History AudienceAlienatingEra / VideoGames

** 2018 was arguably the year when Blizzard's dark age started. That year's Blizzcon convention was overshadowed by the negative audience reception to the [[MobilePhoneGame mobile]]-[[NoPortForYou exclusive]] ''Diablo Immortal''. What was supposed to be climactic announcement of a new mainline ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' game turned out to be a mobile spin-off, which infuriated fans who spent upwards of $200 in hopes to witnessing a mainline title announcement. It didn't help that Blizzard game developer Wyatt Cheng impulsively and insensitively asked "Do you guys not have phones?", which quickly became an internet meme. One month later, ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' saw its [[UsefulNotes/ProfessionalGaming e-sports side]] abruptly shuttered with participating professional gamers not receiving prior notification or compensation. Thus that year ended with several fans questioning whether Blizzard was still in-touch with its audiences.

** 2020 didn't improve for Blizzard. ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III: Reforged'' became one of the worst video game remakes as it not only failed to match trailer footage but also ended up deleting fan mods of the original title. However, the biggest casualty of that year was Blizzard's signature HeroShooter ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}''. The UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic scuttled that year's ''Overwatch'' League as social distancing orders made in-person stadium events impossible. Furthermore, ''Overwatch'' experienced a sharp drop in playercount and revenue due to competition from newer Hero Shooters, most notably ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'' and ''VideoGame/{{Valorant}}'', and the because of Blizzard's decision to stop updating the game to work on its sequel.

** 2018 was arguably the year when Blizzard's dark age started. That year's Blizzcon convention was overshadowed by the negative audience reception to the [[MobilePhoneGame mobile]]-[[NoPortForYou exclusive]] ''Diablo Immortal''. What was supposed to be climactic announcement of a new mainline ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' game turned out to be a mobile spin-off, which infuriated fans who spent upwards of $200 in hopes to witnessing a mainline title announcement. It didn't help that Blizzard game developer Wyatt Cheng impulsively and insensitively asked "Do you guys not have phones?", which quickly became an internet mem. One month later, ''VideoGame/HeroesOfThe Storm'' saw its [[UsefulNotes/ProfessionalGaming e-sports side]] abruptly shuttered with participating professional gamers not receiving prior notification or compensation. Thus that year ended with several fans questioning whether Blizzard was still in-touch with its audiences.

** 2019 saw Blizzard becoming the center of international controversy when the company punished ''[[VideoGame/HearthstoneHeroesOfWarcraft Hearthstone]]'' e-sports player Ng "Blitzchung" Wai Chung by suspending him for a year and taking away his winnings after he voiced support for the 2019 Hong Kong protests during an interview. Blizzard's response spurred furious protests from not only Blizzard's audience, but also from fans of other video games, Blizzard's own employees, the general public and politicians, all accusing the company of engaging in censorship to appease the Chinese government and Blizzard's Chinese investors so their games [[BannedInChina wouldn't be banned]].[[note]]While some believed "Blitzchung" should be punished for making a political speech during a non-political interview (which is against Blizzard's rules), even they thought his punishment was disproportionately harsh and more about appeasing Chinese censors, especially since several professional ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' players received lighter punishments for racism and sexism.[[/note]] The controversy was so severe that it not only prompted a boycott by professional ''Hearthstone'' players, but also overshadowed the release of the otherwise positively received ''[[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft World of Warcraft: Classic]]''.

* The "Compilation of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''", spearheaded by ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'', is seen as one for the ''FFVII'' sub-franchise. ''Advent Children'' was met with highly mixed reception, and many fans were not happy with the {{Flanderization}} of various characters, particularly Cloud, who was bashed as the kind of "emo pretty-boy" stereotype that [[NeverLiveItDown eventually became a frequent point of criticism]] for ''Final Fantasy'', and Square Enix, as a whole. As the Compilation continued to build up, most of the other entries like ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'' were also met with similar criticisms and polarizing reception. While a few standouts like ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' were positively received, they [[ToughActToFollow weren't as prestigious and loved as the original game]].
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'', the ''Chains of Promathia'' expansion is considered to be a low point of the game's run by many, many, '''many''' players. Reasons included grueling boss fights that required [[CripplingOverspecialization very specific party combinations]] and [[LuckBasedMission a fair amount of luck to win]], a main plotline that centered around an insufferably obnoxious {{Jerkass}} who was [[CreatorsPet constantly hyped up as as the best thing ever]] by the narrative, storylines that were {{left hanging}} between updates, Notorious Monsters that were amazingly gimmicky with incredibly low drop rates for gear, ''and'' pop items for further Notorious Monsters. The era was also known for the infamous "Ranger Nerf" that, while somewhat justified in the fact that the Ranger job was [[GameBreaker/FinalFantasy severely overpowered compared to other jobs]], went way too far and made it into one of the weakest jobs in the game (this nerf was partially countered years later after Samurai became the new overpowered pet-job of the dev team). Combined with the first unbeatable boss of the game, the Jailer of Love, which was then nerfed to make way for the new unbeatable boss [[ThatOneBoss Absolute Virtue]], quite a lot of mid to end-game players left ''FFXI'' to play ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. Not that ''Chains of Promethia'' was completely terrible; the mission storyline is among the longest and most interesting in the game (and better than some of the storylines of the main games), created systems and fights that are still popular years later like Limbus, [=ENMs=], Bahamut, and Ouryu, and included many in-depth optional side quests such as Adventuring Fellows (your own personal NPC). Changes to the mission fights were made to help players, such as making the fights easier, removing the experience penalty if they fall during battles, rewarding players with experience if they help people with the battles, and easing the restrictions of special items that help to make the battles easier- but these were made after the next expansion, ''Treasures of Aht Urhgan'', when most players will agree that the era ended with a vengeance with a completely new philosophy in game design. (That it shouldn't be terrible to do things in the game.) Many people look fondly at the ''Chains of Promethia'' expansion, mainly because time has passed and people don't quite remember the original [[NintendoHard controller-throwing difficulty]] of the unnerfed missions, or they had only played the missions after they had been nerfed. Also, not losing thousands upon thousands of XP to the then unnerfed Jailer of Love and the still-to-this-day unnerfed Absolute Virtue may well help to keep those glasses rose-colored.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' and the entire ''[[Franchise/FabulaNovaCrystallisFinalFantasy Fabula Nova Crystallis]]'' are one of Square Enix's lowest points depending on who you ask. [[CriticalDissonance In spite of how well it reviewed]], the original game was criticised by a number of fans for many aspects, primarily its linearity, convoluted narrative and controversial cast. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2 The sequel]], while seen as better by some for addressing many aspects of the first game, it still had it's detractors for a convoluted story based in time travel shenanigans and an abrupt DownerEnding. By the time [[VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII the third game]] came out, [[ArcFatigue many people had just stopped caring]]. Not helped by it coming out at the end of UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames. Even outside of the XIII sub-franchise itself, Square Enix had begun to push Lightning in some of their other products, including ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia 012 [duodecim]: Final Fantasy]]'' [[SpotlightStealingSquad giving her a prominent role in the game]], leading to many accusing her of being a CreatorsPet.

