10 Amazing Video Game Franchises That Were Abandoned

1. Legacy Of Kain

As we round out this list of frustrating “why hasn’t anyone kept this franchise going” conundrums, we land with one of the most head-scratching examples, Silicon Knights and Crystal Dynamics’ Legacy of Kain. Legacy of Kain ran from 1996 until 2003 and though it jumped between developers during this time, the heart and soul of the critically-acclaimed and fan-adored fantasy action adventure games stayed consistent.

Praised for its rich fantasy world and characters, innovative storytelling, voice-acting, and cinematic sequences, the series was a hit end to end.

It’s puzzling, then, that it all came to a halt with Legacy of Kain: Defiance in 2003. While, admittedly, the series had dipped in quality by this point, the game still reviewed very well, in part due to its attempts to tie up many unanswered questions left by the story that had been told so far. The series had been identified as perhaps a little too ambitious for any studio to take on, which may have resulted in the series being abandoned for so long.

I do have a happy ending for you though because the IP has since been acquired by Embracer Group, previously THQ Nordic, who has been on a remastering and sequel-creating spree of late so fingers crossed we might see more of Legacy of Kain.