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Video Game Long-Runners

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As the decades go on, Mario still stands strong.

Video games as a medium are significantly younger than TV or print, but that doesn't mean that there aren't a few classics of the genre.

Some games are memorable for their soundtracks, using the limited soundchips and internal speakers of their time to make a work of sonic art that is instantly recognized years later. Sometimes the story paints an epic that draws in the player until they suddenly come up for air at 3:00 AM wondering what happened to the day, or it just has that Just One More Level! effect that causes the same. Some games have a character that is like the imaginary friend that grows up with you, and is always ready to welcome you back for a visit.

And then there's those that have the total package. The winners of the test of time and advancing technology. Here we honor the Video Game Long Runners.

To be added, a franchise should have at least six games (barring e.g. mobile spin-offs) and span at least ten years. Alternatively, franchises based around a single or couple of games running on a continuous update model (e.g. live-service games, MMOs, MOBAs) should have had significant content updates between those games during at least ten different years. Sports games based on real-world leagues are generally disqualified, since they get an update every year.

A No Recent Examples rule applies to this trope and examples shouldn't be added until 10 years after the game franchise or system debuted.

The presence of Capcom Sequel Stagnation is of course, up for debate.


Examples:

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    Video Game Examples 
  • Ace Attorney: Originally released for the Game Boy Advance in Japan in 2001, although not seen in the U.S. until the Nintendo DS port in 2005. Features eleven releases, including two Ace Attorney Investigations games, one crossover and two prequels.
  • Ace Combat: Starting with the two arcade games in 1992 and 1995, includes 8 major console releases alongside five games for the Game Boy Advance, iPhone, PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo 3DS.
  • Adventure Island: Originally an adaptation of Wonder Boy before growing into its own series. From 1986 to 2009, 9 games were released.
  • Age of Empires: Originally released in 1997, now up to five mainline entries, many Expansion Packs and re-releases, and several games in the series remain actively updated. The most recent game, Age of Empires IV, was released in 2021.
    • Age of Empires II holds a special distinction for how long it has remained actively supported. Originally released in 1999 with an Expansion Pack, The Conquerers, in 2000. Received a HD Edition in 2013 and a Definitive Edition in 2019, both of which have received several expansion packs of their own with the latest, The Mountain Royals, releasing in 2023.
    • Age of Empires III also has a respectable run of its own: The original game came out in 2005, with two expansion packs in 2006 and 2008. Got a Definitive Edition re-release in 2020, which in-turn received two expansion packs of its own with the most recent, Knights of the Mediterranean, also releasing in 2022.
  • Animal Crossing: Started in 2001 with a release for the Nintendo 64. The game saw an Enhanced Port to the GameCube two years later, plus a Japan-only second Updated Re Release to the GameCube version. A true sequel came along in 2006 with Animal Crossing: Wild World for the Nintendo DS, which was followed up by a sequel for the Nintendo Wii as Animal Crossing: City Folk just two years later. The franchise would then go silent until 2013 where finally a fourth sequel would be released under the title Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the Nintendo 3DS. The series would again only see side title releases like Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival, a party game for the Wii U, Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer for the Nintendo 3DS and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp for smart phones, as well as a Updated Re Release of New Leaf (now subtitled Welcome Amiibo) before finally seeing a true fifth sequel, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, released for the Nintendo Switch, in early 2020. Five main games, two updated re-releases (three in the Japanese region) and three Gaiden Games in all, spanning 19 years.
  • Armored Core - 15 games (five main installments and about ten mission pack sequels and spin-offs), along with some mobile phone and PSP ports, were all released from 1997-2013. Followed by a sixth main entry (sixteenth overall) in 2023.
  • Asphalt: First released in 2004 with Asphalt Urban GT for the N-Gage and mobile phones and as a launch title for the Nintendo DS, the series has had nine main entries, plus ports for portable consoles and personal computers, along with spinoff games and a promotional tie-in with Audi where a limited version of Asphalt 6: Adrenaline was made as part of a contest, the main prize being an Audi RS3.
  • Assassin's Creed: Released in 2007 with thirteen main games and various spinoff games. Plus some comic books, regular books, and movies to boot.
  • Atelier Series: The first title, Atelier Marier: The Alchemist of Salburg, came out in Japan in 1997. Since then, it's gotten at least one new instalment per year, other than a break between the second and third titles (Atelier Elie came out in 1998, Atelier Lilie in 2001).
  • Battlefield: Twelve games, twelve expansion packs, and a ton of DLC. The series began in 2002 with Battlefield 1942 and has had five following main entriesnote  since its release, plus sci-fi spin-offs Battlefield 2142 and Battlefield 2042, Battlefield Vietnam, the two Bad Company games, and Battlefield Hardline.
  • Backyard Sports: The series started in 1997 and put out installments every year through 2010.
  • BEMANI games in general:
    • DanceDanceRevolution: Launched in 1998. As of this writing, there have been 18 main series arcade installments released, plus countless console versions. Currently the oldest active Bemani series that didn't start out as a spin-off.
    • pop'n music: Launched in 1998, currently at 27 installments.
    • Guitar Freaks was first released in February 1999, and its sister game Drum Mania came along in July that year alongside GuitarFreaks 2nd Mix. They're now up to 30 and 29 installments respectively and still counting.
    • beatmania IIDX: Launched in 1999 as a Spin-Off of the original beatmania (which started in 1997). The current version is beatmania IIDX 31 EPOLISnote .
    • jubeat: Debuting in July 2008, it currently spans 10 titles.
  • Bishi Bashi: The Minigame Game series with numerous arcade, PlayStation, and mobile titles since 1996.
  • Blaster Master: Action-Adventure series by Sunsoft. After a run of 5 games from 1988 to 2010, a reboot trilogy beginning with Blaster Master Zero brings the franchise to a total of 8 releases. There is also the matter of RoboWarrior: a game that predates Blaster Master but had a sequel retooled into a game for the series. That would make it 9 games for the franchise.
  • BlazBlue: Arc System Works' Spiritual Successor to their Guilty Gear franchise has become a long-runner on its own. From 2008 to 2018, there have been four main games, four Updated Re-releases and five elligible spin-offs.
  • Bomberman: This little guy's branched out a lot. See That Other Wiki's entry for details.
  • Borderlands: six games and roughly three expansion packs worth of DLCnote  have been released since 2009, plus some mobile and browser spin-offs, novels, comics, and board games.
  • Bubble Bobble: Nine games in the main series since 1986, six more games in the Rainbow Islands spinoff series, and another dozen Puzzle Bobble/Bust-a-Move Puzzle Game spinoffs. The spinoffs themselves are long runners in their own right, with Rainbow Islands starting in 1987 and Puzzle Bobble starting in 1994.
  • Call of Duty: The first game was released in 2003, and as of 2024 there has been a total of 21 games in the main series (and a three-company development cycle that ensures one game per year), with dozens more spin-off games, DLCs, and media.
  • Castlevania: A franchise that started on the NES in 1986, and has been going ever since. The series has dozens of titles across myriad systems, and helped define numerous game and horror tropes.
  • The Chessmaster series of computer games is on its eleventh installment, and dates back to 1986.
  • The Civilization series has seen six distinct versions starting from 1991, beefed-up re-issues of II and IV, eleven expansion packs (two each for II, III, IV, and V, and three for VI), and spiritual successors Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and Civilization: Beyond Earth. Also including Spin Offs like Call To Power or Freeciv. Its latest content, The New Frontier expansion for VI, released in 2021.
  • Command & Conquer: As a franchise, it ran from 1995 to 2010 (with mobile and browser games coming out infrequently afterwards) for a grand total of nine games (five Tiberian, three Red Alert, one Generals) and eight expansion packs (three Tiberian, four Red Alert, one Generals).
