10 Amazing Video Games That Killed Franchises
4. Viewtiful Joe 2
2003's beat 'em up Viewtiful Joe only sold around 300,000 copies, in turn falling short of the publisher's expectations, yet due to the game's low budget it was still enough of a commercial success for Capcom to take a punt on a sequel.
Viewtiful Joe 2 was ultimately released the very next year and warmly received by critics and fans, though sold only marginally more than its predecessor, partially due to bombing in Europe.
Though the second game explicitly teed up a third, Capcom unsurprisingly opted not to continue with the main franchise.
Two already-in-development spin-offs, Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble and Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!, were released the next year, after which the series went away.
By 2007, developer Clover Studio was shut down, though there was a semi-happy outcome for the series, as director Hideki Kamiya did eventually get to produce a spiritual successor to Viewtiful Joe with 2013's well-received action-adventure game The Wonderful 101.