? -- I don't see the issue in what I've said. The Forza brand has four entries this gen and the Xbox One isn't four years old yet. There will more than likely be another Forza this year thus making it five.
Halo and Gears this gen has pretty much been 1-2 new entries with one remake. Same is true with Uncharted and Last of Us (latter with Part 2 coming soon). These are big franchises/brands for both companies so I feel that this is pretty much normal and expected.
Here's some differences:
The Last of Us: Part 2, which isn't expected until 2018 at the earliest, is just the second game in its franchise. Gears of War 4, which came out in 2016, is the fifth game in its franchise. The Last of Us: Part 2, will be developed by one of the world's most renowned developers, Naughty Dog, who created the franchise. Gears of War 4 was developed by a new studio, The Coalition, who were working on a new IP until their direction was suddenly changed and they took over the franchise Epic obviously no longer cared to continue. The Last of Us: Part 2 follows The Last of Us, one of most critically acclaimed games of all time. Gears of War 4 follows Gears of War: Judgment, a game which slumped in reviews and in sales.
Ultimately it comes down to this, while both Halo and Gears of War are franchises built on great games, nothing Microsoft are doing with either franchise justifies continuing them rather than doing something new, and that's not a case of one duff game either. The last great Halo game released in 2007 (or 2009, if we want to count ODST/Halo Wars). The last great Gears of War game, in my mind, was the first, which released in 2006. I don't hate either franchise by any means, but I can't get excited for them anymore either. I think threads like these show, frankly, that the hype around these franchises has pretty much died. There will always be a hardcore that desperately wants more, but most people are moving on to bigger, better, and, generally, newer things.
This is the Most Played list you can find on Microsoft's Store (UK)
FIFA 17
Grand Theft Auto V
Rocket League
Roblox (free)
Overwatch
Minecraft
Call of Duty Black Ops 3
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
Battlefield 1
Call of Duty Infinite Warfare
Forza Horizon 3
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands
Evolve (free with GWG)
Call of Duty Modern Warfare
Destiny
EA Sports UFC 2 (free with ea access)
Fallout 4
Mass Effect: Andromeda
FIFA 16 (free with ea access)
Star Wars Battlefront (free with ea access)
Skyrim
NBA 2K17
Trove (free)
The Division
Skate 3
Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2
Gears of War 4
Clicker Heroes (free)
Fallout Shelter (free)
WWE 2K17
Smite (free)
Call of Duty Black Ops
The Elder Scrolls Online
Halo 5 Guardians
Battlefield 4
Look at how many games these two exclusives are behind. This is on the console you -have- to buy to play Halo and Gears, I remind you, which concentrates the fanbase in a way that won't happen with all of its competitors. Let's focus just on the first person shooters, to make it clear just how tired the Halo franchise is:
Overwatch
Call of Duty Black Ops 3
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
Battlefield 1
Call of Duty Infinite Warfare
Call of Duty Modern Warfare
Destiny
Star Wars Battlefront (free with ea access)
Call of Duty Black Ops
Halo 5 Guardians
Battlefield 4
It is behind four Call of Duty games. It is behind two different DICE shooters, Battlefield 1 and Battlefront, and is only level with Battlefield 4 which came out long before it. It is behind Destiny, the game Bungie went to make away from Microsoft. It is behind the Ubisoft shooter which looked doomed when it launched roughly at the same time as Halo 5. And of course, it is behind Overwatch, a fantastic example of how new IPs can grab the attention of the masses.
I have to be honest, looking at these numbers, you have to wonder exactly what Microsoft have to lose by trying something new. There's nothing risk averse about going down with a sinking ship. This is the title Microsoft puts most of its weight behind
and look at it. The worst thing is that even if Halo 6 was a good game, unlike Halo 4 and Halo 5, it's unlikely to reverse the decay in the franchise.