  • Konami's Contra series dates back to the coin-operated original in 1987. Although, the new games are not produced at the same rate as other Konami franchises, it has still managed to accumulate 18 original installments on consoles and portables throghout the years, the latest ones being Hard Corps: Uprising in 2011.
  • Crash Bandicoot: Eighteen games, including the eight core platformers, eight spin-offs, and two remakes. 1996-present.
  • The Darius series by Taito. Nine unique games since 1986, as well as multiple ports and remakes.
  • Dead or Alive - Six main titles, two compilations, several Updated Rereleases, and four volleyball spin-offs. Running since 1996, though it did have a four-year hiatus between 2005 and 2010, after creator Tomonobu Itagaki left Tecmo.
  • Devil May Cry: Started life as a recycled concept of Resident Evil 4 in 2001, it was well-received as the defining game of Stylish Hack and Slash Action genre with nods and references to The Divine Comedy . Five main games, with the latest being Devil May Cry 5 released in 2019, along with an Alternate Continuity spin-off, some re-releases called Special Editions, remasters, and pachinko derivatives. Like Grand Theft Auto below, the third game easily overshadows the first two with more defined features and story, and helped rising Reuben Langdon's career to stardom.
  • Digimon: For a long time the most prominent competition against PokĂ©mon in the Mons genre. Just like its rival series, it has spawned several games: over 25 titles since 1998, across multiple systems.
  • Disgaea: Since 2003 with seven games in its main series (numbered games up to 6, and Disgaea D2 which is a direct sequel to the storyline of the first game) and spinoffs. Some say it is part of the Marl Kingdom series, which has been around slightly longer (since 1998), but the Disgaea series is a long runner in its own right.
  • The Divinity series began inconscpicuously in 2002 with Divine Divinity and officially moved into the long-runner territory in 2014 or 2017, depending on whether you count Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga as one game or two. Counting II as one game, it currently has six games with a seventh planned but on hold indefinitely. It is still going strong, thanks to its major crowd-funding successes.
  • Dokapon: Since 1993 on the Super Famicom with entries on several console and handheld platforms, including a now-defunct online version. However, other than the PS2/Wii Dokapon Kingdom and DS Dokapon Journey, none of those games were released in the US.
  • Donkey Kong/Donkey Kong Country. Two series, but possibly the oldest franchise in much of video games. First arcade game released in 1981, which was also Mario's gaming debut, with Donkey Kong Country released in 1994 and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze released in February 2014.
  • The DonPachi series by Cave: 6 games in the main arcade series since 1995, plus a bunch of spin-offs and ports.
  • Doom: The Trope Codifier of the First-Person Shooter genre, to the point before "FPS games" even had their name, they were called "Doom clones". Starting with 1993's Doom, the series has had six main entries,note  almost a dozen spin-offs and official Expansion Packs,note  two films, a comic, a tabletop game, multiple novels, and hundreds of Game Mods that continue to this day.
  • Defense of the Ancients (also known as DOTA): Released in 2003, it's one of two major codifiers of the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena genre, alongside fellow long-runner League of Legends (which came out six years later). While it started as a Warcraft 3 mod, it has since developed into an entirely separate, continuously updated game in the form of Dota 2 which has been getting regular updates since its closed beta started in 2010. It has also received a (now defunct) card game spinoff in the form of Artifact and an auto-battler spinoff, Dota Underlords.
  • Double Dragon: Beat 'em Up series by Technos. One of the most popular and enduring examples in the genre, spawning 9 main games since 1987, along with reworked ports of the second and third titles and a crossover with Battletoads.
  • Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior) - 11 mainline titles as of Dragon Quest XI (excluding ports and expansions), plus spinoffs such as Dragon Quest Monsters (itself a long runner, going since 1999 with 10+ titles). Celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2016.
  • Duke Nukem: Starting in 1991 with a side-scrolling platformer, the franchise has become known for its successful Genre Shift into a First-Person Shooter. Up until 2011 there have been 11 games: 4 main titles and 7 spin-offs.
  • Dynasty Warriors and by extension, the whole Warriors/Musou franchise either started in 1997 with Dynasty Warriorsnote , a fighting game for the PlayStation, or in 2000 with Dynasty Warriors 2note , a very early PlayStation 2 hack and slash game which is the codifier of all other games in the franchise which spans over a dozen games. Koei officially uses the latter game for counting Milestone Celebrations in Japan.
    • The Japan-set Samurai Warriors is currently on its fifth main installment since it launched in 2004.
    • The Warriors Orochi crossover series was first launched in 2007, and has been going strong since. Word of God is that they wanted to end the series on the third installment (released in 2011), but it became such a hit in Japan to justify continuing the series.
  • The Elder Scrolls is the oldest continuous Western RPG series that began with Arena in 1994 and survived the mid-90s genre crash/crisis that killed off its major competition (Ultima, Wizardry, Might and Magic, the Gold Box, etc...), and is still going strong. Even the companies making those competing games also ended up going out of business (3DO) or dissolved by parent companies (Origin Systems). Meanwhile Bethesda ended up growing into a larger company (ZeniMax Media, which was later purchased by Xbox Game Studios) while maintaining their independence. It includes five games in the main series with seven expansion packs,note  plus an MMO with four expansion packs of its own.
  • Epic Battle Fantasy series: 5 mainline games, 3 spinoffs (Bullet Hell games Bullet Heaven and Bullet Heaven 2 and platformer Adventure Story), and one Compilation Rerelease (the Epic Battle Fantasy Collection) starting in 2009.
  • Euro Truck Simulator 2: Released in 2012, still actively updated with map expansions and new patches over a decade and counting.
  • EVE Online stands as one of the few long runners of the MMORPG genre, a year older than even World of Warcraft. First released in May of 2003, the game is still actively updated with new patches and free expansions.
  • The Falcon hardcore F-16 flight sim series is a long runner in a different way. The first game was released in 1984, and the latest game, Falcon 4.0, came out way back in 1998. However, a dedicated community has maintained this up to the present day, with mod package BMS 4.33 coming out on October 30, 2015.
  • Fallout has five main installments with the first being released in 1997 (the four numbered games plus Fallout: New Vegas) and the spinoffs Fallout Tactics, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, and Fallout 76. 3, 4, New Vegas, and 76 also each have 20-40 hours of DLC stories (released between installments), each game's collective DLC having enough content for a good-sized expansion pack complete with new stories, locations, enemies, weapons, items, and characters. Other franchise content includes a mobile game (Fallout: Survivor), four tabletop games, a short graphic novel (All Roads), a television series, and a series bible.
  • Far Cry has become an FPS staple since its first release in 2004. Since then, there have been seven main games (Far Cry 1/Instincts/Vengeance,note  Far Cry 2, Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4, Far Cry Primal, Far Cry 5 and Far Cry 6) and three standalone expansion packs (Far Cry Instincts: Evolution, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, and Far Cry 5: New Dawn), plus a few DLC episodes for 4 and 5.
  • Fatal Fury: SNK's first Fighting Game franchise. Once their flagship series before it got outshined by The King of Fighters, though it still spanned a total of 13 games between 1991 and 2007.
  • Final Fantasy: Not even remotely "final" at all. Industry legend has it that it was named such because it was the last gasp of a struggling Square Soft. It was a hit, and the rest is history. The series celebrated its 30-year anniversary on December 18, 2017.
    • Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, spawned from the franchise's most iconic installment, was active between 1997 and 2014, put into a hiatus for some years (although its characters continued to appear in other Square Enix games), before returning in a big way with the 2020 remake, which isn't actually a remake, but a Soft Reboot that sets up a new series.
    • The online Final Fantasy XI itself has been going on since 2002, with five expansions and other add-ons. It was supported for consoles through the end of March 2016, and still is supported for PC.
    • Final Fantasy XIV, another online game, was released in 2010, shut down in 2012, and re-launched in 2013. The game would go on to receive four major expansions, with fifth scheduled for summer 2024.
