Ever since Sony entered the gaming market on December 3, 1994, the PlayStation has served as one of the industry’s flagship brands. When it comes to timeless franchises and licenses, Sony is right up there with Nintendo; in fact, both companies rely on a handful of generation-transcending properties that have a proven track record of success.
Naturally, not everything Sony touches turns to gold. In some instances, a franchise begins strong before gradually losing steam; other times, a license filled with potential falls to the wayside due to an underperforming debut title. There is no surefire recipe for success, as these PlayStation franchises clearly illustrate.
10 Successful: God Of War
Over the last two decades, SIE Santa Monica Studio has dedicated all of its energy to establishing God of War as THE PlayStation franchise. Filling the void left by the PlayStation 1’s litany of mascots that mostly struggled to make the jump to the sequel console, 2005’s brutal God of War acted as a proof of concept that would serve as a launching pad for a beloved franchise that has survived three console generations.
When God of War and Kratos faced irrelevancy following the PS3’s disappointing Ascension prequel, Santa Monica spun the license in a completely different direction for 2018’s fantastic PS4 sequel.
9 Failed: Heavenly Sword
Expecting any new license to surpass God of War is simply setting it up for failure, but Ninja Theory’s hack and slash property seemed to have all the ingredients to, at least, become a solid B-tier PlayStation franchise. Despite a fluid and fun combat system, animation that still looks great, and a pretty awesome protagonist, Heavenly Sword still fell short of expectations, both critically and commercially.
Despite plans for a trilogy, Heavenly Sword’s sequel was canceled and the series ended up being a one-and-done affair.
8 Successful: Uncharted
With Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter, and The Last of Us to its name, Naughty Dog’s pedigree is beyond question. Whether crafting hard-hitting cinematic masterpieces, iconic platformers, or awesome kart racers, Sony’s studio will almost certainly craft something that is worth playing.
Out of all of Naughty Dog’s properties, Uncharted is arguably the most successful. Producing four (generally) highly-regarded mainline entries, one excellent standalone title in The Lost Legacy, and a pretty good handheld spin-off by SCE Bend Studio, Uncharted is synonymous with quality.
7 Failed: PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
Sony’s answer to Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros., PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale wanted so badly to be the latter, it ended up working to its detriment. Rather than crafting a fighting game that complemented its roster, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale mainly took the Super Smash Bros. formula and tweaked it slightly to create a similar but worse experience.
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale should have been the start of something beautiful and distinct, as Sony has created more than enough famous characters to justify a crossover game.
6 Successful: Ratchet & Clank
Now, in all fairness, the 2010s was not the greatest decade for Ratchet & Clank; however, that can be somewhat credited to the sheer amount of success Insomniac Games’ license enjoyed during the 2000s. Ratchet & Clank was so popular, Sony ended up overexposing the series with an array of spin-offs and unsatisfying entries during the PS3 era.
Even if it is starting to feel like the series will never return, Ratchet & Clank went out with one of the best games on the PS4. Furthermore, 2016’s remake made bank.
5 Failed: The Getaway
Inspired by the success of Grand Theft Auto III, The Getaway was just one example of a game that tried to ape Rockstar’s sandbox formula. Primarily set in London and telling its story from the perspective of an ex-bank robber and also a cop, The Getaway’s penchant for realism and British setting helped differentiate it enough from GTA to justify its existence.
The Getaway can be considered a minor success, but its 2004 sequel, The Getaway: Black Monday, and PSP spin-off, Gangs of London, can make no such claims.
4 Successful: Tomb Raider
Nowadays, Lara Croft cannot be considered as solely a PlayStation mascot, but the adventurer earned her stripes on Sony’s hardware. Tomb Raider helped put PlayStation on the map and cemented Lara Croft as one of gaming’s most influential icons. As often was the case during the PlayStation 1 and 2 eras, Sony did run the franchise into the ground with annual releases that, naturally, resulted in diminishing returns.
Tomb Raider has hit its share of speedbumps, but the franchise’s high points vastly exceed the low.
3 Failed: Starhawk
1995’s Warhawk and 2007’s Warhawk are fantastic flight-combat games that rightfully rank among the genre’s best, although the latter’s lack of single-player content has effectively made it impossible to revisit.
A spiritual successor to 2007’s entry, 2012’s Starhawk added a (tame) story mode and some light strategic building mechanics to Warhawk’s already brilliant core gameplay. While failing to reach the same height as its predecessors, Starhawk was still a solid game that was let down by poor marketing and a multiplayer that struggled to catch on. This franchise is effectively dead in the water.
2 Successful: Gran Turismo
By 2019, Gran Turismo Sport had only shipped roughly 8 million copies on the PlayStation 4. For any other franchise, that would be considered excellent, but Sony’s racing series is used to leading the pack.
1997’s Gran Turismo was the best-selling game on the PS1, Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec was only outsold by GTA: San Andreas and Vice City on the PS2, and Gran Turismo 5 was only outdone by GTA and Call of Duty on the PS3. Unless Sony plans to pay all in the money in the world to acquire Rockstar, the company really cannot do any better than Gran Turismo.
1 Failed: Genji
Seldom can one point to the exact moment when a franchise failed; therefore, in some ways, Genji is pretty unique. The PS2’s Genji: Dawn of the Samurai was a solid hack and slash game that earned a launch date sequel for the PS3. While not a huge license, it could have been a decent filler title to satisfy new buyers.
Then, at E3 2006, Genji: Days of the Blade became something of a laughing stock when its claim to be based on historical battles coincided with gameplay footage of a giant crab. Genji already had little in the way of hype, but this blunder turned the franchise into the one with the giant enemy crab. There is no recovering from that.
NEXT: 10 Great PlayStation 4 Games For Killing Time
