Lhamo Fitzsimons explores the formation of fanbases surrounding video game franchises.
Many modern video game franchises began with a small, persistent, and loyal following. The developers used a cohesive formula in terms of gameplay mechanics, music, art style and themes to create a game and a brand identity. Players could identify the game based on these factors, forming a specific image and distinguishing the game from its competition. The Fire Emblem franchise has many recurrent design features that sets it apart from other games and has grown from an obscure game in a niche genre to one of Nintendo's flagship franchises.
Fire Emblem famously had a major breakthrough from its inclusion in the Super Smash Bros series. Marth and Roy, protagonists of Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and The Binding Blade respectively, were introduced to the Western world as fighters in Super Smash Bros Melee and served as wildly successful marketing, creating interest in a series kept exclusively for a Japanese audience.
Unfortunately, this interest was followed with waves of low sales and poor marketing of later games and issues with how game difficulty was inaccessible to players. Some felt the permanent loss of your player characters upon death was too punishing. The games remained with their niche audience but struggled to reach wider audiences. That was until Fire Emblem Awakening. With new gameplay mechanics and improved labelling of the difficulty system, more player interaction with characters and player customizability being a focal point, Awakening brought Fire Emblem from the attention of a niche audience to the following of an international fanbase.
While this success saved the series from slowly dying out, it didn’t last. Following Awakening were games which focused either too much on gameplay with subpar stories, or prioritised style over substance and self-inserted protagonists over deep characters in Fire Emblem Fates. The release of the mobile game Fire Emblem Heroes helped sustain the growth of the series even through the criticism of Fates. However the series didn’t fully hit its stride until the Switch era of Nintendo.
With the advent of the Switch, many franchises associated with Nintendo were expected to produce a new game for the console. The fanbase of older, Awakening, Fates and Heroes fans waited with anticipation for the next installment. As such, the developers of Fire Emblem, Intelligent Systems, released the most successful game in the series to date, Fire Emblem Three Houses.This game is what brought the series into the mainstream audience, with many praising the intriguing storylines, memorable characters and replayability. The game exploded in popularity and sparked online discourse about favourite characters and plenty of online content creators had glowing recommendations of the game. This online engagement further carried the game’s popularity as it became the first Fire Emblem game for many players.
The state of play has changed over the years. Games attempting to begin franchises at present face a new set of challenges - such as competing with a sea of content and battling AI.
The gaming world could be said to be much more homogenous today, due to the acquisitions and mergers of developers, as well as the absorption of indie creators into larger conglomerates with excessive power and control. There has been a wave of acquisitions with no vision for player experience improvement, only a worrying focus on downsizing, investment return and monetisation.
However, at present the gaming market remains diverse with more categories existing than ever, more online accessibility than ever and the ability to fundraise via online funding campaigns and donations as well as the ability to market for free online via social media.