  • Fire Emblem has been considered a mainstay of the SRPG genre since its debut in 1990, though the series didn't leave Japan until the seventh game was released in North America in 2003. There are 17 main games (including three remakes), with a 17th coming in 2023, several spin-offs, anime and manga adaptations.
  • Fire Pro Wrestling has a huge library of games, though most people outside Japan don't know about most of them.
  • Fortune Street has been around since 1991 with over 10 games released, not that most people outside Japan would know it since it was never officially released outside Japan until the Wii version in 2011.
  • Frogger is mainly known for its arcade title, but that didn't stop it from spawning several sequels during the early 2000s. Examples include Frogger II, Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge, Frogger: The Great Quest, Frogger's Adventures: Temple of the Frog, and Frogger Beyond, to name a few.
  • The original Game & Watch line lasted for eleven years, from Ball in 1980 to Mario the Juggler in 1991. This is not counting the Updated Re-release Gallery series, which ran from 1997 to 2002.
  • FromSoftware's "Souls-like" Sub-Genre/series has had seven games and five DLC Expansion Packs spanning 15 years so far.note  Starting from a low-budget project that was set to be killed before changing directions and pulling together at the last second, the first installment was surprisingly successful (especially overseas) which led to the greenlighting of the Dark Souls trilogy and its successors. All installments have been critically acclaimed and the series has collectively over 80 million copies as of 2024 (a few million for Demon's Souls and its remake, 8 million for Bloodborne, 35 million for Dark Souls, 10 million for Sekiro, and 23+ million Elden Ring), on top of creating an entire subgenre for other studios to chase. The first game was Demon's Souls in February 2009, and the latest is Elden Ring, in February 2022 (with the expansion Shadow of the Erdtree following in June 2024). There were also remasters of Dark Souls and Demon's Souls.
  • Front Mission: Square Enix's Humongous Mecha RPG franchise has accumulated 5 main games and 7 elligible spin-off titles since 1995.
  • Ganbare Goemon: Konami franchise known for its cartoony graphics and take on Japanese mythology and humor. Since its original arcade release in 1986, it saw about 25 games released up until 2009.
  • Gears of War: seven games (plus a remaster and a smattering of DLC) since 2006, including five numbered installments, one prequel, and one turn-based tactics spin-off.
  • Since the first title in the God of War series on the PlayStation 2, Kratos' story has been chronicled in eight canonical games (six on the various iterations of PlayStation and two on the PlayStation Portable), as well as a non-canonical mobile game for phones. 3 also got a remake and Ragnarok got an expansion.
  • Ghosts 'n Goblins: Nintendo Hard platform series by Capcom. Running since 1985 with its 6th main game released in 2021. There are also two Updated Rereleases; a lesser known puzzle spin-off for the Sega Saturn; the Gargoyle's Quest trilogy and the Spiritual Successor Maximo duology (Maximo: Ghosts to Glory and Maximo vs. Army of Zin). 12 elligible games in total.
  • Godzilla made his debut in 1983 on the Commodore 64 and since then, he has starred in over 40 video games.
  • Golden Axe: Beat 'em Up series by Sega, known for its Sword and Sorcery setting. It started in 1989 for the arcades and its last game so far was its 8th installment, 2008's Golden Axe: Beast Rider.
  • The Gradius series has five mainline games (with various console ports for at least the first two) and numerous spin-offs such (such as Salamander, the MSX Nemesis trilogy, Gradius Gaiden, Gradius Advance and Gradius ReBirth) since 1985.
  • Grand Theft Auto. Five main games, ten spinoffs. Operating since 1997. The third main game overshadowing the ones that came before.
  • Gran Turismo: Sony-exclusive racing franchise, known for its multitude of available car brands, as well as its high-production values. Running strong since 1997 with 11 games released.
  • Guilty Gear: Arc System Works flagship Power of Rock fighting game series that started with 1998's Guilty Gear: The Missing Link and has since grown to encompass 20+ releases across arcade, console and handheld systems.
  • Habbo: A game and a social network that was first released in Finland in 2000, with the first "hotel" for English speakers in the UK in 2001. Gradually more hotels had been added.
  • Half-Life: five games and six expansion packs,note  1998 to 2020. The original Half-Life received four expansions (Opposing Force, Counter-Strike,note  Blue Shift, and Decay) while Half-Life 2 received two (Episode One and Episode Two) plus a remaster of one of the first game's (Counter-Strike: Source).note  The Gaiden Game Portal came out after Half-Life 2, followed by its own sequel Portal 2. The franchise seemed dead for a while, but 2020 brought it back with the full-length VR game Half-Life: Alyx. The series' longevity is helped by the literal hundreds of Game Mods created by fans with the GoldSrc and Source engines, many of which received official recognition and were bundled with official products.note  The most notable of these are probably Black Mesa and Garry's Mod.
  • Halo. Starting with the release of Halo: Combat Evolved in 2001, the series consists of ten games: seven main ones (the numbered installments plus Reach and Infinite), a standalone expansion pack (Halo 3: ODST), two RTS spin-offs (Wars and Wars 2), and Video Game Remakes of the first two games. Its Expanded Universe also includes dozens of pieces of media, including four straight-to-web/video films (Nightfall, The Fall of Reach, Forward Unto Dawn, and Legends), over thirty novels (some of which have multiple editions and re-releases), tabletop games, an additional DLC campaign for Halo 4, many comics, and various miscellanious bits such as in-universe encyclopedias, cinematic trailers, and short films. 2021 saw the franchise celebrate its 20th anniversary and release its tenth game (Infinite) followed by the announcement that 10 more years of Halo are planned and budgeted for. Whether that takes the form of more games or simply a steady stream of expansions for Infinite, it looks like Halo will remain a long runner for a long time.
  • Harpoon has existed in some form since 1989.
  • Harvest Moon (BokujĹŤ Monogatari in Japan, or "Ranch Story") has been ongoing since 1997 (1996 in Japan) with the release of Harvest Moon. It changed names in the west to Story of Seasons, but is still known as BokujĹŤ Monogatari in Japan).
  • Hitman has released eight games from 2000 to 2021.
  • The Idolmaster began as an arcade game in 2005. Since then not only has it had a continued presence on consoles, but it has also spawned several subseries of mobile titles.
  • Just Dance: Been going since 2009 with at least ten main entries and loads of spinoffs. It lasted just shy of a decade on the Wii alone, with Just Dance 2020 being the very last Wii game released in North America. They only had to stop because Nintendo of America ran out of the equipment needed to make more Wii discs.
  • Kingdom Hearts: Thirteen titles, two remakes, four updated rereleases, and a downloadable Expansion Pack for one of the titles since 2002.
  • The King of Fighters, a rival series to Fighting Game giant Street Fighter created by SNK in 1994 by pooling together several of their series, all of which it outlasted. Up until the tenth installment (KOF 2003), there was a new game every year. As of the summer of 2016, there are fourteen iterations, with XV's announcement coming in August 2019. This doesn't include Compilation Rereleases; Updated Rereleases (such as '99: Evolution, '98: Ultimate Match, and 2002: Unlimited Match); non-canon Spin-Off Neowave (essentially a reworked port of 2002); two Alternate Continuity series (EX and Maximum Impact; the former with two titles, the latter with three); a semi-canon RPG set in-between '96 and '97 starring the series' protagonist (The King of Fighters: KYO); several handheld ports; a quiz game (Quiz King of Fighters); a board game (The King of Fighters: Battle de Paradise); a Bullet Hell Shoot 'Em Up (KOF Sky Stage); a short-lived MMORPG (The King of Fighters Online); two comedic, female-centric spin-off fighters (SNK Gals Fighters and SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy); and several niche titles such as pachinko games and mobile titles focusing on the female competitors... in bikinis... playing volleyball.
  • King's Bounty: Even discounting the original 1990 game, the Russian revival series numbers five games and a standalone expansion pack released between 2008 and 2021.
