There are plenty of games that just don’t deserve your dollar, but on occasion they can strike gold.
And you’d think once they create that money-making franchise they’d milk it for all it is worth, but that’s not always the case.
So we’ve gathered a list of the most loved video game franchises that died off and explain just what happened to them.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Long before Disney bought the rights to the Star Wars franchise, LucasArts did something unique.
It created a canon story to fill the gap between the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy in which you play the role of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice – Starkiller – in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, 2008.
The game was immensely popular, spawning a sequel in 2010 – Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II.
There were talks of making a third, but that all came to a halt in 2012 when Disney purchased the Star Wars franchise from LucasFilm.
Since then, The Force Unleashed franchise lies dormant with no sign of return.
Last time seen? 2010
Project Gotham Racing
In today’s world of car games, there are two big ones. PlayStation users get the Gran Turismo series and Xbox users get the Forza Motorsport series.
But once upon a time, there was another series that Xbox carried as a badge of honor.
It actually all started in 2000 on the Sega Dreamcast with Metropolis Street Racer, but the series gained its notoriety being a launch title on the original Microsoft Xbox in 2001 as Project Gotham Racing.
It had a second release on the original Xbox – Project Gotham Racing 2 in 2003.
The third installment, Project Gotham Racing 3, itself was a launch title, but this time for the Microsoft Xbox 360 in 2005.
The series’ last full-scale title was Project Gotham Racing 4 in 2007, but there were some mobile versions of the game released after this date.
The best gift to the video game industry that the Project Gotham Racing series provided was the “Kudos” system which has been copied into the popular secondary Forza series – Forza Horizon.
The makers of Project Gotham Racing Bizarre Creations were closed by Activision back in 2011 and the Forza series’ powerhouse status make this much a situation of Blockbuster being taken over by Netflix.
Last time seen? 2009
Banjo-Kazooie
Mario and Zelda were powerhouses on the Nintendo 64, but there was one game series that was not made by Nintendo that is often held in the same company – Banjo-Kazooie.
Released in 1998, the game was loved by all and spawned a sequel in 2000 named Banjo-Tooie.
After an eight year hiatus, in 2008 on the Xbox 360 Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was released.
The game did not get the love and respect that the first two titles earned and there hasn’t been a Banjo-Kazooie released since.
The characters do still pop up in other games though, including in Sega’s All-Stars Racing series and Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series but have not been given a true game release in years.
Last time seen? 2008
Max Payne
The first Matrix film put bullet time mechanics on the map, but the video game Max Payne released in 2001 put bullet time mechanics in the palm of your hands.
The game spawned two sequels – Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne in 2003 and Max Payne 3 in 2012.
There was a film released between Max Payne 2 and 3 named Max Payne starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis, but it’s been quite a while since we saw Max Payne bringing the bad guys to justice.
Last time seen? 2012
Silent Hill
Released in 1999 for the original Sony PlayStation, Silent Hill wrote the book on what a horror game could be.
Since the initial release, 8 Silent Hill games were made, with the most recent being Silent Hill: Downpour in 2012.
The franchise not only found success in video games, it spawned two movie releases – Silent Hill and Silent Hill: Revelation.
Both the game Silent Hill: Downpour and Silent Hill: Revelation were released in 2012 meaning it has been a decade since we were sitting on the edge of our seats with fear.
Last time seen? 2012
