8 Gaming Franchises That Should Be Revived on PS5 or Xbox Project Scarlett

Sega knows what’s keeping them in business these days: Sonic the Hedgehog, Yakuza and Total War. That’s fine and dandy, but the lack of a new Virtua Fighter in recent years is disheartening. Fighting games are hotter than ever, so it’s strange to see the lack of Akira Yuki and his motley crew of martial artists on our current consoles. Dead or Alive 5 did right by the series by including some of the cast members as guest characters, so at least we know Tecmo Koei gives a damn about them. Virtua Fighter has always been a gorgeous fighter during every generation. With the hopes of an even stronger graphical presentation for the next-gen in place, another round of tightly tuned 3D fisticuffs from Sega would be ideal. 

Capcom’s resurgence as a publisher worth caring about again has been fun to watch. While Capcom’s fighting-game department still needs a bit of work, its action/adventure franchises have brought in the big bucks. The remake of Resident Evil 2, Monster Hunter: World and Devil May Cry 5 stand out as the company’s most recent triumphs. We all know what should be next on Capcom’s slate: a full-fledged remake of the first Dino Crisis. Just imagine how amazing Dino Crisis would look and play with the “RE Engine” running it. Gunning down raptors and other vicious dinosaurs with Regina in tow would be a home run for Capcom.

Ubisoft knows it has a lot of work to do when it comes to bringing its bigger franchises back to a better place. The release of Ghost Recon Breakpoint has been considered a dud, which has caused the longtime publisher to take a step back and work a bit harder to make upcoming releases more worthwhile. With this hopeful change in direction, we hope Ubisoft applies that mindset to giving the gaming world an epic Prince of Persia comeback. There’s no need for a new entry to adopt Ubisoft’s signature open-world game mechanics—all we need are beautifully stylized and wonderfully designed stages that allow the prince to pull off his best parkour maneuvers. 

Ryu Hayabusa has been hiding in the shadows for far too long. Yeah, we know he’s been busy trying to win fighting game tournaments, but we all know what everyone truly wants to do with the legendary ninja: lop off hapless enemies’ heads and spill blood all over the screen in a new Ninja Gaiden. The action-gaming genre is in dire need of another graphical powerhouse entry from Team Ninja that places Ryu in a bunch more harrowing situations. Anything that’s on par with the first and second rebooted entries in the series (and far from the ho-hum quality of Razor’s Edge and Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z) would suffice.

THQ Nordic’s vault is full of familiar titles that used to be at the forefront of gaming. Alone in the Dark, Destroy All Humans and Saints Row are now under THQ Nordic’s supervision and fully prepared to reclaim their top status at some point. One of the bigger titles in the stable is TimeSplitters, the time-traveling FPS series with the wildest cast of characters the genre has ever seen. All signs are now pointing to the franchise getting a massive new entry soon. THQ Nordic even revealed that Deep Silver hired Steve Ellis, one of the series’ original creators, to help steer the ship on the future of TimeSplitters. A full-on revival of the games’ immensely fun multiplayer and wacky campaign is something gamers need. It’s time to save time itself with Sergeant Cortez once again.

It’s a shame how EA has treated Burnout. The last time we got a new game from the car crashing IP, fans were given a lackluster top-down downloadable release. Sure, we got a remaster of Burnout Paradise. But EA knows the Burnout fan base is ready for something fresh from their favorite arcade-racing game series. Burnout focuses on causing the most impactful crashes and racing up to insane speeds. Dangerous Driving was just a taste of what a Burnout revival could be. With the financial backing of EA and a talented studio full of racing-game experts, a future Burnout should become a next-gen reality.

Samurai-centric games are back in the rotation again. Just look at what’s out and what’s coming soon from the sub-genre: the Samurai Shodown reboot, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Nioh 2 and Ghosts of Tsushima. 2020 seems like the perfect time for Capcom to put its armor-clad, katana-wielding horseback into the samurai-gaming race, right? Capcom tested the waters for the return of its sixth-generation franchise with a remaster of Onimusha: Warlords. We hope the public’s response warrants an Onimusha reboot for the new consoles. Give us a new badass lone samurai, an armory full of new elemental weapons and a new demon horde to tear through and we’ll be satisfied.

Every time E3 rolls around, Ubisoft loyalists keep their fingers crossed for a new Splinter Cell. Sadly, that dream scenario hasn’t happened in quite a while. Once E3 2020 arrives though, Ubisoft needs to break such a depressing streak and bring Sam Fisher back into the fold. The series has always looked amazing, which is why we’d be thrilled to see how it could visually perform on next-gen hardware. There’s a severe lack of stealth-based games out on the market, and we’re hungry for a new rendition of the supremely slept-on “Spies vs. Mercs” multiplayer mode. Splinter Cell has the capacity to return and become a heavy hitter once again during the next-gen era.