  • King's Quest: Eight canonical games from 1984-1998 (the last one is a Contested Sequel), and Fan Sequel games continuing to the present day. It came back officially in 2015.
  • Kirby turned 30 in 2022. Pretty unbelievable considering it started out as just a game about a blob that ate and spit out things. With a new game almost every year since his debut, the pink puffball has close to 30 titles under his belt.
  • Kunio-kun: Beat 'em Up series by Technos. Corp., known for being the earliest examples in the genre and its Super-Deformed graphics. Since 1986 around 35 games have been released, with 15 of them being beat'em ups and the others being mostly sports tournament spin-offs.
  • League of Legends has received continuous updates since 2009, growing from 40 to over 150 different champions in that timeframe (while reworking many more), acting as a second codifier of the MOBA genre after fellow long-runner DOTA, and developing one of the largest E-Sports scenes in the world over that time period. It has since received a card game spinoff in the form of Legends of Runeterra, an auto-battler spinoff mode in the form of Teamfight Tactics, a mobile/console reimagining in the form of Wild Rift, and at least two games developed for League’s IP via their Riot Forge publishing system: Ruined King, a tactical RPG, and Hextech Mayhem, a rhythm game.
  • Since 2005, a LEGO Adaptation Game has been released just about every year. Often two or three at a time.
  • The Legend of Zelda series: Started back in 1986 on the NES, and has had entries on nearly every Nintendo system in existence since. It has 20 entries in the main series (from the original to Tears of the Kingdom in 2023) with more planned, plus 9 remakes and over a dozen mostly minor spin-offs.
  • Ten Leisure Suit Larry titles have been released since 1987, with six being made in the series first 10 years and the next four released sporadically.
  • Like a Dragon - Formerly known as Yakuza outside of Japan, the series began in 2005 and was heavily acclaimed as one of the first games to explore the culture of Japan's criminal underworld in depth. A Cult Classic in other regions, it has since become one of Sega's most popular franchises in Japan, with seven entries in the main series, five spin-offs along with a couple of remakes, nearly all of which have been best sellers in the country.
  • Konami's Mahjong Fight Club and Sega Network Taisen Mahjong form the oligopoly of arcade mahjong games in Japan. Both have been going since 2002 with numerous entries in either series. While the latter is only on its 5th numbered entry, there have been numerous version refreshes in the more recent numbered versions, as well as ports for consumer systems.
  • Mass Effect: Starting in 2007, the series consists of five main games, a dozen episodic expansion packs with their own stories totaling around 26 hours,note  and a remaster of the first game (packaged with minor graphical updates to the second and third). Other content includes 7 novels, 2 Gaiden Game IOS titles (Infiltrator and Galaxy), 8 comic book miniseries (rather short ones though), and a straight-to-DVD animated film (Paragon Lost).
  • MechWarrior, the Real Robot Genre Mecha Game simulator adapted from BattleTech had its first game, MechWarrior released in 1989 note . Eight games over 25 years, though with a large hiatus from 2002 to 2009. The series had two spinoffs (which were less successful, though both received a sequel) - MechCommander and MechAssault
  • Medabots: Another big name in the Mons genre in the late 90's and early 2000's. Since 1997 there have been numbered main installments from 1 to 9 in a total of eleven. The first four main games were also released with add-ons known as the Parts Collection titles. The franchise contains also eleven noteworthy spin-offs: five games that are remakes or rereleases, five action games and one card battle title.
  • The Medal of Honor series first came out in 1999, and includes 16 games spanning the past 3 console generations and a variety of handhelds and other ports.
  • Mega Man: The blue robotic Legacy Character with the Arm Cannon. He's so prolific, one of the Sequel Series qualifies as a Long Runner itself. The series begun in 1987 with the release of the first game, lasting over 30 years, and the overall latest game being the offline version of Mega Man X DiVE, released in 2023.
    • Mega Man (Classic) run uninterrupted from 1987 to 1998, numbering nine mainline games (counting Mega Man & Bass) and numerous spinoffs during this time. Newer games were released more sporadically, with latest mainline game, Mega Man 11, being released in 2018, for the franchise's 30th anniversary.
    • Mega Man X, the Sequel Series to the original, began in 1993, and got eight main games, three spin-offs and a remake, with the last original game releasing in 2005.
  • Metal Gear started back in 1987 on the MSX2, but it was Metal Gear Solid on the PlayStation in 1998 that made it a mainstay franchise. As of 2018 it has twelve full games (the first two Metal Gear entries and the five numbered Metal Gear Solid entries plus Portable Ops, Peacewalker, Revengeance, Ground Zeroes, and Survive) plus a plethora of mobile spinoffs (like Ghost Babel, Solid Mobile, and Acid) and remastered/special editions of the aforementioned games, putting its run at over thirty years - potentially to increase.
  • Metal Slug: Run-and-Gun series by SNK. Known for cartoony, yet highly detailed and expressive sprites, along with unflinching difficulty. Since 1996, there have been 7 main games, two Updated Rereleases (X and XX), 2 collections and 7 spin-offs.
  • Metroid: The Trope Maker for the Metroidvania genre of action-adventure games, spanning fourteen games (and a Compilation Rerelease) across both its mainline 2D/2½D titles and 3D Prime sub-series since beginning in 1986, as well as boasting a number of comics and manga.
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator - The first Flight Simulator was released in 1979, and the first Microsoft Flight Simulator came in 1982. The most recent game in the series was released in 2020, and remains actively updated.
  • Might and Magic. The main series consists of nine RPG games, with the first one being released in 1986, nearly Older Than the NES, and the last in 2001. It was then followed by tenth numbered game in 2014, although no sequels followed. Combined with its spinoffs, the series has more than 35 games in total.
    • Heroes of Might and Magic is the series' More Popular Spin-Off, which begun in 1995. Since then, seven main games were released, each but the first followed by an expansion pack or two. The seventh game was released in 2015, and got its last DLC the following year.
    • Horn of the Abyss is a Game Mod for HoMMIII, developed by a dedicated team. Since its first release on New Year's Eve 2011, the mod introduced two completely new factions, with the latest being added on New Year's Eve 2023, and made numerous tweaks to the game balance. Prolonged support of the game from the past century, acknowledged and supported by some of the original developers, makes it a fan-made equivalent to the similar support of Age of Empires II.
  • Minecraft: An incredibly popular sandbox game set in a world made of blocks you can rearrange to your liking, first released in 2009 and updated ever since. It has since received spin-offs in the form of Minecraft: Story Mode and Minecraft Dungeons.
  • Momotaro Dentetsu: Launched in 1988 as a board game style spinoff of the role-playing game Momotaro Densetsu, it proceeded to eclipse the series from which it originated. As of the release of the Nintendo Switch game in 2020 it now has 23 main games not including mobile spinoffs.
  • Monster Hunter: Capcom's Action RPG franchise has accumulated almost 20 games since 2004, counting main installments, rereleases and spin-offs.
  • Monster Rancher: Another noteworthy Mons franchise created in the wake of the success of PokĂ©mon, though it incorporates strong Simulation Game elements in its formula. From 1997 to 2008 a total of 13 elligible games have been released, counting both main installments and spin-offs.
  • Mortal Kombat: The series that spawned the Entertainment Software Rating Board. Best known for sheer, balls-to-the-wall bloody freakiness. Defining gore since 1992 and across 11 main games, 3 Action-Adventure spin-offs and a handful of rereleases and compilations.
  • Nancy Drew: Since 1998, 33 mainline games have been released by Her Interactive for the PC, including 2 spin-offs under the Dossier heading and a remaster of the first game.
  • Need for Speed. Starts from 1994; has twenty main titles and is the oldest non-sports franchise of Electronic Arts.
