These games redesigned their predecessors, and also introduced new features that changed your experience in a positive way. After that, the players have been that these franchises are making the same games each year. The advertising for the annual sporting events suggests that the game's EAFC 24 Coins upcoming release has a major change to the series however, in reality only the addition of a few characters or animations are added to the same game but modified.

For a long time of time, for a long time, the Mortal Kombat franchise suffered a similar fate. It was released in 1992. The initial Mortal Kombat changed the face of arcade games forever. It didn't take long until sequels began to be released every year or that's the case starting with Mortal Kombat 2 releasing in 1993. and Mortal Kombat 3 releasing in 1995. Over the next decade and beyond, Mortal Kombat would continue to be a popular Mortal Kombat franchise would release each year a new game and some years getting two titles. At the time that came out, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon in 2006. the franchise's fatigue had already and truly set in, and the brand had lost the same weight it used to.

After a short break, Mortal Kombat returned in 2022 with its ninth mainline installment which was simply titled Mortal Kombat. As a reboot of the series, Mortal Kombat took the series back to its original origins and streamlined the game's mechanics, while making sure it was complicated enough for a contemporary fighting game. Through allowing the franchise to breathe NetherRealm was able play around with the game and develop an experience that was appreciated with both long-time and newcomer players.

The two previous Mortal Kombat games have both been released four years following their predecessors and with Mortal Kombat X coming out in 2022. and Mortal Kombat 11 releasing in 2022. With four years between the two entries the series has managed to stay popular with the public however it hasn't dominated the market, ensuring that fans can be kept enthused to see the next installment. Breaks from the franchise gives the creator the opportunity to develop new IPs which could become hugely successful on their own like NetherRealm's Injustice series.

Sports games should learn this advice of Mortal Kombat. The sports games of today are exactly the same as they were when the MK series was during the early 2000s, with each year's releases becoming blurred and making fans believe that the next game isn't worth their time. When FIFA, Madden, NBA and the rest of the annual sports titles put a year or two off, the designers will finally be able to reflect on the direction of this franchise and how the formula might be improved.

One of the main critiques of the modern-day annual sports games is the fact that each entry is just another re-skinned version of the game that was previously played and has no visible or performance advancements over its predecessor. Although the game's developers might add an additional career mode or incorporate some fan-favorite elements from an earlier version that is incorporated into the new game with cheap FC Coins, it's not usually enough to merit the price, particularly when the game from last year holds well.