** When the game launched in 2010, there were lots of bugs, terrible optimization that made the game run sluggishly for most PC users, and many game mechanics that were not looked upon favorably, such as having experience points being reduced in gains if you try to level up too much. Once the development team got replaced with new faces, the game was reworked from the ground up and relaunched 3 years later with favorable results; players could complete quests at their own leisure, items were mostly easy to obtain, and the game was very stable and optimized. However, a second audience-alienating era came along shortly after the rerelease; certain materials were hard to find or buy due to people and bots alike farming the materials and then selling the materials back on the market for absurdly high prices. End game gear that wasn't part of a loot drop were regulated to many weeks (or even months) of grinding for special tomes that were needed to obtain said gear. A few patches did address the issues, but the next major patch introduced more problems with the Atma system where players had to get 12 specific items from 12 specific events that pop up at random times in order to power up their InfinityPlusOneSword. The problem is that the events can take ''hours'' to appear and the items from the event have ridiculously low drop rates. The fanbase had exploded in anger over the Atma system and some have compared it to the same systems that were used in ''Final Fantasy XI''.

** 2018 was arguably the year when Blizzard's dark age started. That year's Blizzcon convention was overshadowed by the negative audience reception to the [[MobilePhoneGame mobile]]-[[NoPortForYou exclusive]] ''Diablo Immortal''. What was supposed to be climactic announcement of a new mainline ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' game turned out to be a mobile spin-off, which infuriated fans, many of whom spent upwards of $200 in hopes to seeing a mainline title announcement in personto attend an event in hopes of seeing a new mainline title. It didn't help that game developer Wyatt Cheng impulsively and insensitively asked "Do you guys not have phones?", which quickly became an internet mem. One month later, ''VideoGame/HeroesOfThe Storm'' saw its [[UsefulNotes/ProfessionalGaming e-sports side]] abruptly shuttered with participating professional gamers not receiving prior notification or compensation. Thus that year ended with several fans questioning whether Blizzard was still in-touch with its audiences.

** 2020 didn't improve for Blizzard. ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III: Reforged'' became one of the worst video game remakes as it not only failed to match trailer footage but also ended up deleting fan mods of the original title. However, the biggest casualty of that year was Blizzard's signature HeroShooter ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}''. The UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic scuttled that year's ''Overwatch'' League as social distancing orders made in-person stadium events impossible. Furthermore, Blizzard announced that the company will stop updating ''Overwatch'' to work on its sequel. Subsequently, ''Overwatch'' saw its active player base and revenue drop as players migrate to newer Hero Shooters like ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'' and ''VideoGame/{{Valorant}}''.

** 2022 and 2023 marked the twilight years of Blizzard as an independent titan of gaming. 2022 saw the release ''Overwatch 2'', which while having much initial fanfare at launch as a free-to-play game, soon struggled to maintain a playerbase due to its controversial monetization and the belated and pared down addition of a much touted PvE mode. 2023 had ''Diablo IV'' which became the best selling game in Blizzard history and earned $666 million within the first five days of release. Yet 2023 also marked the end of the ''Overwatch'' League as Blizzard's attempt to create a multination franchise-based eSports league proved financially unsustainable. The one sliver of hope for Blizzard is the pledge by new company owner Microsoft to provide a more inclusive and hands-off work environment. For now, only time will tell if Blizzard can return to glory under Microsoft's leadership.

** After the failure of ''Undercover'', 2010's ''Hot Pursuit'' saw the series given to Creator/CriterionGames, and it marked the beginning of the "Autolog era" (after the online social gameplay system introduced with this game) spanning the early 2010s where the series would cater far more to exotic fans than tuner fans. Naturally, exotic fans tend to like this era and regard it as a comeback for the series (and warmly embraced the news of ''Hot Pursuit 2010''[='=]s UpdatedRerelease in 2020), while tuner fans generally regard it as the series' point of no return. 2011's ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedTheRun The Run]]'' was criticized at the time for [[ItsShortSoItSucks its lack of content]] and wound up as [[CreatorKiller the final nail]] in EA Black Box's coffin, but since then, its [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome beautiful graphics, highly cinematic presentation]], and ''Film/CannonballRun''-inspired plot have caused it to be rediscovered as a hidden gem. The 2012 ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedMostWanted2012 Most Wanted]]'' game, however, has not been so lucky, seen by many tuner fans (who regard the 2005 ''Most Wanted'' as a SacredCow) as a [[DivorcedInstallment reskinned]] ''Burnout'' sequel with a near-total lack of customization, a weird handling model, and some {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s. The 2010 free-to-play online game ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedWorld World]]'' was also controversial for its [[BribingYourWayToVictory grindy, pay-to-win nature]].

