10 Amazing Video Games That Killed Franchises
These fantastic games nevertheless brought their franchise to its knees.
The business of video games development is so perilous, where a developer can do everything right from an artistic perspective and still end up failing for one reason or another.
That is to say, a video game can be brilliant and still flop for one of many reasons, enough that it might well kill off the very franchise that it's a part of.
And that's sadly the case with these 10 video games, each of which were enthusiastically received by both the press and fans of the series, yet nevertheless spelled the end of their respective franchises.
In almost every instance it comes down to the bottom of line of sales, that despite their obvious quality these games just didn't shift enough units for more entries to be worthwhile to the publisher.
As a fan of any of these franchises it's enormously frustrating that such obvious talent wasn't rewarded, and all the more annoying when the reason for the flop was so obvious - be it releasing in a crowded calendar, charging too much money, or having inflated sales expectations.
Some of these series could be revived in the future, but you probably shouldn't hold your breath...
10. Titanfall 2
Considering that sci-fi FPS Titanfall sold 10 million units within roughly 18 months of release, it was simply assumed that Titanfall 2 would post similar levels of success, especially as it also released on PlayStation 4 unlike its predecessor.
Titanfall 2 also benefitted from rave reviews, for both its creative, cinematic campaign and ludicrously addictive multiplayer suite, with many deeming it an improvement over the first game.
But EA made one massive mistake with Titanfall 2's launch - giving it pretty much the worst release date imaginable.
The sequel ended up sandwiched between two far more popular FPS franchise titles, releasing a week after Battlefield 1 and a week before Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.
And so, with players having limited money to spend, of course the masses gave their cash to these more tried-and-true franchises, causing Titanfall 2 to grossly underperform, selling roughly only half of what its predecessor did.
This commercial disappointment effectively led EA to put the mainline franchise on ice, and despite the success of spin-off hero shooter Apex Legends, almost a decade after Titanfall 2's release we seem no closer to a third game.