  • Neptunia: Compile Heart and Idea Factory's flagship franchise since 2010; it has 4 mainline games, with said games receiving their own remakes after their initial release, a truck load of spin-offs note , an anime adaptation, a series of mangas (such as Megami Tsuushin) and light novels, an iOS app called Neptunia & Friends note , two failed free-to-play mobile games note , and even a Screen-to-Stage Adaptation that was launched in 2023.
  • The Ninja Gaiden series consist of the original arcade game, the NES trilogy, Ninja Gaiden Shadow for the Game Boy, the two Xbox games, and Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword for the DS, as well as a Sega Master System and Game Gear game.
  • Nintendo Wars: Another Intelligent Systems title, this series has spanned a total of twelve games since its inception in 1988.
  • Nobunaga's Ambition started in 1983 and is still producing games to this very day. Includes 14 installments, and that's not counting spinoffs like Samurai Warriors and PokĂ©mon Conquest.
  • The Oregon Trail: First released in 1971 and producing new editions into the present, making the series more than 50 years old.
  • Pac-Man: Numerous spin-offs, sequels, re-imaginings, conversions, rip-offs... and still going since 1980. He's even older than Mario himself.
  • Phantasy Star started as a series of JRPGs, with the first game being released on the Sega Master system in 1987. The series continues on today as MMORPGs, with the first online iteration, Phantasy Star Online, still being played on private servers long after the official servers closed down.
  • The PokĂ©mon series has seen nine generations of games. The video game side of the franchise has 38 mainline entries (many being paired games or remakes) and nearly 100 spin-offs across countless genres, a few forming sub-series in their own right. And that's without talking about the long-running anime series, the long-running trading card game, the long-running manga, and everything else that culminates into one of the biggest Cash Cow Franchises on the planet.
  • Prince of Persia: Originally a popularizer of the Cinematic Platform Game before becoming a 3D Action-Adventure series that popularized Le Parkour climbing mechanics in gaming. Across 3 continuities, there have been 8 core games and about as many spinoffs since 1989.
  • Pump It Up: A dancing game Launched in 1999, including 25 games since December 2012.
  • Police Quest, a series of adventure games that later transitioned to tactical shooters, being connected by their identities as police simulators (and some shared characters). Nine games and an expansion pack, 1987-2006.
  • Puyo Puyo started in 1991, having 7 main and 7 side games, with a ton of spinoffs in the 90s, and a couple mobile games (with Puyo Puyo!! Quest being the only one available to get). There are also light novels, anime short films, audio dramas, and some manga based off the universe. This series is technically a year older if you include its parent series, Madou Monogatari, because Puyo is a spinoff of that.
  • Quake: six games (the numbered installments plus Wars and Champions) and five expansion packs, 1996-2017.
  • Raiden: Vertical Scrolling Shooter series. From 1990 to 2016, there have been five main games, the three Raiden Fighters titles (1, 2 and Jet), the spin-off Viper Phase 1 and two compilations. Also, there are five Updated Rereleases, one of which is considered a standalone game (Raiden DX).
  • Rainbow Six: Eleven games, six expansion packs, and a ton of DLC for Siege, 1998-2015.
  • AliceSoft's Rance series of eroge RPGs ran from 1989 until its definitive conclusion with Rance X in 2018, spanning 16 games across two different timelines. The canon timeline is a long runner in its own right, having begun in 2002.
  • Ratchet & Clank with 14 games, 2 mobile games and a movie, since 2002.
  • Rayman: Ubisoft's platforming limbless protagonist has starred in a dozen games from 1995 to 2013. The Raving Rabbids spin-off series qualifies a long runner on its own, with about another dozen releases since 2006.
  • Repton: Started in 1985, the series suffered a hiatus with the decline of its original home platform, the BBC Micro, but has more recently been resurrected with remakes for the PC and iPod Touch. There's still a large community of fans who play the original versions via emulator, and a new game, Repton: The Lost Realms came out in late 2010. This was the eighth BBC Micro game in the series and the ninth overall, since Repton Spectacular is PC-only.
  • Resident Evil. The main series has numbered installments that goes from Zero (a prequel) to Village, as well as Code: Veronica. There's also a few sub-series such as the Gun Survivor and Outbreak games, as well as the Chronicles series for the Wii. Also, there are the remakes of the first three games. 10 mainline games alone since 1996, along with more than a dozen spinoffs.
  • Richman is a Taiwanese video game which plays like Monopoly, but with gods providing buffs or debuffs, a lottery system, stock markets, and many more unique gimmicks. Starting in 1989, the main series has 11 games, with the latest releasing in 2022.
  • Ridge Racer: Arcade racing series by Bandai Namco Entertainment, running since 1993. Across arcade, console and handheld titles there have been 16 releases.
  • River King: Launched in 1990 on the Famicom, its last game thus far is River King: Mystic Valley on the Nintendo DS in 2007. It has eleven games (seventeen if spinoffs are counted).
  • Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Koei): Includes 11 games in the main series and a variety of spinoffs including online games. The series spans 17 different consoles (including mobile phone). This series was also the forerunner of the Dynasty Warriors series which consists of 8 installments (as well as numerous expansions such as Xtreme Legends and Empires) and has subsequently spun off into Samurai Warriors, Warriors Orochi and a lot of licensed installments featuring other intellectual properties.
  • R-Type: Influential Shoot 'Em Up series by Irem. Started in 1987, it consists of seven main games, five spin-offs and three compilations.
  • RuneScape, a freemium Medieval European Fantasy MMORPG, has been continuously getting new content since 2001, in that time having grossed over $1 billion in revenue from its 260 million players. The sheer amount of content added over 20 years of updates is really worth emphasizing; per polled players, it takes about 5,000 hours to do a completionist run, basically ensuring that you'll never run out of things to do. It has also received a spin-off in the form of Old School RuneScape.
  • Saints Row: six games (plus a few episodic DLC packs) from 2006 to 2022.
  • The SaGa series, though not as legendary as some on this page, still has quite a few games under its belt since the time it evolved off of Final Fantasy II. Started in 1989 on the Game Boy with regular releases until Unlimited Saga in 2002. There were only remakes for about a decade after, but more recently there have been a couple social games.
  • Sakura Wars originally began as a video game released in 1996. It has since had nearly 20 games (four of which are sequels to the original game), several OVA adaptations, an anime TV series, an anime film, as well as several stage musicals.
  • Samurai Shodown: Weapon-based Fighting Game series by SNK. Known for its slower and more methodical style of combat as well as its feudal and mythological Japan setting. Since 1993 it has spawned 11 main installments and a couple of rereleases and spin-offs, including a JRPG title (Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushido Retsuden)
  • Serious Sam, which saw its first release in 2001 and its latest in 2020, has so far had six full games (Serious Sam: The First Encounter, Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, Serious Sam: The Next Encounter, Serious Sam 2, Serious Sam 3: BFE, and Serious Sam 4). On top of this, there are the remakes of the first two games, a DLC episode for BFE (Jewel of the Nile), a standalone expansion for 4 (Siberian Mayhem), the Tech-Demo Game Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope, and a plethora of budget indie games including Double D, Serious Sam: Advance, Kamikaze Attack, and The Random Encounter.
  • The Shining Series which started off in 1991 as a first person dungeon crawler. It evolved into a Turn-Based Strategy with the popular Shining Force. That didn't stop the series from also releasing some action RPG's. While the series isn't Sega's most loved franchise it's still going strong with over 30 titles released across various platforms.
  • Shin Megami Tensei predates PokĂ©mon in the Mons genre (The first Megami Tensei released in 1987), and has spawned a multitude of games.
    • The "main" (but not the first) subseries, Shin Megami Tensei itself, has nine major games released between 1992 and 2021, not counting a MMORPG (which itself had a nine-year run) and many, many mobile spinoffs and manga adaptations.
    • Last Bible subseries, surprisingly, had eight games released between 1992 and 2010. While the last three of them are mobile games, they were prominent enough to justify a Nintendo Switch rerelease in 2022. Unfortunately, only the first of them ever left Japan.