** 2018 Blizzcon was overshadowed by the negative audience reception to the [[MobilePhoneGame mobile]]-[[NoPortForYou exclusive]] ''Diablo Immortal''. What made the audience backlash so notable was that the ''Immortal'' reveal was the climactic event of the convention, which disappointed fans, many of whom piad upwards of $200 to attend an event in hopes of seeing a new mainline ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' title. It didn't help that designer Wyatt Cheng impulsively and insensitively asked "Do you guys not have phones?", which gave the impression that Blizzard was out of touch with its fans. One month later, ''VideoGame/HeroesOfThe Storm''
** Then in 2019, Blizzard became the center of international controversy when the company punished ''[[VideoGame/HearthstoneHeroesOfWarcraft Hearthstone]]'' e-sports player Ng "Blitzchung" Wai Chung by suspending him for a year and taking away his winnings after he voiced support for the 2019 Hong Kong protests during an interview. Blizzard's response spurred furious protests from not only Blizzard's audience, but also from fans of other video games, Blizzard's own employees, the general public and politicians, all accusing the company of engaging in censorship to appease the Chinese government and Blizzard's Chinese investors so their games [[BannedInChina wouldn't be banned]].[[note]]While some believed "Blitzchung" should be punished for making a political speech during a non-political interview (which is against Blizzard's rules), even they thought his punishment was disproportionately harsh and more about appeasing Chinese censors, especially since several professional ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' players received lighter punishments for racism and sexism.[[/note]]
** However, 2021 proved to be the nadir of Blizzard controversies when a series of lawsuits and news outlets unveiled a misogynistic work environment that existed at the company for decades. These reports revealed that female employees at Blizzard faced rampant abuse that included financial discrimination and sexual harassment. The harassment was so extreme that one harassed woman committed suicide while on a company trip with an abusive co-worker. Even worse was that the company's leadership was aware of harassment yet chose to either downplay incidents, defend sexual harassers or even retaliate against victims of harassment. The scandal lead to Blizzard employees staging strikes, sponsors pulling out from Blizzard's eSports tournaments and both the state of California and federal government investigating Blizzard for workplace violations. Given Blizzard's inclusive image and sterling reputation, as noted by the common quote "Blizzard can do no wrong", the company experienced a greater fall from grace than most.
** Amidst the controversies and fan backlash, Blizzard was struggling to reach corporate expectations and fend off competition. ''Heroes of the Storm'' was placed on maintenance mode in 2022 as the game was unable to compete with the likes of ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' and ''VideoGame/Dota2'' in the [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] field. Likewise, ''Hearthstone'' saw a decline and its competitive side never recovered after the "Blitzchung" scandal. Yet most damingly, their award-winning HeroShooter ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' saw drop in playercount and revenue following stiff competition from newer Hero Shooters like ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'' and ''VideoGame/{{Valorant}}''. Not even the release of ''Overwatch 2'' as a free-to-play title could restore the franchise to its former glory as that game struggled to retain players while also being mired in controversies regarding its monetization and the belated inclusion of its PvE component. And all of these titles saw their eSports side get cancelled due to declining player interest and cancelled sponsorship. In response to financial underperformance, parent company Creator/ActivisionBlizzard pressured Blizzard to layoff rounds of employees, double down on microtransactions and pump out more sequels and expansion packs, which only worsened the quality of their titles. Blizzard's public scandals and financial woes caused their stock to plummet low enough for Creator/{{Microsoft}} to buy out parent company Activision Blizzard, marking the end of the company as an independent titan of gaming. Only time will tell if Blizzard can return to glory under Microsoft's leadership.

* Since 2018, Creator/BlizzardEntertainment entered a dark age following a series of controversies that alienated their core fans and casual gamer audiences:
** The dark age started with the 2018 Blizzcon convention. At the event, the climactic announcement of the [[MobilePhoneGame mobile]]-[[NoPortForYou exclusive]] ''Diablo Immortal'' garnered a negative response from audiences who paid upwards of $200 to attend an event in hopes of seeing a new mainline ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' title. It didn't help that designer Wyatt Cheng impulsively and insensitively asked "Do you guys not have phones?", which gave the impression that Blizzard was out of touch with its fans.

* The "Compilation of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''", spearheaded by ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'', is seen as one for the ''FFVII'' sub-franchise. ''Advent Children'' was met with highly mixed reception, and many fans were not happy with the {{Flanderization}} of various characters, particularly Cloud, who was bashed as the kind of "emo pretty-boy" stereotype that [[NeverLiveItDown eventually became a frequent point of criticism]] for ''Final Fantasy'', and Square Enix, as a whole. As the Compilation continued to build up, most of the other entries like ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus''' were also met with similar criticisms and polarizing reception. While a few standouts like ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' were positively received, they [[ToughActToFollow weren't as prestigious and loved as the original game]].

* The ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' series went through such a period during TheNewTens. After ''VideoGame/AceCombat6FiresOfLiberation'' underperformed in sales (largely due to being an Xbox 360 exclusive in a series that was until almost entirely exclusive to UsefulNotes/PlayStation consoles), developer Project Aces would go through a series of ill-advised experiments in an attempt to expand to a new audience, most notably by ditching the series "Strangereal" setting for the real world. The first game in this period, ''VideoGame/AceCombatJointAssault'', was criticized for the setting change but was otherwise thought as [[SoOkayItsAverage completely average entry]]; things however would really heat up with the next "main" game ''VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizon'', which went toward a more gritty ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty''-esque direction and ditched many series staples for [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks controversial new mechanics]], most infamously Dogfight Mode. Other titles released in this period included ''VideoGame/AceCombatNorthernWings'', a mobile phone spin-off thought to be [[SoBadItsGood amusingly crap]] due to its odd handling of the series' lore and generally sloppy nature, and ''VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizonLegacy'', a well-received remake of ''VideoGame/AceCombat2'' that largely went unnoticed due to being a Nintendo 3DS exclusive and being branded in the west as a tie-in to ''Assault Horizon'' despite having little to do with it. Project Aces would later release the free-to-play title ''VideoGame/AceCombatInfinity'', which [[MegamixGame successfully appealed to nostalgia]] but was criticized for what many saw as [[AllegedlyFreeGame embodying the worst aspects of the F2P model]]. Nevertheless, ''Infinity'' ended up being one of the most successful games in Namco's Free to Play initiative, enough for series producer Kazutoki Kono to get the greenlight for a proper sequel. Despite [[ScheduleSlip repeated delays]] and [[TroubledProduction a troubled development]], ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown'' ended up bringing the series back in a big way, receiving nearly unanimous approval from the fanbase and breaking series launch records in multiple countries.

