Halo, Splinter Cell, Max Payne, and now God of War are all going backwards with remakes instead of new games
One of the biggest announcements made during Sony’s first PlayStation State of Play of the year wasn’t for a brand new game or a new entry in a popular franchise. It was instead a small teaser for a remake of the original God of War trilogy. This is just the latest example of a big series going backwards, and more proof that big publishers are getting more and more risk-averse, even with some of the most popular franchises around.
God of War Trilogy Remake, which is hopefully not the final name for the actual project, was announced on Thursday during the latest State of Play. TC Carson is back as the voice of Kratos, returning to the role he originated back during the original trilogy. That’s cool. And perhaps if this were the only big franchise returning to its past instead of moving forward, I’d be more jazzed about this announcement. The reality, however, is that this is becoming a depressing trend in the game industry.
Last year, Xbox announced that Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries) is remaking the original Halo: Combat Evolved, and it will launch in 2026 on Xbox Series X/S, PC, and PS5. Microsoft has promised more Halo games in the future, but it is very telling that after a few misfires, Xbox is running back to the safety of the first game for its next big project.
Fans have been wanting a new Splinter Cell game for a very long time. But instead, Ubisoft is working on a remake of the original game. When will this remake launch? Unclear. And considering how many games Ubisoft has recently canceled, including a remake of the first Prince of Persia game released on PS2, I’m not confident that the Splinter Cell remake will even happen.
Max Payne is a series that hasn’t received a new game since Rockstar’s Max Payne 3 back in 2012. So it’s disappointing that the next Max Payne project officially in development isn’t Max Payne 4 or an interesting spin-off, but instead a remake of the first two games being developed by series creators Remedy Entertainment.
Tomb Raider is also getting a full remake of its first game later this year in the form of Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis. This one is especially annoying because there already exists a remake of the first game, Anniversary, which was released in 2007. Not to mention the OG game was remastered not long ago. At least in this case, we do know that there’s a totally new Tomb Raider game in the works as well, Tomb Raider Catalyst, which is launching in 2027.
I’d also toss the upcoming Gears of War game, E-Day, on this pile. Sure, it isn’t a remake, but it is a prequel starring the original characters from the first game, Marcus and Dom, and it looks to be entirely focused on recapturing the nostalgic feelings of gamers who played the OG game 20 years ago on Xbox 360. Meanwhile, will we get a continuation of the characters and storyline established in Gears of War 4 and Gears 5? Maybe. But it will likely be years from now, if ever.
And now we can add God of War to this growing pile of old franchises going backwards instead of doing something new or unique with their established characters and lore. Video games are taking longer and longer to make and cost more money than ever. One flop can sink a studio or destroy a publisher. And even Xbox, Sony, Rockstar, and Amazon are so risk-averse these days that some of these big franchises are being forced to cash in on nostalgia instead of moving forward and telling new stories. Considering how successful last year’s Oblivion remaster/remake was, I’m not surprised publishers are continuing on in this direction. Welcome to the future, folks. It looks very familiar, doesn’t it?
