The video game industry is ripe with sequels, meaning there are some franchises that have been around for decades. However, it’s hard to remain consistent over that amount of time. After a number of games, it can be harder to innovate or deliver the level of quality that fans expect. It’s understandable that not every game can be a winner, but there are a few franchises that have managed to meet or even raise the bar with every single entry. In many of these cases, they have actually helped the franchise grow in popularity, despite already being juggernaut blockbuster IPs.
This list isn’t ranked, but merely a collection of some of the most consistent video game franchises out there. There may be other franchises that repeatedly only release great games as well, but these felt like five of the most notable examples.
5) Forza Horizon
The Forza Horizon franchise has been one of Xbox’s most reliable franchises. Although Halo and Gears of War have been around longer, their quality has fluctuated; however, Forza Horizon has remained steady and has only grown in popularity, especially with the release of Forza Horizon 5 on PS5. The arcade-y racing franchise takes the highly detailed graphics and carefully refined mechanics and controls of the Forza Motorsport franchise, but makes it more accessible for a broader audience with less simulator-y races. It’s one of the best racing franchises we have today and has seemingly even managed to outlive the Motorsport games.
4) God of War
God of War is a very important franchise to PlayStation, having been one of the key IPs that began back on PS2. The series created its own brand, particularly for its over-the-top violence, hack and slash action, and much more. The core trilogy concluded in 2010 before a prequel game called God of War: Ascension came along in 2013. While nothing groundbreaking, it was a very well-received game, but it also signaled the end of an era.
Five years later, the franchise underwent a soft reboot, retaining the continuity of Kratos’ journey, but offering a new entry point to newcomers as well. The gameplay radically changed, the tone changed, and it made God of War feel refreshing while also elevating its popularity.
3) Hitman
The Hitman series is a franchise that crafted a brilliant formula with its very first game, but has perfected it with each new game. Eventually, Hitman: Absolution tried to make things a bit more linear and went heavy on the story, but it was still a pretty solid game with fun levels, solid stealth mechanics, and yet another great performance from Agent 47 actor David Bateson. With that said, the series really excelled with Hitman: World of Assassination, a trilogy of games that relished in sandbox gameplay that encourages countless replays.
Despite IO Interactive’s focus on 007 for the time being, Hitman will return. Only time will tell exactly what that might look like when it happens, but it’s hard to imagine them messing up now.
2) Batman Arkham
The Batman Arkham franchise totally changed the action/adventure genre as we know it. The rhythmic combat became a gold standard for any game with melee action, inspiring the Spider-Man games, Shadow of Mordor, and a number of other third-person action games. Not only that, but each game managed to deliver a riveting new Batman story that stands out from any other iteration of the character.
Although Arkham Knight concluded the main trilogy in 2015, the franchise is still going. Despite being a VR game, Batman: Arkham Shadow is a fantastic Batman game and arguably one of the best in the franchise. It’s unfortunate it’s not more accessible, but it is still a great addition to the series.
1) Grand Theft Auto
The Grand Theft Auto franchise has been going since the 90s and is one of, if not the biggest, series in gaming history. Fans are anxiously awaiting Grand Theft Auto VI, but the other games in the series are still going strong. GTA 5 remains one of the most played games out there, still selling millions of copies every year, and older games like GTA 4 and the GTA trilogy are solidified as classics.
Of course, the only real exception here is that the remastered GTA trilogy was a mess, but those technically weren’t new games. Nevertheless, Grand Theft Auto is one of the most consistent franchises in gaming thanks to Rockstar’s pursuit of perfection.
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