* Creator/BlizzardEntertainment entered one since 2018 with the company's sterling reputation taking a massive hit following bad creative decisions and public scandals.
** The downward spiral started with the 2018 Blizzcon convention. At the event, the climactic announcement of the [[MobilePhoneGame mobile]]-[[NoPortForYou exclusive]] ''Diablo Immortal'' garnered a negative response from audiences who paid upwards of $200 to attend an event in hopes of seeing a new mainline ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' title. It didn't help that designer Wyatt Cheng impulsively and insensitively asked "Do you guys not have phones?", which gave the impression that Blizzard was out of touch with its fans. One month later, Blizzard abruptly cancelled all [[UsefulNotes/ProfessionalGaming e-sports]] events related to ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' while slashing the support for that title, shaking fan trust in the company.
** Then in 2019, Blizzard became the center of international controversy following the Blitzchung controversy in which Blizzard suspended the ''[[VideoGame/HearthstoneHeroesOfWarcraft Hearthstone]]'' e-sports player Ng "Blitzchung" Wai Chung for a year and stripped him of his winnings after he voiced support for the 2019 Hong Kong protests during an interview. Blizzard's response spurred furious protests from not only Blizzard's audience, but also from fans of other video games, Blizzard's own employees, the general public and politicians, all accusing the company of engaging in censorship to appease the Chinese government and Blizzard's Chinese investors so their games [[BannedInChina wouldn't be banned]].[[note]]While some believed "Blitzchung" should be punished for making a political speech during a non-political interview (which is against Blizzard's guidelines), even they thought his punishment was disproportionately harsh and more about appeasing Chinese censors, especially since several professional ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' players received lighter punishments for racism and sexism.[[/note]]
** While 2020 had the botched release of ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III: Reforged'', 2021 proved to be the nadir of Blizzard controversies following revelations of toxic work environment. A series of news reports and lawsuits revealed that Blizzard had a misogynistic work environment in which female employees faced rampant financial discrimination and sexual harassment, with one harassed woman eventually committing suicide. Even worse was that the company's leadership was aware of harassment yet chose to either downplay incidents, defend sexual harassers or even retaliate against victims of harassment. The scandal lead to Blizzard employees staging strikes, sponsors pulling out from Blizzard's eSports tournaments and both the state of California and federal government investigating Blizzard for workplace violations. Given Blizzard's inclusive image and sterling reputation, as noted by the common quote "Blizzard can do no wrong", the company experienced a greater fall from grace than most.
** Amidst the fan backlash, Blizzard was struggling financially with many of their titles underperforming or losing out market share to competitors. ''Heroes of the Storm'' was placed on maintenance mode in 2022 as the game was unable to compete with the likes of ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' and ''VideoGame/Dota2'' in the [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] field. ''Hearthstone'' suffered a drop in player count following the Blitzchung scandal. Yet most embarrassingly, their signature HeroShooter and winner of multiple Game of the Year titles ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' saw many of its fans, and their disposable income, migrate to newer Hero Shooters like ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'' and ''VideoGame/{{Valorant}}''. Not even the release of ''Overwatch 2'' as a free-to-play title could restore the franchise to its former glory as that game was mired in controversies regarding the delayed inclusion of its PvE component and struggled to retain players. Blizzard's financial woes caused their stock to plummet low enough for Creator/{{Microsoft}} to buy out parent company Creator/ActivisionBlizzard, marking the end of the company as an independent titan of gaming. Only time will tell if Blizzard can reclaim their lost prestige under Microsoft's leadership.

** Unfortunately, save for the HackAndSlash spinoff ''VideoGame/SilentHillBookOfMemories'' later that year, it wound up as the last game in the series. The announcement of ''VideoGame/SilentHills'', a collaboration between Creator/HideoKojima and Creator/GuillermoDelToro, got even the most jaded fans interested in the series again... until [[ExecutiveMeddling it got cancelled]] in a dreadful case of [[ScrewedByTheNetwork Screwed by the Publisher]], which (along with the announcement of a ''Silent Hill'' pachinko machine) left many fans wishing the Ten Plagues on Creator/{{Konami}} and fearing that the series would never escape its Audience-Alienating Era. After eight years of radio silence, 2022 saw a flurry of announcements: two all-new ''Silent Hill'' games in ''Silent Hill f'' (which boasted the involvement of Creator/Ryukishi07 as the story's writer) and ''Silent Hill: Townfall'', an interactive streaming series called ''Silent Hill: Ascension'', a new film adaptation by Christophe Gans (director of the first ''Film/SilentHill'' movie) called ''Return to Silent Hill'', and a [[VideoGameRemake remake]] of ''VideoGame/SilentHill2''. Time will tell if these can reinvigorate the series.

** Amidst the fan backlash, Blizzard was struggling financially with many of their titles underperforming or losing out market share to competitors. ''Heroes of the Storm'' was placed on maintenance mode in 2022 as the game was unable to compete with the likes of ''Franchise/LeagueOfLegends'' and ''VideoGame/Dota2'' in the [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] field. ''Hearthstone'' lost players to rival games after the Blitzchung scandal. Yet most embarrassingly, their signature HeroShooter and winner of multiple Game of the Year titles ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' saw a massive drop in player count and revenue due to competition from newer Hero Shooters like ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'' and ''VideoGame/{{Valorant}}''. Not even the release of ''Overwatch 2'' as a free-to-play title could restore the franchise to its former glory as that game was mired in controversies regarding the delayed inclusion of its PvE component and struggled to retain players. Blizzard's financial woes caused their stock to plummet low enough for Creator/{{Microsoft}} to buy out parent company Creator/ActivisionBlizzard, marking the end of the company as an independent titan of gaming. Only time will tell if Blizzard can reclaim their lost prestige under Microsoft's leadership.

* While 2020 had the botched release of ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III: Reforged'', 2021 proved to be the nadir of Blizzard controversies following revelations of toxic work environment. A series of news reports and lawsuits revealed that Blizzard had a misogynistic work environment in which female employees faced rampant financial discrimination and sexual harassment, with one harassed woman eventually committing suicide. Even worse was that the company's leadership was aware of harassment yet chose to either downplay incidents, defend sexual harassers or even retaliate against victims of harassment. The scandal lead to Blizzard employees staging strikes, sponsors pulling out from Blizzard's eSports tournaments and both the state of California and federal government investigating Blizzard for workplace violations. Given Blizzard's inclusive image and sterling reputation, as noted by the common quote "Blizzard can do no wrong", the company experienced a greater fall from grace than most.
* Amidst the public fan backlash, Blizzard was struggling financially with many of their titles underperforming or losing out market share to competitors. ''Heroes of the Storm'' was placed on maintenance mode in 2022 as the game was unable to compete with the likes of ''Franchise/LeagueOfLegends'' and ''VideoGame/Dota2'' in the [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] field. ''Hearthstone'' lost players to rival games after the Blitzchung scandal. Yet most embarrassingly, their signature HeroShooter and Game of the Year winner ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' saw a massive drop in player count and revenue starting thanks to competition from newer Hero Shooters like ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'' and ''VideoGame/{{Valorant}}''. Not even the release of ''Overwatch 2'' as a free-to-play title could restore the franchise to its former glory as that game was mired in controversies regarding the delayed inclusion of its PvE component and struggled to retain players. Blizzard's financial woes caused their stock to plummet low enough for Creator/{{Microsoft}} to buy out parent company Creator/ActivisionBlizzard, marking the end of the company as an independent titan of gaming. Only time will tell if Blizzard can reclaim their lost prestige under Microsoft's leadership.

