Some of themost popular open-world gamefranchises had to rise from the bottom to become what they are today: iconic brands with millions of fans worldwide. Ever since their opening titles were launched, these franchises have had to deal with more than just the underwhelming first games or low sales issues.
From the most iconic franchise of the RPG genre to the top-rated open-world Western game, all of them suffered a lot of review bombing and technical difficulties. Some had to reinvent themselves, and some even had to deal with games media branding them as “bad for children,” suffering an onslaught of criticism. It was a hard, rough start, but all these franchises wouldn’t be as successful as they are today if not for their storied origins.
The story ofThe Witchergame franchise began back in 2007, with a small Polish Indie company that vouched for one of the most underrated fantasy book franchises around. While everyone was still suffering fromHarry Potterfever, the dark fantasy saga created by Andrzej Sapkowski received the video game treatment for the first time.
But the first iteration of this game didn’t collect as much revenue as it was expected, much to the author’s distaste, who didn’t believe in the potential of furthering the book storyline in video game form. After a rough start, CD-Project Red would try again, releasingThe Witcher 2: Assassin Of Kings, a title that received quite a bit of praise and became a critical stepping stone in what would ultimately becomeone of the best open-world RPGs of all time. WhenThe Witcher 3: The Wild Huntwas released, everyone came to know the exploits of Geralt of Rivia, and the franchise enjoyed the rewards of over 10 years of hard work.
Watch Dogswas born as a great idea for an open-world game, with a fresh take on the freedom-fighting trope and a focus on urban combat like no other game had envisioned before. However, the first game received an overload of criticism due to its many technical difficulties, bugs, glitches, and broken AI. Although the devs worked a lot to correct these issues, the game made solid sales.
WithWatch Dogs 2,the franchise rose to its optimal state, upgrading its narrative quality and introducing the best character of the brand: Marcus Halloway. The improved open-world experience and great mechanics were also major factors in the rise of this franchise into an iconic one. And even thoughWatch Dogs: Legionreceived its fair share of criticism, it did what no other game dared to do: allowing players to play as basically any NPC, switching characters with unique backgrounds and picking up heroes to fight the system with everyday citizens.
Grand Theft Autohas been a never-ending source of controversy and a constant focus of conflict between non-gamers and players. Used as an example every time violence rose in the streets with the premise that “kids are under the influence ofGTA,” it had to put up not only with a bad reputation but also several boycotts.
Still, its limited graphics were what limited this game, and it wasn’t until it made the jump to 3D that gamers saw the true potential of theGTAfranchise. WithGTA 3, Rockstar began a rise to power like few game companies have the luxury of bragging about. Having sold hundreds of millions of copies (among all its iterations), this franchise isone of the most successful video game franchises of all time. But, it wouldn’t be what it is today if it had stuck to its classic Isometric 2D format.
TheRed Deadfranchise has had quite a road-worn journey. Its first iteration,Red Dead Revolver, suffered quite a lot of technical issues: clunky controls, poorly explained mechanics that ended up killing players, and even a game crashing bug that deleted the game’s progress.
According to Dan Houser,Red Dead Revolveris not included in the franchise’s canon, but it’s undeniable thatRed Dead Revolverwas the clear origin point for the whole franchise. After a rough start, this franchise touched the sky withRed Dead Redemption, one of the best games ever made (according to Metacriticand general audience opinion). So, you could say that the franchise redeemed itself and became an open-world icon.
Climbing to the top of the list of iconic open-world game franchises that had a rough start,Assassin’s Creedstarted small and becamemuchbigger with its second iteration. But first, it had to overcome some serious technical difficulties and design errors that dragged along several of its many iterations. Crashes, bugs, corrupted data-file errors, port errors, and countless other issues haunted this title.
WithAssassin’s Creed 3, the devs took a leap of faith (pun intended) and re-envisioned the brand, slowly but steadily paving the way to turn this single-player open-world action franchise into a modern open-world Action-RPG. It reached its full potential withAssassin’s Creed: Black Flag, which many believe is thebest naval game ever made. Then, the franchise tried some new things withAssassin’s Creed UnityandSyndicate. Ultimately, it was withAssassin’s Creed: Originsthat the franchise became what it is today: a full-fledged open-world RPG, with breathtaking graphics and a top-notch combat system.Assassin’s Creedmight have lost its original essence, but it has gained quite a lot on its long and tortuous path to greatness.
