchises That Need An Extended Break

The video game industry is often driven by series. When a studio knows it has a hot commodity, it’s hard not to continue going back to the well over and over again. However, we’ve seen series like Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero run into the ground with constant releases. Additionally, releasing new games every few years makes it challenging to truly iterate and advance the series. With all that in mind, there are a few long-running series that could use a break. Whether to give players a reason to miss them or to take extra development time to discover new ways to push the next game forward.

Here are five series that could use an extended break.

5) Every Sports Series

It’d be a boring (but accurate) list to simply put down every sports series. NBA 2K, Madden, EA Sports FC, and The Show could all use an extra year or two to iron out gameplay kinks and develop better modes, so it makes more sense to group them all together.

Of course, this would never happen. The companies that make these games make way too much money from selling a new game every season, but it’s hard not to fantasize about everything a team like Sony San Diego could do with some extra time in the oven. Just imagine how much better Storylines mode could be with an extra year. It’s never happening, but in this list, we can dare to dream.

4) Like a Dragon

Like a Dragon (formerly Yakuza) hasn’t taken one year off since 2015. In fact, many times Ryu Ga Gotoku gives fans more than one game per year. In many ways, I admire the studio’s ability to churn out new games with so much quality, but as someone who wants to play all of their games, it’s starting to feel like I’m drowning.

Look, every Like a Dragon game takes a few dozen hours if you want to experience everything. And to be clear, you want to experience everything because RGG has some of the best side content on the planet. So here, I’m really just asking for a break. Just give me a year off to catch back up. Plus, imagine how good those side quests could be if RGG took a vacation every once in a while.

3) Resident Evil

As one of the biggest Resident Evil fans on the planet, I’m very happy that Capcom continues to churn out new games in the series. However, it’s worth noting that, between remakes and new games, we’ve had six games since 2017. I’m not saying Capcom is running out of new ideas, but I am saying that there aren’t too many games left to remake.

Capcom probably has three more remakes left in the chamber: RE 0, RE 1, and Code Veronica. Capcom could absolutely take another stab at RE 5 and 6 at some point, but I’m not sure what the appetite for those would be. Because of that, Capcom should slow down a bit. Once they run out of remake material, they’ll have to come up with something new. Whether that’s spin-offs in the vein of Revelations or something else, the team could buy itself some time by taking things a little slower. Plus, that’d help make new launches feel a bit more special.

2) Assassin’s Creed

Assassin’s Creed has had 14 mainline entries since 2007. That’s a ridiculous candence, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon. Ubisoft has already announced two upcoming games in Jade and Codename Hexe. Additionally, we know they’re working on more remakes for the future, following in Resident Evil‘s footsteps.

While most Assassin’s Creed games are firmly in the “fine” territory, it could be so much more. If Ubisoft could give it extra time in the oven, we might see something that could redefine open-world stealth. Instead, we’re given a new game with an impressively massive map filled with disappointingly boring content. I’m not breaking any new ground by saying Assassin’s Creed could use a break, but until Ubisoft does it, we have to keep banging that drum.

1) Call of Duty

This is the obvious top pick. Call of Duty has, without fail, gotten a new entry every single year since 2005. And you can’t really blame Activision for running it into the ground. CoD often ends the year as the best-selling game, so it would be silly to leave that money on the table.

So let’s get silly. After all, Black Ops 7 was a massive dud with critics and fans. It sold fewer copies in its launch month than Black Ops 6, and as of mid-December, was only the seventh best-selling game in the US for 2025. Importantly, that puts it behind Battlefield 6, its main competition for the year. That’s not enough to force Activision to take a year off, but it should be.

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