6 Beloved Video Game Franchises That Died In 2017

6. Need For Speed

On track to be the next Burnout, Need for Speed: Payback looked very promising before launch. Developed by the newly-minted Ghost Games (comprised of people from Criterion, Black Box and Playground), there was more than enough combined talent to produce a glorious return to form for the arcade racing genre.

Actually play Payback though, and you'll find something that handles like trying to guide a piece of bread through treacle. And why? Because of course, the game now has a loot grind, locking every part of a car's individual components behind a number generator.

Now, this wouldn't be enough to kill a franchise outright (though the horrifically cringeworthy "story" and "characters" might), but also factor in that NFS had another reboot back in 2015 - one that nobody played.

2017's edition was also prey to the backlash from Battlefront 2's microtransaction controversy, seeing EA attempt to tweak the numbers and make the experience more palatable.

At this stage, after so many years of trying to be Fast & the Furious in everything but name (and charm, characters or appeal), EA would be far better served approaching Vin Diesel and his team over at Tigon to do something instead.