Remakes and remasters: a study reveals how long after the original they become more successful

An interesting one studio by IDG Consulting and Virtuospublished by GamesIndustry.biz, analyzed the phenomenon of remakes and remastersrevealing what the general trend may indicate how long after the original can it be more successful this type of operation.

In essence, by analyzing the data relating to various products of the genre, it emerged that a remake has a greater chance of success if it is launched on the market between 11 and 20 years apart from the release of the original to which it refers, therefore a rather large time window but positioned at a considerable distance from the launch of the game to which the remake refers.

As for the remaster, obviously that period of reduces: a remastered version is more successful if it is launched within 5 years of the release of the original, therefore in a relatively short period of time.

Some interesting conclusions

The issue is obviously also influenced by technical features of the different products: a remake presupposes a total technical remake which is better implemented on games that are older, making more sense as the time that has passed since the original release increases, while the remaster being a lighter reworking work can be carried out a shorter distance of time, with much of the original material still being perfectly enjoyable.

The study examined over 200 remakes and remasters released from 2012 onwards, to evaluate them on the basis of sales in relation to the release periods: the games released between 11 and 15 years after the original are those that were most successful among remakes, with 70% selling over 2 million copieswhile only 32% of remakes of games released 21-25 years after the original reached this quota.

This could also refer to the fact that older games are less well known and may have less appeal to modern audiences, in fact. In a decidedly sensible manner, the studio claims that “remakes are successful when they guarantee significant advances on the hardware and software front significant additions and resolve historical issues from the original games.”

Apparently, only two titles among the remakes released less than 10 years after the originals managed to exceed 2 million copies: The Last of Us Part I in 2022 and Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir in 2016.