Among other releases, in the last month or so we had a new Final Fantasy, a new Doom, a new Resident Evil, a new Animal Crossing. While two are remakes, their mainline games are still coming out regularly to this day, showing that between excellent critical reception and sales the franchises are still going very strong.
But for every behemoth like those, it's easy to forget franchises that once had it all too: selling a lot, getting rave reviews, having a dedicated fanbase. And then, they just stopped getting made. The studio didn't close. The IP didn't get lost in some acquisition. The developers didn't suddenly just change tastes. And yet, new games never arrived. Some behind the scenes decisions, a publisher changing their monetization plans, some other reasons we know nothing about. And so, some once enormous franchises are now stuck in a limbo, or have been for many years before finally coming back. What's keeping them back?
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My main pick, until recently, was certainly Half-Life. Critically acclaimed games, one of the biggest sellers on PC, technical marvels, incredible hype. Then they never completed the Episodes trilogy for Half-Life 2, a Half-Life 3 was nowhere to be seen, and for over a decade there wasn't a single credible voice or rumor pointing to the studio even considering a new Half-Life game. While Valve certainly made a lot of money with games like DOTA2, Team Fortress 2 or CS:GO, it felt crazy that in a day when people still buy shooters for their campaign if they're great (see the new Doom games), Valve just froze Half-Life with an open story and a major cliffhanger still unresolved. This changed, recently, as Half-Life Alyx was announced and it came out, functioning as a VR prequel to the last mainline episode and seemingly leading the way for new installments in the franchise. With the ambitious fan-made remake of the first game Black Mesa also released, it's certainly the most exciting moment in the franchise in over a decade, and it should bode well for its future finally.
As for a franchise that is still missing, I'd say Burnout. These highly destructive arcade racing games had a big following and excellent reception. While the last episode Burnout Paradise wasn't everyone's cup of tea with its new open world, it was still widely acclaimed, long supported with DLCs, and had a very active community. Hell, it was re-released this generation and it still managed to bounce to the top of UK charts. And yet, no new Burnout game was made in 12 years. While the arcade racer scene isn't as big as it once was, the sales of franchises like Forza Horizon and Need For Speed would certainly allow an ambitious new Burnout to do well. Hell, even the indie spiritual successors of Burnout are doing reasonably well for their scope and ambition. Speaking of Need For Speed, the developers were initially moved to reignite that other EA franchise, but from the start of this generation this honor was passed to Ghost Games. This could have meant Criterion went back to working to Burnout or some other project, but their only contribution to the gaming industry since then was helping with bits and pieces of Battlefield, Battlefront, and the Burnout Paradise Remaster. Since then, nothing. Will the excellent sales of Burnout Paradise Remaster finally convince EA to give this franchise another shot?
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So... what's your favourite franchises that stopped getting released for seemingly no good reason? What series had excellent sales and reception alike and then still disappeared into thin air, despite there being a billion possibilities and still much fan interest in continuing?
But for every behemoth like those, it's easy to forget franchises that once had it all too: selling a lot, getting rave reviews, having a dedicated fanbase. And then, they just stopped getting made. The studio didn't close. The IP didn't get lost in some acquisition. The developers didn't suddenly just change tastes. And yet, new games never arrived. Some behind the scenes decisions, a publisher changing their monetization plans, some other reasons we know nothing about. And so, some once enormous franchises are now stuck in a limbo, or have been for many years before finally coming back. What's keeping them back?
--------------
My main pick, until recently, was certainly Half-Life. Critically acclaimed games, one of the biggest sellers on PC, technical marvels, incredible hype. Then they never completed the Episodes trilogy for Half-Life 2, a Half-Life 3 was nowhere to be seen, and for over a decade there wasn't a single credible voice or rumor pointing to the studio even considering a new Half-Life game. While Valve certainly made a lot of money with games like DOTA2, Team Fortress 2 or CS:GO, it felt crazy that in a day when people still buy shooters for their campaign if they're great (see the new Doom games), Valve just froze Half-Life with an open story and a major cliffhanger still unresolved. This changed, recently, as Half-Life Alyx was announced and it came out, functioning as a VR prequel to the last mainline episode and seemingly leading the way for new installments in the franchise. With the ambitious fan-made remake of the first game Black Mesa also released, it's certainly the most exciting moment in the franchise in over a decade, and it should bode well for its future finally.
As for a franchise that is still missing, I'd say Burnout. These highly destructive arcade racing games had a big following and excellent reception. While the last episode Burnout Paradise wasn't everyone's cup of tea with its new open world, it was still widely acclaimed, long supported with DLCs, and had a very active community. Hell, it was re-released this generation and it still managed to bounce to the top of UK charts. And yet, no new Burnout game was made in 12 years. While the arcade racer scene isn't as big as it once was, the sales of franchises like Forza Horizon and Need For Speed would certainly allow an ambitious new Burnout to do well. Hell, even the indie spiritual successors of Burnout are doing reasonably well for their scope and ambition. Speaking of Need For Speed, the developers were initially moved to reignite that other EA franchise, but from the start of this generation this honor was passed to Ghost Games. This could have meant Criterion went back to working to Burnout or some other project, but their only contribution to the gaming industry since then was helping with bits and pieces of Battlefield, Battlefront, and the Burnout Paradise Remaster. Since then, nothing. Will the excellent sales of Burnout Paradise Remaster finally convince EA to give this franchise another shot?
--------------
So... what's your favourite franchises that stopped getting released for seemingly no good reason? What series had excellent sales and reception alike and then still disappeared into thin air, despite there being a billion possibilities and still much fan interest in continuing?
