Gearbox Software. 12 studios that keep making the same game

By their graphics you will recognize them.

We're slowly approaching the end of the list, so it's time for three quick punches, with which I believe you will mostly agree. Let's take the Gearbox Software studio and its Borderlands series first. Each installment of the series, launched in 2009, offers roughly the same thing – first-person shooting (a lot of it), cooperation, RPG elements at the forefront with a lot of colorful gear straight from Diablo, iconic sense of humor and characteristic, cartoon graphics.

This description can be applied to both the original, and this year's spin-off, i.e. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands. Only Tales from the Borderlands broke off from the scheme, and not by accident, as it was developed by Telltale Games studio, not Gearbox. Randy Pitchford and his team are creating another installment, but it's difficult to write anything more about it without an official announcement. And although it seems doubtful that it should be similar to the hits that make up the main series, Wonderlands proved that fans are satisfied with the "more of the same thing, just better" approach – especially when the IP is not overused. But then again, it's the case with all of the games listed here.

Epic Games and The Coalition

Not everyone liked the "open world" of Gear 5. However, the old-school nature of the game doesn't seem to bother anyone.

"More, prettier and better?" This statement also fits perfectly with the Gears of War series, which has been around since 2006 and – not counting the three side projects (Judgment, POP! and Tactics – five parts have been released so far. For comparison – the Assassin's Creed series was launched a year later and currently counts twelve main entries.

If the series of sci-fi shooters was released with similar intensity, it would either have to undergo a significant evolution, or it would dug its own grave long ago. Meanwhile, the series that offers old-school cover-shooter experience is doing at least well today. It's possible that the change of the developer played a role here – after part three, the series was transfered from Epic Games to Black Tusk Studios owned by Microsoft (now known as The Coalition).

The new authors, however, did not dare to change the formula of the legendary Gears of War. By creating part four they just started their own story, which they successfully continued in Gears 5 and will certainly finish in 6. We can also assume that it will inherit a partially open world from its predecessor, i.e. the only – apart from graphics, of course – element that clearly distinguished that installment. Interestingly, some of the core fans of the series didn't like this breath of fresh air.

Bungie and 343 Industries

In the case of Halo, the open world is a change for the better.

What applies to the previous entry in this list, cannot (fortunately?) be said about the fans of the Halo series. According to many of them, the open world introduced in Infinite turned out to be one of the greatest advantages of the new game by 343 Industries, which has been taking care of shooters with the legendary Master Chief in the lead role since 2011.

You could even say that American developers are responsible for half of the series – and if you add remasters, even more than that. But have they made any significant changes to it? Apart from the already mentioned open world – of course not. Halo fans, however, get just what they want – another piece of the Master Chief's story, another portion of the rich lore, and an opportunity to shoot a lot (both in single-player and online). The open world appeared in Halo somehow by accident – as a kind of industry trend – and although its implementation made the series evolve a bit, it's difficult to talk about a revolution. Infinite is still an old school, first-person shooter – with all the pros and cons of the notion. And that's what we love.