    • Persona subseries begun in 1996, but became truly popular only after the release of Persona 3 in 2006. Currently, there are six main games (as Persona 2 was a dilogy), numerous spinoffs, both major and minor, several anime and manga series, as well as rereleases of main games. Persona is a poster child for More Popular Spin-Off in an already popular franchise, with new releases coming out almost yearly, so it may be only a matter of time before individual games accumulate enough spinoffs to qualify as long-runners on their own.
  • Shinobi: Action Game series by Sega. From 1987 to 2011 there have been 12 titles in the franchise. Most installments saw multiple ports and re-releases across several systems.
  • Silent Hill: Acclaimed Survival Horror series by Konami known for its more symbolic, atmospheric and psychological take on the genre. Since 1999, there have been 8 main games and numerous spin-offs. However, the series experienced a hiatus between 2014 and 2023.note 
  • Although many tend to forget, SimCity is in fact, the mother of all Wide-Open Sandbox and Simulation games. With about 7 games on various consoles and the computer, it's become a world-loved game by many different people. It helped launch off the studio of Maxis as well as to create The Sims and Spore, and several other Sim Series titles.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog: The other famous little blue guy, who pioneered the Mascot with Attitude. Mario's former metafictional rival, has lots of titles, and is still going after more than thirty years, since the first game's release in 1991.
  • Soul Series (you might know it as Soul Calibur): Bandai Namco's weapon-based 3D fighting games, running since 1995 and with seven main titles under its belt, along with three noteworthy spin-offs.
  • Space Invaders: One of the oldest franchises in video game history, running since 1978. The Other Wiki needs a separate, categorized page just to list all of its sequels, related games, and ports.
  • Splinter Cell: Ubisoft's Stealth-Based Game series started in 2002 and managed to consist of seven games until 2013: the six main titles and one spin-off (Splinter Cell: Essentials). There are also the portable versions of the first two games, who qualify as distinct titles on their own on account of being 2D.
  • The Spyro the Dragon series has been running longer than the Crash Bandicoot franchise, which had undergone a rest for nearly eight years. Spyro has been rebooted twice, and has a total of 19 games. In 2018, the original 3 games were rebooted into the Spyro Reignited Trilogy.
  • Starcraft, from its birth in 1998 to its final DLC in 2019, released four standalone titles (StarCraft, Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm, and Legacy of the Void), three expansion packs (Brood War, Insurrection/Retribution, and Nova Covert Ops), and another expansion pack's worth of DLC (LOTV's Allied Heroes mode and its updates), on top of supplying about a third of the content for Heroes of the Storm. Other content in the franchise includes remasters of the original and Brood War, 15 novels, 2 technical books, and dozens of short stories and comic volumes.
  • Star Ocean: Action RPG series by tri-Ace known for its space setting and branching paths that lead to Multiple Endings. Since 1996, there have been six main games, with the latest being released in 2022, two spinoffs, and several rereleases.
  • Steel Panthers: The original game came out in 1995, and two of its sequels (published by Shrapnel Games) still receive annual updates. All in all, six Steel Panthers games have been made to date.
  • The Street Fighter series: The series had many installments with numerous expanded versions to the point that Capcom considers each Street Fighter game to be its own sub-series. In 2017, the series completed its 30th anniversary, anticipared with the release of Street Fighter V.
  • Suikoden: JRPG series by Konami known for its war setting and blend of standard turn-based gameplay with SRPG segments and one-on-one duels. Also known for having 108 playable characters per game. From 1995 to 2012 there have been 5 main games, 5 spin-offs and two minor titles.
  • Summon Night: Quirky Strategy RPG series known for its blend of Visual Novel and Dating Sim elements. Since 2000 there have been 6 main games and 7 spin-offs.
  • Super Mario Bros.: This series has a reputation for being top of the heap in design and innovation. Listing all the games associated with Mario would make for a ridiculously long list. The core series of platformers alone has somewhere around 18 entries to date!note 
    • Related is the Mario Party series, the first being released in late 1998 for the Nintendo 64. There are twelve games in the main series (the first ten numbered), with one each for the Game Boy Advance and DS and three for the 3DS, making for 17 games (not counting the Japanese arcade games) total during over two decades.
  • Super Real Mahjong: An H-Game series where you play Mahjong to disrobe girls. Seven games released over the course of 10 years with a new mainline installment 21 years later, plus plenty of spin-offs and compilations released in-between them.
  • Super Robot Wars: A Massive Multiplayer Crossover between Humongous Mecha from various anime franchises that NEVER get old. Oh, and the Original Generation keeps coming. Its massive lineup of games since the first game from 1991 can be found on its official website.
  • Super Smash Bros.: Five games and a couple expansion packs worth of DLC, starting with the first release in 1999. Technically there are six games, but Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS is probably more accurately classed as a port of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U than a separate title.
  • Sword and Fairy is a series of Chinese RPGs, the first of which was released in 1995. The main series has seven games, two major Gaiden Games and a number of lesser spin-offs. They also spawned three TV series, better known as Chinese Paladin, several Manhua adaptations, a number of books and an audio drama.
  • Swords and Sandals: Five mainline titles, four spinoffs (with one upcoming), and one Compilation Rerelease (Swords and Sandals Classic Collection), starting out in 2006 and with its most recent title currently in Early Access.
  • The Tale of ALLTYNEX by Siter Skain started on the FM Towns computer in 1997 and has spanned 3 games and 2 remakes since.
  • The Tales Series started with Tales of Phantasia in 1995 and has since then accumulated 17 main titles, several major spin-offs, and tons of lesser spin-offs, manga and anime adaptations, with the overall latest release happening in 2023.
  • Test Drive: This racing game series has spawned 11 main games and an Off-Road spin-off series of 4 games since 1987. The entire series was rebooted from the ground up with Test Drive Unlimited series.
  • The Tekken series: 8 main games and numerous spin-offs since 1994.
  • Tenchu: One of the founding fathers of the 3D Stealth-Based Game genre. Known for restoring the image of ninja as stealthy assassins and introducing the Stealth Kill mechanic in gaming. A total of 9 games have been released from 1998 to 2009.
  • Tetris: While there are a crazy amount of versions of this game around, it is best known for having a version of the classic on just about any piece of hardware you can name, including keychains and entire office buildings. Geeks were doing "Can it run Tetris?" before Doom ever came about.
  • Thunder Force: Shoot 'Em Up series created by the now defunct Technosoft. Six games were released from 1983 to 2008, along with a port of the first game and two ports of the third game.
  • Tokimeki Memorial: The founder series of the Non-H Dating Sim genre spanned over 15 years since the original on PC-Engine in 1994, and is still ongoing.
  • Tomb Raider: Easily having one of the most recognizable protagonists, Lara Croft, the Tomb Raider games have been coming out since 1996, being one of the first 3D Action-Adventure games. With over a dozen games to date, the series definitely has had its highs and lows. However, there's no denying that its first installment was revolutionary, establishing many of the conventions of the Action-Adventure genre.
  • Total War: A series of epic PC strategy games from British developer Creative Assembly (and published by Sega), which has been around since the release of Shogun: Total War in 2000, and is still ongoing with a total of twelve games and seven expansion packs as of 2019.
  • Touhou Project: One of the most well-known Bullet Hell titles, made all the more amazing in that these games are made by a single amateur game designer. Touhou began in 1996 on the PC-98, then moved to Windows after five games. The main series boasts 19 games, 13 official spin-offs and countless Fan Games.
  • Falcom's Trails Series, an intricately fleshed out Eastern RPG franchise that began in 2004 with The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC and is still ongoing. There are 12 main titles in the series divided into 4 story arcs, with a non-canon mobile spinoff, several manga, light novels, and Drama CD adaptations including supplemental material.
  • Tropico: a city building and construction management sim series focused on building up a fictional Caribbean island country. Started with Tropico in 2001, and as of 2019 is up to six games with five expansion packs(all of the games got one - or DLC equivalent to one - except for 2).
