> But those games were generally less accessible, mostly not multiplayer, and again lacked the brand power.
Creative Assembly's Total War series had good and popular games but their popularity exploded when they made a Warhammer game despite the original fanbase preferring historical games and many hoping for a TW Medieval 3. Most games with the Warhammer IP at that time were mediocre at best. So brand doesn't carry on it's own and it helps when your target audience has nothing else that they might be interested to play when your game is released. Diablo 4 sucks and Pillars 2 was released in 2018.
Creative Assembly's Total War series had good and popular games but their popularity exploded when they made a Warhammer game despite the original fanbase preferring historical games and many hoping for a TW Medieval 3. Most games with the Warhammer IP at that time were mediocre at best. So brand doesn't carry on it's own and it helps when your target audience has nothing else that they might be interested to play when your game is released. Diablo 4 sucks and Pillars 2 was released in 2018.