* The EasternRPG (or JRPG, if you want to be specific) genre went through one from about 2007 until 2012, a time period corresponding to UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames. The WesternRPG was taking off like a rocket, thanks the efforts of developers like Creator/{{BioWare}} and Creator/BethesdaSoftworks, offering up fresh new stories and gameplay mechanics along with unparalleled production values. The JRPG genre, meanwhile, was largely put on the backburner at this time. For one thing, budgets were substantially reduced, thanks to Western game development largely overtaking Japanese game development in the mid-2000s. While there were [[VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou a few]] [[VideoGame/Persona4 noteworthy]] [[VideoGame/DemonsSouls games]] [[VideoGame/DragonQuestIX released]], most [=JRPGs=] at the time were criticized for having recycled plots and being too reliant on well-worn tropes like "small town boy finds himself wrapped up in a massive underground resistance movement against an evil dictator." To make matters worse, smaller companies were constantly localizing Japanese niche titles [[AmericaHatesTingle that would have little chance of appeal in the states]], resulting in numerous examples of [[CriticalDissonance critic-audience divide]] (critics panned the games, while dedicated fans defended them). The fact that many popular [=JRPGs=] in this era came out on handheld systems such as the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS and UsefulNotes/PlaystationPortable further contributed to the genre's decline in the West, since audiences there had largely been introduced to the genre via graphically impressive console games like ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', and saw handheld gaming as the domain of shorter, simpler and/or more casual games instead of lengthy [=RPGs=]. \\\

** And then there was ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'', which can be seen as Midway trying to figure out what to do with the series. It's not necessarily a bad game, but it's a firm indicator of ''Mortal Kombat''[='=]s Audience-Alienating Era, because the simple fact of it being rated T by ESRB (due to the DC superheroes) made this game a standout, and not in a positive way: it meant a lot of what players knew of ''MK'' would be inevitably {{Bowdlerise}}d (mainly the explicit {{Gorn}}, which was reduced to the odd blood spill here and there, and censored Fatalities -- even more so than the home versions of the original game). It ultimately took Midway [[CreatorKiller filing for bankruptcy]] and [[ChannelHop seeing its assets acquired by WB Games]] for the series to get back on track-the bankruptcy/acquisition period allowed for Midway Studios (now reincarnated as Netherrealm Studios) to sort out what worked and what didn't work and then return the series to form with the well-received ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', as well as using their experience on the DC end of things to turn out ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', a cool all-DC fighting game. There's a (mostly-joking) conspiracy theory that WB deliberately gimped ''MK vs. DC'' in order to facilitate their buyout of Midway.

** Exotic fans tend to list everything from [[VideoGame/TheNeedForSpeed the first game]] in 1994 through ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedHotPursuit Hot Pursuit 2]]'' in 2002 as the series' "classic" era and its golden age, and the "Black Box era" (after developer EA Black Box) that started with 2003's ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedUnderground Underground]]'' as the beginning of the end. Tuner fans, however, regard ''Underground'' and its 2004 sequel, as well as 2005's ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedMostWanted Most Wanted]]'', as some of the series' ''best'' games for their introduction of illegal street racing and in-depth vehicle customization, especially once ''Underground 2'' added an open-world environment. 2006's ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedCarbon Carbon]]'' and 2008's ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedUndercover Undercover]]'', on the other hand, were seen as lower-quality retreads of ''Underground'' and ''Most Wanted'', with ''Undercover'' coming in for especially heated criticism for its [[ObviousBeta glaring bugs]] (particularly frame rate issues, a kiss of death in a high-speed racing game) and a storyline that [[TotallyRadical felt like it was trying too hard]], especially when [[DuelingWorks/RacingGame compared side-by-side]] with ''[[VideoGame/MidnightClub Midnight Club: Los Angeles]]'' and ''VideoGame/BurnoutParadise'', two similar but far better received open-world street racing games released in the same year. Between them, ''Carbon'' and ''Undercover'' are typically cited even by tuner fans as when the series lost its way.

* In a combination of this and {{Sequelitis}}, with no less than one release every year, the ''VideoGame/{{Atelier}}'' series has gone through a few audience-alienating eras due to all of its sequels. The first audience-alienating era came with the ''[[VideoGame/AtelierIrisEternalMana Iris]]'' trilogy, which were divisive to say the least as these games strayed too far from the original ItemCrafting formula that had been a series staple five games prior, and felt more like average traditional [=RPGs=] with the usual "save the world" plots. The fact that these games were the first to be localized in the west didn't help matters as they skewered western perception of the series and caused a lot of fans to overlook item crafting as an "unoriginal" gimmick. Even attempts to legitimately mix up the franchise such as ''[[VideoGame/ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlRevis Mana Khemia]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/AtelierAnnieAlchemistsOfSeraIsland Atelier Annie]]'', which added a little SimulationGame to the mix with its focus on helping to develop an island, sometimes came off as a bit stale, and quality assurance took a precipitous dip in the [[TurnOfTheMillennium late Noughts]], as evidenced by ''Atelier Liese'' and ''[[VideoGame/ManaKhemia2FallOfAlchemy Mana Khemia 2]]'' and their evisceration in the Japanese gaming press (the voluntary recall of ''Atelier Liese'' notwithstanding). The series was on a roll again with the Arland and Dusk trilogies up until ''[[VideoGame/AtelierShallieAlchemistsOfTheDuskSea Atelier Shallie]]'', which ended the Dusk trilogy in a disappointing manner, with ''[[VideoGame/AtelierSophieTheAlchemistOfTheMysteriousBook Atelier Sophie]]'' selling mostly because of the promises that ''Atelier'' would be going back to its roots. People then found out that ''Sophie'' was anything but that, which led to the low sales of the other two of the Mysterious trilogy and marked the beginning of the second audience-alienating era. It didn't help that ''[[VideoGame/AtelierFirisTheAlchemistAndTheMysteriousJourney Atelier Firis]]'' launched in a horribly buggy state, and while ''[[VideoGame/AtelierLydieAndSuelleTheAlchemistsAndTheMysteriousPaintings Atelier Lydie & Suelle]]'' was more well-received, it was already too late for the trilogy. However, Gust seems to have learned from this, as their brief return to the Arland saga with ''[[VideoGame/AtelierLuluaTheScionOfArland Atelier Lulua]]'' was generally met with postive reviews, and ''[[VideoGame/AtelierRyzaEverDarknessAndTheSecretHideout Atelier Ryza]]'' turned out to be the best-selling ''Atelier'' game in Japan in decades. It appears the series has recovered from its long string of audience-alienating eras, at least for the time being.

