10 Reasons Behind Why Your Favourite Video Game Franchises Died

Metal Gear Solid V's development had more back-stabbings than the Red Wedding.

by Josh Brown
Video Games Cancelled
Activision/Bioware/Sony

The video game industry can be brutal. With news coming out seemingly every other month about chaotic development processes, studio meltdowns and corporate back-stabbings, it's a surprise so many great games get made at all.

And considering just how cutthroat both the industry as well as fans of the medium can be at times, it's no wonder that some of our favourite franchises sometimes get caught in the crossfire.

In fact, over the years, some of gaming's most beloved giants have either been killed off completely, or forced to continue as husks of their former selves. Thanks to this survival-of-the-fittest mentality, they're destined to be remembered as casualties in a war of dumb decisions that were made by publishers and developers chasing the money train.

So, while a lot of franchises get the boot simply because they don't make a sizeable enough profit for their publishers, there are many fondly remembered franchises from years gone by whose deaths weren't quite so respectable.

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Contributor

Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked full time as a content producer at WhatCulture for nine years. In that time he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple channels, specialising in subjects such as gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 most listened to gaming podcast in the UK that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, covered breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.