8 Failing Video Game Franchises That JUST WON'T DIE
5. Just Dance
If you're not into rhythm games - or at least, not this type of rhythm game - it's incredibly easy to underestimate the popularity of the Just Dance franchise, which became a reliable, budget-conscious IP for Ubisoft after first launching on the Wii in 2009.
Since then, a new Just Dance game has released every single year like clockwork, in addition to more than a dozen spin-offs. Hell, the franchise proved popular enough that Nintendo kept releasing the games on the Wii all the way until 2019's Just Dance 2020, more than five years after Nintendo stopped manufacturing the console itself.
Just Dance's critical reception has never really risen above "not bad," and though the series never became a cultural juggernaut quite like Guitar Hero, it nevertheless has a loyal core fanbase which has kept it afloat.
But it finally appears that the wheels have started to come off the franchise - Just Dance 2023 underperformed in sales, likely due to the middling player reception amid Ubisoft's attempts to turn Just Dance into a live service property moving forward.
Going by the Just Dance subreddit, even long-time fans are feeling burned out by the series' well-trod formula and Ubisoft's craven attempts to wring cash from customers without giving them a content-rich product.
Just Dance is at least cheap enough to produce that it probably won't die anytime soon, but artistically and in terms of basically pleasing the fans, it's in a downward spiral.