  • Twisted Metal: Vehicular Combat franchise that started in 1995 on Sony consoles. From the original up to the 2012 game on the PS3, there have been 8 titles in the series.
  • Ultima: The series began with the limited release of Akalabeth in the June 1979, and although the Avatar's saga concluded over 20 years later in November 1999's Ultima IX (with ten main games, two Runes of Virtue spin-offs, a 1997 MMO, and various revamped console versions of said games), the adventuring still went strong into Ultima Online, which received new content from 2007 to 2010, and a reboot in form of Ultima Forever, another MMO that was up from 2012 to 2014. That's over 30 years of Ultima, folks.
  • Unreal, whose first game was released in 1998, and had a total of 10 games released between 1998 and 2014 counting the Tournament and Championship Gaiden Games. For a long time it was Epic Games's flagship franchise until first Gears of War and then Fortnite took the title. In addition, the series spawned one of the (if not the) most prolific Game Engines of all time, the Unreal Engine, which at one point powered up entire generations of video games of different genres.
  • Virtua Fighter: This Sega series consists of five main games released from 1993 to 2006, all of which saw at least one Updated Re-release. Furthermore, it spawned some noteworthy spin-offs: Fighters Megamix; a 8-bit game (Animation/Mini); a fighting installment with Chibi graphics (Kids); an offical demake of the second game (Virtua Fighter 2 Genesis); two CGI gallery disc compilations (CG Portrait Series and GG Portrait Series) and an Action-Adventure title (Virtua Quest).
  • The Warcraft series began with Warcraft: Orcs and Humans in 1994. There have been two RTS sequels, with an expansion pack for each (The Frozen Throne having enough content for a full release in its own right), an aborted adventure game, a physical card game, a separate digital card game, a remastered edition for the third game, a major theatrical film that grossed nearly half a billion, and of course a particularly huge MMO.
  • Warframe: From the release as closed beta in October 2012 to the 10th anniversary of open beta in March 2023, Digital Extremes has released 32 major content updates and countless mainline sub-updates and hotfixes for this multiplayer Player Versus Environment Third-Person Shooter.
  • Warhammer Fantasy: While not as prolific as 40,000, it still does have enough major video games to qualify even discounting HeroQuest, Blood Bowl, cheap downloadable games, and direct digital adaptations of the tabletop. Notable installments include Warhammer: Mark of Chaos in 2006 (which got an expansion pack, Battle March, in 2008), Warhammer Online in 2008, the Total War: Warhammer trilogy from 2016 to 2021 (each game also having one or two expansion packs worth of DLC),note  and the Vermintide duology in 2015 and 2018 respectively (with collectively two or three expansion packs worth of DLC extending into 2022).note 
  • Warhammer 40,000 has had enough video games since the turn-based Space Crusade in 1993 to qualify, even discounting low-budget mobile and downloadable games. Notable installments include the first-person shooter Fire Warrior, the Dawn of War RTS sub-series (three games and five expansion packs), the third-person shooter Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, and the space-focused RTS Battlefleet Gothic: Armada.
  • Wario Land: A spinoff of Super Mario Land, it was first released on the Game Boy in 1994, with the last game released in 2008, albeit with only six games in the series.
  • Wild ARMs: Since 1996 in Japan and slightly later elsewhere, with the most recent numbered game in the series being Wild ARMs 5 (2006) and the most recent game overall being the spin-off Wild ARMs XF (2007). There also was an Enhanced Remake of the first game, Alter Code F. There are rumors of a 6th numbered game.
  • Wing Commander: Although it's fallen on hard times since the bottom dropped out of the space sim market in late nineties, up to and including the release of Wing Commander Secret Ops there was, on average, no more than a year between new games following the original, including add-ons.
  • The Wolfenstein series spans eleven releases over 36 years, from Castle Wolfenstein (1981) to Wolfenstein: Youngblood (2019); excluding standalone expansions and minor spin-offs, it still hits eight releases.
  • Wonder Boy: it started in 1986 for the arcades and managed to pump out 7 original games and 3 remakes, along with numerous ports.
  • Worms has been wriggling along since 1995 with over 10 games in the series.
  • The X-Universe has been around since 1999, with four numbered games, a major spinoff, two standalone, and numerous lesser expansion packs.
  • Xenoblade Chronicles series began in 2010, and now consists of three numbered installments, one Lettered Sequel and two major DLCs, with the latest main game being released in 2022.
  • Xuan-Yuan Sword franchise is one of the first Chinese role-playing games, with the original game released back in 1990. Since then, the series numbers seven mainline installments, with the last one in 2020, seven major, and several lesser spin-offs. The franchise also has two live-action series and an anime adaptation.
  • You Don't Know Jack: Since 1995 with six numbered games, numerous spinoffs on various platforms, a 2011 reboot version, and has been included as a game many times in The Jackbox Party Pack series, with nine packs released in 2022 and counting.
  • Ys has been around since 1987, with the most recent game (Ys X: Nordics) being released in 2023. Thirteen games total, eleven of which are part of official continuity.
  • Zork (1977-2009)

    Video Game Systems (10 years or above) 
  • The Amiga: 1985-1996. Often considered the first true multimedia computer brand, this line of computers was able to outperform rival machines for more than a decade until Commodore filed for Chapter 11 in 1994. The Amiga operating system still lives on today as an environment for PowerPC devices and computers shipped with said operating system are still being made today under the Amiga brand.
  • The Apple ][ family: 1977-1993. The first mass-marketed home computer platform, these machines were ubiquitous in school computer labs in The '80s and The '90s. Apple introduced more powerful machines like the IIgs, but the introduction of lower cost Macs spelled the end of the platform. Along with other major classic computer platforms, the Apple II series still has a devoted following over 30 years after the last Apple IIe, itself the longest-lasting model, rolled off the assembly line.
  • The Apple Macintosh has been going strong since its introduction in 1984. As the first affordable computer with a graphical user interface, it was originally intended as a serious business machine. The Mac's advanced graphics and sound for the time still attracted a number of game developers, even if it was only in black and white at first. Apple downplayed the presence of games on the system, but developers still made both exclusive games as well as ports of titles popular on other platforms. The company suffered a major Audience-Alienating Era in The '90s, but Steve Jobs made a return toward the end of the decade and revitalized Apple, making it one of the most successful tech companies. In 2001, Apple released Mac OS X, a major overhaul to the aging Mac OS. The new operating system makes it impossible to run older Mac games unless using Classic mode on a PowerPC processor. The platform is mainly marketed to creative professionals (musicians, graphic artists, video editors) but still has some games available. The introduction of Steam to the Mac (and EA following suit with Origin shortly after) has awakened interest in Mac gaming. However, with the Macintosh switching to Apple's own ARM-based architecture in 2020, it remains to be seen if Mac gaming will remain viable.
  • Atari 2600: 1977-1992. The first widely popular console. Sold over 40 million, also holds much of the responsibility for The Great Video Game Crash of 1983. Has an active indie scene continuing to make games for it since 1995.
  • Commodore 64 Computer: 1982-1994. Considered to be the best-selling personal computer model of all time, it even outlasted several of its would-be successors. Commodore discontinued the C-64 in North America in 1990, but it was still being produced and sold in Europe when the company went bankrupt in 1994. However, the platform may be facing resurrection; new games are still being made for the platform despite the shutdown of Commodore Business Machines, and by 2021 apparently the monthly output of new games is great enough to warrant the resurrection of the famous ZZAP! 64 magazine. This along with the fact that a company called Retro Games Ltd started mass producing replica c64 machines that run on an ARM SOC back in late 2019, has resulted in an argument on whether the period between 1994-2019 could be considered an hiatus and whether the c64's life can be considered ongoing.