* The EasternRPG (or JRPG, if you want to be specific) genre went through one from about 2007 until 2012, a time period corresponding to UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames. The WesternRPG was taking off like a rocket, thanks the efforts of developers like Creator/{{BioWare}} and Creator/BethesdaSoftworks, offering up fresh new stories and gameplay mechanics along with unparalleled production values. The JRPG genre, meanwhile, was largely put on the backburner at this time. For one thing, budgets were substantially reduced, thanks to Western game development largely overtaking Japanese game development in the mid-2000s. While there were [[VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou a few]] [[VideoGame/Persona4 noteworthy]] [[VideoGame/DemonsSouls games]] [[VideoGame/DragonQuestIX released]], most [=JRPGs=] at the time were criticized for having recycled plots and being too reliant on well-worn tropes like "small town boy finds himself wrapped up in a massive underground resistance movement against an evil dictator." To make matters worse, smaller companies were constantly localizing Japanese niche titles [[WidgetSeries that would have little chance of appeal in the states]], resulting in numerous examples of [[CriticalDissonance critic-audience divide]] (critics panned the games, while dedicated fans defended them). The fact that many popular [=JRPGs=] in this era came out on handheld systems such as the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS and UsefulNotes/PlaystationPortable further contributed to the genre's decline in the West, since audiences there had largely been introduced to the genre via graphically impressive console games like ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', and saw handheld gaming as the domain of shorter, simpler and/or more casual games instead of lengthy [=RPGs=]. \\\

** It wasn't until the [=2020s=] that they eventually started getting more serious in trying to get out of their rut: Aside of two new ongoing ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'' games (listed above), they remastered the games at their golden age (around UsefulNotes/TheNineties) for modern players, announced multiple new ''Franchise/SilentHill'' games, giving ''Franchise/MetalGear'' players not only the remasters of the Solid Snake and Big Boss trilogies, but also a HD remake of [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater the first chronological game of the series (and the most hailed one)]], a remaster of [[VideoGame/{{Suikoden}} their JRPG series]], and even a return to form for ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' (''Operation Galuga'') after their failure with ''Rogue Corps''. While they will [[NeverLiveItDown still have a hard time living down the dark age]], many of those who stuck with Konami in the hard times are glad with this effort to get back to the game.

There was hope that the Switch era would fix the problems with the previous games; it did to an extent, but introduced its own problems. ''Mario Tennis Aces'' was seen as an improvement over ''Ultra Smash'' -- reintroducing a proper story mode, for one -- but it shared the same problem of lacking content. However, ''Aces'' added extra content through post-launch updates, a controversial practice among fans. ''Mario Golf: Super Rush'' not only overhauled the power bar mechanic (a change which fans largely disliked), but also had similar problems of lacking base content and receiving post-launch updates, a pattern which caused fans to accuse Camelot of rushing out incomplete games.\\\
''VideoGame/MarioStrikersBattleLeague'', developed by Creator/NextLevelGames, is also considered to be part of this era. While its gameplay is seen as mostly solid (besides the goalies' questionable AI, the stages being smaller and less varied than in prior games, and the removal of the fan-favorite Mega Strikes)[[note]]And some also weren't fans of the removal of the sidekicks[[/note]], it ''also'' had post-launch updates in a similar span of time. Unlike Camelot's Switch titles, it also lacks significant single-player content, and as unbelievable as it may seem, actually has ''less'' than even ''Ultra Smash''[[note]]''Battle League'' has the same number of playable characters (16, ''post-updates''), has ''less'' stadiums (9 vs. 8), and completely lacks any modes besides solo (in Cups) or multiplayer (in Clubs) Strikers matches (not even a Knockout Challenge or Mega Ball Rally like ''Ultra Smash'', or Striker Challenges like ''Mario Strikers Charged'').[[/note]], with its updates only adding a few more characters and stadiums. It only received somewhat less flack compared to the Camelot games because it was the first ''Mario Strikers'' in a long time (15 years) and the ''Strikers'' games have never been particularly content-rich. Another criticism Camelot's later entries and ''Battle League'' receive is their lack of personality compared to earlier titles. Instead of having unique animations and voice acting, the newer entries have comparatively generic animations and reused voice clips, adding to the sense that they have become rushed and barebones.[[note]]Some games have this worse than others; while ''Battle League'' and ''Super Rush'' have unique animations, ''Sports Superstars'' reuses animations from previous titles, and ''Ultra Smash'' and ''Aces'' share animations between them for characters in both games.[[/note]] All of these things have made the ''Mario'' sports games very divisive among fans.

