10 Great Action Video Game Franchises (That Died Too Soon)

The Nintendo 64’s GoldenEye 007 from 1997 is one of the most praised video games of all time. So why has James Bond struggled so much in the video game world since then? There has been a total of twenty-nine James Bond games, including remasters, dating as far back as 1982. Over the decades, James Bond has been shared around the gaming industry, from Nintendo to EA to Activision, yet no game ever stuck the landing again.

EA released frequent entries for the PlayStation such as Tomorrow Never Dies in 1999, Agent Under Fire in 2001, Nightfire in 2002, and Everything or Nothing in 2003. Only four James Bond games have been released since, including a remaster of GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo Wii in 2010. Daniel Craig’s first video game outing came in 2008 with Quantum of Solace, which performed both poorly critically and commercially. 2010 welcomed Blood Stone, a non-movie tie in game featuring an original story and cast. Despite being praised favorably, a planned sequel was eventually cancelled due to poor sales. Only one James Bond game has been released since then, 007 Legends in 2012, featuring a story mission from each actor’s most popular film but that too received overwhelmingly negative reviews.

For a franchise universally loved, and being home to one of the most beloved games of all time, James Bond's disappearance from the video game world is curious. Perhaps with a new actor in the boots of the famous character in the coming years, Activision should reconsider reviving a fallen hero.