I agree that I don’t see WOS being an annual release, it’s likely just going to be the base game for DLCs. The only way I could see them making it into an annual release is if they decide to release a new branch line and characters as WOS2, but due to how short the branch lines are that wouldn’t seem very fair.
I think WOS 2 is highly unlikely. Not that I wouldn't love to see it, but I think the game would have had to sell like gangbusters. I know WOS did fairly well, but I don't think there are enough of us adult Thomas fans who are also into video games to make this IP into a series. I'm not complaining through, we still have WOS with new updates coming! Let's not get super ahead of ourselves and make sure to appreciate what we have now!
A new game every year which is basically the same game, with old bugs that were never fixed carrying over? I hope annual releases stays in TSW.
Yearly releases have both their good and bad sides. I think gaming now with the visuals and level of depth people expect in a game, having something working and ready in a year is difficult to do.
The only way I could see WoS2 happening is if they release the game with a redone map like a more accurate tram route to Anopha Quarry and they do international routes from the BWBA era, plus increasing the Sodor map length to fit in additional places. My guess is if anywhere on the map does get updated, it will be in the game we currently have although I'm not sure if we'll get something like Tidmouth Harbour updated into the game alongside Henry for the Flying Kipper service or even the Ffarquhar tramway when Toby arrives. I'm not sure we'll even get the Steamworks. If anything, we'll definitely see the other branches opened up before a WoS2 ever gets announced, this game is still in its early stage where we know the next big feature to be added is a working Facial Expression wheel.