It wouldn't be until ''Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash'' that the decline would be set in stone, due to being very [[ItsShortSoItSucks barebones]]. While it greatly refined the graphics and gameplay, and had significantly improved worldwide online multiplayer, it also didn't have any kind of story/tournament mode or side content, a small roster, and one of its major new modes -- Mega Battle -- was dismissed as gimmicky[[note]]Although its other main addition --Classic Tennis-- was generally well received ([[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch by those who actually played it]], anyway) as it had options that pleased both fans of the original [=N64=]/[=GameCube=] games (tennis without any chance or special shots) and fans that had issues with ''Open'' (the addition of the Jump Shots and the titular Ultra Smash, punishment mechanics that made the gameplay much more strategic and negated the luck-based and unbalanced aspects of ''Open'')[[/note]] all of which had fans suspect that the game was pushed out early to substitute ''VideoGame/StarFoxZero'' as the Wii U's holiday 2015 title. This also caused the game to be OvershadowedByControversy (even by [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch people who don't care about the series at all]]), with its improvements being ignored. In the same time period, Camelot and Creator/NamcoBandai also developed ''VideoGame/MarioSportsSuperstars'', which was seen as [[SoOkayItsAverage just average]]. Criticism was directed at its small number of features, lacking roster, and overall simplified gameplay of all sports represented, as well as its emphasis on amiibo cards and extensive reuse of content from previous games, all of which drew unfavorable comparisons to Creator/SquareEnix's ''VideoGame/MarioSportsMix''.\\\

** While things were looking up for SEGA financially following the Sammy merger, the company would go through another Audience Alienating Era following it. SEGA took a major shift to how games were released at this time, where any IP that failed to make a profit would be shelved, and the ones that actually did sell tended to be ChristmasRushed. As a result, in the [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames seventh generation,]] SEGA didn't have a lot of variety with their games, and what was released were generally considered to be [[VideoGame/Yakuza3 polarizing]] [[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo7 at best,]] or [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 downright]] [[VideoGame/SonicAndTheSecretRings awful]] [[VideoGame/SuperMonkeyBall at worst]]. Not helping matters is that several of SEGA's games around this time were [[NoExportForYou only released in Japan]] much to the dismay of international fans. SEGA clearly realized this strategy wasn't working, and around 2010, things gradually started to get better.

** The ''Mario'' sports games developed by Creator/CamelotSoftwarePlanning are generally agreed to have entered a decline starting in the 3DS and Wii U era. The roots took place with ''[[VideoGame/MarioTennis Mario Tennis Open]]'', which was seen as [[SoOkayItsAverage just okay]]. Its main criticisms were that [[HighTierScrappy the Miis were hilariously overpowered,]] its gameplay was luck-based and unbalanced, and the online multiplayer was laggy despite being region-locked, which led to it quickly dying off despite being touted as a major selling point. ''[[VideoGame/MarioGolf Mario Golf: World Tour]]'' fared better than ''Open'', but it wasn't as well-received as ''[[ToughActToFollow Toadstool Tour]]'', and its story mode was considered inferior to ''Advance Tour''[='s=].\\\
It wouldn't be until ''Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash'' that the decline would be set in stone, due to being very [[ItsShortSoItSucks barebones]]. While it greatly refined the graphics and gameplay, and had significantly improved worldwide online multiplayer, it also didn't have any kind of story/tournament mode or side content, a small roster, and one of its major new modes -- Mega Battle -- was dismissed as gimmicky[[note]]Although its other main addition --Classic Tennis-- was generally well received ([[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch by those who actually played it]], anyway) as it had options that pleased both fans of the original [=N64=]/[=GameCube=] games (tennis without any chance or special shots) and fans that had issues with ''Open'' (the addition of the Jump Shots and the titular Ultra Smash, punishment mechanics that made the gameplay much more strategic and negated the luck-based and unbalanced aspects of ''Open'')[[/note]] all of which had fans suspect that the game was pushed out early to substitute ''VideoGame/StarFoxZero'' as the Wii U's holiday 2015 title. This also caused the game to be OvershadowedByControversy (even by [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch people who don't care about the series at all]]), with its improvements being ignored. In the same time period, Camelot also put out ''VideoGame/MarioSportsSuperstars'', which was seen as just average. Criticism was directed at its short length, lacking roster, and overall simplified gameplay of all sports represented, as well as its emphasis on amiibo cards and extensive reuse of content from previous games, all of which drew unfavorable comparisons to Creator/SquareEnix's ''VideoGame/MarioSportsMix''.\\\

''VideoGame/MarioStrikersBattleLeague'', developed by Creator/NextLevelGames, is also considered to be part of this era. While its gameplay is seen as mostly solid (besides the goalies' questionable AI, the stages being smaller and less varied than in ''Charged'', and the removal of the fan-favorite Mega Strikes)[[note]]And some also weren't fans of the removal of the sidekicks[[/note]], it ''also'' had post-launch updates in a similar span of time. Unlike Camelot's Switch titles, it also lacks significant single-player content, and as unbelievable as it may seem, actually has less than even ''Ultra Smash''[[note]]''Battle League'' has the same number of playable characters (16) and has ''less'' stadiums (9 vs. 8), and completely lacks any modes besides solo or in Clubs Strikers matches (not even a Knockout Challenge or Mega Ball Rally like ''Ultra Smash'').[[/note]], with its updates only adding a few more characters and stadiums. It only received somewhat less flack compared to the Camelot games because it was the first ''Mario Strikers'' in a long time (15 years) and the ''Strikers'' have never been particularly content-rich. Another criticism Camelot's later entries and ''Battle League'' receive is their lack of personality compared to earlier titles. Instead of having unique animations and voice acting, the newer entries have comparatively generic animations and reused voice clips, adding to the sense that they have become rushed and barebones.[[note]]Some games have this worse than others; while ''Battle League'' and ''Super Rush'' have unique animations, ''Sports Superstars'' reuses animations from previous titles, and ''Ultra Smash'' and ''Aces'' share animations between them for characters in both games.[[/note]] All of these things have made the ''Mario'' sports games very divisive among fans.

** The ''Mario'' sports games developed by Creator/CamelotSoftwarePlanning are generally agreed to have entered a decline starting in the 3DS and Wii U era. The roots took place with ''[[VideoGame/MarioTennis Mario Tennis Open]]'', which was seen as [[SoOkayItsAverage just okay]]. Its main criticisms were that [[HighTierScrappy the Miis were hilariously overpowered,]] its gameplay was luck-based and unbalanced, and the online multiplayer was laggy despite being region-locked, which led to it quickly dying off despite being touted as a major selling point. ''[[VideoGame/MarioGolf Mario Golf: World Tour]]'' fared better than ''Open'', but it wasn't as well-received as ''[[ToughActToFollow Toadstool Tour]]'', and its story mode is considered inferior to ''Advance Tour''.\\\
It wouldn't be until ''Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash'' that the decline would be set in stone, due to being very [[ItsShortSoItSucks barebones]]. While it greatly refined the graphics and gameplay, and had significantly improved worldwide online multiplayer, it also didn't have any kind of story/tournament mode or side content, a very small roster, and its major new mode -- Mega Battles -- was dismissed as gimmicky, all of which had fans suspect that the game was pushed out early to substitute ''VideoGame/StarFoxZero'' as the Wii U's holiday 2015 title. This also caused the game to be OvershadowedByControversy (even by [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch people who don't care about the series at all]]), with its improvements being ignored. In the same time period, Camelot also put out ''VideoGame/MarioSportsSuperstars'', which was seen as just average. Criticism was directed at its short length, lacking roster, and overall simplified gameplay of all sports represented, as well as its emphasis on amiibo cards and extensive reuse of content from previous games, all of which drew unfavorable comparisons to Creator/SquareEnix's ''VideoGame/MarioSportsMix''.\\\

