Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance reached an 'Overwhelming Positive' rating 8 years later

An 8-year old game has been blessed with a second chance at life - thanks to memes.

2013's Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is an enjoyable high-octane game, but a black sheep amongst the franchise it belongs to.

The Metal Gear franchise is beloved for its take on stealth combat and innovative game mechanics that have defined the genre for over 20 years.
On the other hand, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a hack-and-slash action game that's all about moving fast and slashing robots that get in your way.

8 years after it released, the game got unexpected attention once memes based on the game became immensely popular.

A picture of Jetstream Sam, a villain in the game, with his hand on his chin in thought became internationally famous due to mass sharing over various sites.
This led to the game experiencing unprecedented player growth of 1000% despite its age, and has finally hit an 'Overwhelmingly Positive' user rating on the game marketplace Steam.

Video games, especially ones that are only single-player, generally have a limited shelf life compared to multiplayer games.

Single-player games have limited replayability as new experiences aren't consistently available for them after the game has been beaten.
Player numbers were minimal a year after Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was released once players beat the game, only to reach higher thanks to the memes.

Today's meme culture is an extremely effective marketing tool, so much so that they've created an entirely new industry.

An effective meme that is humourous, easily shareable, and culturally relevant is the key to success.
Memes have the power to give new media franchises a great start and revive aging ones, such as Marvel's Morbius film.

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