  • CP System II: 1993-2004. This arcade hardware was used for many Capcom arcade games in the mid to late 90s, and then eventually by other companies. The last game was Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition, released December 2003 in Japan and updated/internationally released in February 2004. It outlasted the CP System III which only had six games released on it (including the entire Street Fighter III trilogy) from 1997-1999.
  • Family Computer: 1983-2003. Its counterpart, the NES, was produced from 1985-1994. Final official release was a PAL-exclusive port of The Lion King in 1995. Including unlicensed games, the NES becomes a long runner as well since Battle Kid 2: Mountain of Torment came out in 2012. In terms of official lifespans, the Famicom's was the longest of any console to date.
  • Game Boy: 1989-2003. While succeeded by the Game Boy Color in 1998, Nintendo officially counts it as a newer model of the original rather than a full-fledged successor like the later Game Boy Advance. This is mainly due to the fact that certain GBC games were cross-compatible with the earlier model. Following that line of thought, the final US (and worldwide) release for this hardware line was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in 2002. Even after the Game Boy Advance was released in 2001, games were still being made for the 8-bit handheld juggernaut until it was finally retired in 2003. That's a mighty run of fourteen years, a record unmatched by any handheld released since.
  • The IBM Personal Computer (1981-present and going!) was created before AND has outlasted every other platform ever made to date. The birthplace of Doom and now-and-forever the de facto platform of independent developers. However, its hardware has been constantly updated and altered and new operating systems have been created to the point where it can be a struggle to get some of your old games working on any of the new stuff. Like the Macintosh, it wasn't originally a gaming machine, but eventually picked up good graphics and sound.
  • The iQue Player, a plug n' play version of the Nintendo 64 released in China to circumvent the home console ban at the time was released in 2003 and was supported until Nintendo shut down its downloadable game service in 2016. The Chinese wouldn't see a "successor" until Nintendo decided to port GameCube and Wii titles on the Nvidia Shield the following year.
  • Neo Geo AESnote : 1990-2004. Last official release was Samurai Shodown V Special. It managed to outlast its successors, the Neo Geo CD released in 1994note , and the Hyper Neo Geo 64 released in 1997 (to arcades, a NEO-GEO 64 home console never got past the planning stage), both of which had very short official lifespans.
  • Nintendo DS: 2004-2015. Games stopped being released in 2014 or early 2015 depending on the region. The last official physical game released was a Big Hero 6 tie-in game, while the last DSiWare game released was Around the World in 80 Days, both released early 2015 in Europe. The DSiWare store ran until the end of March 2017.
  • PlayStation: 1994-2005. Fourth best-selling home console ever, behind only the PlayStation 2, the PlayStation 4, and the Nintendo Switch. Games started to wane after the PS2's international release in 2001 - but over 7000 titles were released. Last in US: FIFA 2005 (2004). Last in Europe: Hugo: Black Diamond Fever (2005).
  • PlayStation 2: 2000-2013. Production ended in Japan on December 28, 2012 and worldwide on January 4, 2013. Coexisted with its successor, the PlayStation 3, with hardware still being released. Lasted until a month and a half before the announcement of the PlayStation 4. Last release in US: FIFA 14 (2013). Last in Europe: FIFA's rival Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 (2013). As an example of the console's longevity, FIFA 14 is both one of the PS2's final titles and one of the PS4's launch titles (and a regular PS3 release too) in the space of only two months! Final Fantasy XI had updates to its PS2 version going until March 2016.
  • Playstation 3: 2006-2017, hit the long-runner mark in November 2016. Sony would discontinue the console the following year, and the final game for the system ended up being (what else) FIFA 19 in the fall of 2018.
  • PlayStation Portable: 2004-2016. Production ended in 2014 worldwide. The last physical release was the limited edition of the American localization of Summon Night 5 and the last digital release was a port of Retro City Rampage, both belated releases in the first half of 2016 (Summon Night 5 was initially released in Japan in 2013 and digitally in America in 2015, and the first release of Retro City Rampage on any hardware was in 2012, or 4 years earlier... that game just likes living up to its name.).
  • Sega Genesis/Mega Drive: 1988-1998. The final official release was a cheap port of Frogger in 1998; by serendipity, this same port was also the final game for the Genesis's rival, the SNES. Has had an interesting afterlife, however: Versions of the console, officially licensed by Sega, are still for sale today, meaning the argument could be made that its lifespan is still ongoing. The system also has games released for it sporadically since its official discontinuation by third party developers up to the present day such as Pier Solar and the Great Architects, and more recently, Paprium.
  • The Sega Dreamcast only lasted 3 years from 1998 to 2001, taking Sega's entire console division with it, but official releases continued to be made for the dead console, with the last one being Karous in 2007. Even then, the console's status as a Cult Classic ensured a thriving homebrew community for years after, with more recent games like 2015's Völgarr the Viking and Pier Solar and the Great Architects receiving semi-official Dreamcast ports.
  • Sega Master System: Officially 1985-1996, but still active through third party licenses. Despite being unable to dethrone the NES in North America, the system still lives on in Brazil, where plug-and-play variations of the console are still being sold to this day by Tectoy, Sega's representative in the region (though Sega themselves no longer officially support the system). As a matter of fact, the Master System is so popular in the country that it even rivaled recent consoles such as the PlayStation 4 in terms of units sold, and that conversions of titles like Street Fighter II and games based on local franchises such as Monica's Gang were made to appeal to local tastes. It makes sense considering how it's way less expensive than newer systems, coupled with Nostalgia Filter by Brazilians who grew up playing games on the Master System.
  • Sega NAOMI: 1998-2009. Arcade hardware by Sega that is very similar to that of the Dreamcast and allowed for easy porting of games to said system. The most recent game was Radirgy Noa.
  • Super Famicom: 1990-2003. The Japanese version of the SNES managed to outlive its western counterpart by a few more years thanks to the Satellaview and Nintendo Power downloadable game services in Japan. The last game released for the console was a remake of the late-era Famicom game Metal Slader Glory in 2000. Hardware was produced in Japan until September 2003.
  • Taito Type X: 2004-present. PC-based arcade hardware with a refresh in specifications every few years.
  • Wii: 2006-2020. The console saw its production ended in Japan on October 20, 2013, but it is still produced overseas albeit only in budget models lacking some hardware features. The last series to see regular releases on it was Just Dance. Just Dance 2019, like FIFA 14 above, saw release on three different Nintendo generations (one of the Wii's twilight titles, one of the final releases for the Wii U and a release for the Nintendo Switch), and the next edition, 2020 came out for Wii - its last North American and mass-market release - and Switch but not Wii U. The Wii and Wii U's shared final game was Shakedown: Hawaii, released in in summer 2020 through a limited physical run (North American for Wii U, European for Wiinote ) and worldwide Wii U eShop release - about a year after both its initial release on the Switch and Just Dance 2020.
  • Xbox 360: 2005-2016. The console's discontinuation was announced on April 20, 2016, but online services will still be supported for the foreseeable future thanks to its successor the Xbox One featuring backwards compatibility with many 360 games.
  • The much-loved British home computer the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Its commercial life lasted from 1982 until around 1993 when the last games were published and the last Spectrum gaming magazine (Your Sinclair) finally folded. It had quite a history - it was originally conceived as a hobbyists' computer (it had no dedicated graphics or sound hardware making its success as a gaming platform highly ironic) with only 16K expandable to 48K. In 1986, a 128K model with a dedicated sound chip (but still the same graphics) was released. It even survived the buying-out of Sinclair computers by rivals Amstrad who rebuilt the 128K Spectrum with a more professional keyboard a (rather plain) new case and a built in tape recorder or disk drive. Although the 128K Spectrum was more successful than similar "upgrades" for rival computers (e.g. the Commodore 128) and its abilities were usually taken advantage of the old 48K model was still supported by the game publishers right to the end. Even today the "Speccy" has a large fanbase and new indie games are still being published for it, at the rate of dozens per year.

Alternative Title(s): Video Game Long Runner

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