''VideoGame/MarioStrikersBattleLeague'', developed by Creator/NextLevelGames, is also considered to be part of this era. While its gameplay is seen as mostly solid (besides the goalies' questionable AI and the removal of the fan-favorite Mega Strikes), it ''also'' had post-launch updates in a similar span of time. Unlike Camelot's Switch titles, it also lacks significant single-player content, with its updates only adding a few more characters and stadiums. Another criticism Camelot's later entries and ''Battle League'' receive is their lack of personality compared to earlier titles. Instead of having unique animations and voice acting, the newer entries have comparatively generic animations and reused voice clips, adding to the sense that they have become rushed and barebones.[[note]]Some games have this worse than others; while ''Battle League'' and ''Super Rush'' have unique animations, ''Sports Superstars'' reuses animations from previous titles, and ''Ultra Smash'' and ''Aces'' share animations between them for characters in both games.[[/note]] All of these things have made the ''Mario'' sports games very divisive among fans.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Generation 3, the Game Boy Advance era (2002-2006), though this was less to do with the quality of the games themselves and more the explosive fad ending and the series being increasingly seen as kiddy and uncool outside the online fandom. Not helping matters was the backlash from fans over ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' having only half the total monsters, which was only compounded by similar controversy over Misty [[PutOnABus leaving]] ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' despite her being part of the established PowerTrio with Ash and Brock. It's hard to imagine these days, but even director Junichi Masuda was worried the franchise was in danger of cancellation. This started to reverse with ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' riding the upswing of the PopularityPolynomial and, BrokenBase aside, the franchise has been stable in pop culture ever since.
** Ever since 2016, the franchise has had annual holiday releases with [[ChristmasRushed non-negotiable deadlines]], all the while Gamefreak has been understaffed and working with mostly inexperienced developers that were fresh out of college. The result has been increasingly unfinished and bare-bones releases, with long-time fans increasingly dissatisfied to the point that their criticisms became the focus of multiple mainstream gaming news articles. The jump to home consoles only exacerbated the issue, as home console titles typically have higher production values and thus fetch a higher price tag than handheld ones, but the Switch ''Pokémon'' games are all $60 despite looking not much better than their 3DS counterparts. While recent Pokémon games have sold very well in terms of raw numbers, being some of the best selling games on Switch, the percentage of Switch owners who buy each ''Pokémon'' game is drastically lower than the 3DS titles. The best-selling Pokémon game on Switch, ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', is owned by just 20% of the people who bought a Switch, where as the first three ''Pokémon'' games on 3DS are all owned by over 75% of 3DS owners, and even the worst selling ''Pokémon'' game on the console is owned by almost half of 3DS owners. Rather tellingly, ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', the best-received ''Pokémon'' game on the Switch, was the only one to release ''after'' the winter holiday season -- and was abruptly followed up with ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'' '''within the same year.'''

** The ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' subseries is often thought to be in one as of 2012. It started with ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'', which was a heavily controversial game for removing the story, exploration and RPG elements that made previous installments so beloved (the former [[ExecutiveMeddling being suggested]] by ''[[Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto Miyamoto]]'' no less). ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam'' was mostly held aloft by the great gameplay and characterization approach of [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi its other constituent series]], but is itself a ContestedSequel among fans of that series due to still suffering from a few of the same problems as later ''Paper Mario'' games. ''VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash'' was slightly better-received, but with fans still soured on ''Sticker Star'' and it being released at the tail of the Wii U era, it still had a pretty divided reaction on release as well as poor sales. ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'' managed to {{win back|the crowd}} a number of fans, with its improved gameplay, interconnected overworld, greater variation in NPC designs, outstanding soundtrack, and more dramatic plotline all receiving praise, though whether or not it manages to live up to the first three games is still heavily debated. It's also debated whether ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' should count as part of this era, and if ''Color Splash'' may have ended it, as both games had divisive receptions that have since been softened by time.

** Ever since 2016, the franchise has had annual holiday releases with non-negotiable deadlines, all the while Gamefreak has been understaffed and working with mostly inexperienced developers that were fresh out of college. The result has been increasingly unfinished and bare-bones releases, with long-time fans increasingly dissatisfied. The jump to home consoles only exacerbated the issue, as home console titles typically have higher production values and thus fetch a higher price tag than handheld ones, but the Switch ''Pokemon'' games are all $60 despite looking not much better than their 3DS counterparts. While recent Pokemon games have sold very well in terms of raw numbers, being some of the best selling games on Switch, the percentage of Switch owners who buy each ''Pokemon'' game is drastically lower than the 3DS titles. The best-selling Pokemon game on Switch, ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', is owned by just 20% of the people who bought a Switch, where as the first three ''Pokemon'' games on 3DS are all owned by over 75% of 3DS owners, and even the worst selling ''Pokemon'' game on the console is owned by almost half of 3DS owners.

** It wasn't until the [=2020s=] that they eventually started getting more serious in trying to get out of their rut: Aside of two new ongoing ''Franchise/{{Bomberman}}'' games (listed above), they remastered the games at their golden age (around UsefulNotes/TheNineties) for modern players, announced multiple new ''Franchise/SilentHill'' games, giving ''Franchise/MetalGear'' players not only the remasters of the Solid Snake and Big Boss trilogies, but also a HD remake of [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater the first chronological game of the series (and the most hailed one)]], a remaster of [[VideoGame/{{Suikoden}} their JRPG series]], and even a return to form for ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' (''Operation Galuga'') after their failure with ''Rogue Corps''. While they will [[NeverLiveItDown still have a hard time living down the dark age]], many of those who stuck with Konami in the hard times are glad with this effort to get back to the game.