10 Huge Video Game Franchises That Are Doomed To Fail
4. Shenmue
The story of the Shenmue franchise sure is a fascinating one. The original 1999 Dreamcast game was a massive critical hit but failed to translate all that praise into strong sales, in large part because of its monstrous $70 million budget.
However, Shenmue II was developed in conjunction with the first game, meaning that it was ultimately released despite the original's commercial under-performance.
Again, it was lauded by critics but sold poorly at retail, causing a planned third game to enter development hell. Only in 2015, almost 15 years after Shenmue II's release, was it confirmed that a third game was in the works, aided by funding from Kickstarter backers, Sony, and publisher Deep Silver.
After numerous delays, Shenmue III was finally released in late 2019 to massively polarised reviews, some praising its faithfulness to the original style and tone while others knocked it for failing to revise the dated gameplay mechanics.
To the surprise of nobody paying attention, Shenmue III also failed to sell well outside of its core fanbase.
And while it's easy to suggest that Shenmue IV will come to life with the same crowdfunding efforts, given that Shenmue III left even some hardcore fans disappointed - especially with its laughably insulting cliffhanger ending - it's unlikely that the next sequel will muster the same enthusiasm.
If anyone can get a fourth game made it's probably franchise creator Yu Suzuki, the man who has willed a trilogy into existence so far, but given that Shenmue III fell short of expectations for many, this may well be all she wrote for the series.