20 Game Franchises RUINED By Publishers

No video game franchise is ruined forever, as proven by recent games like Shinobi: Art of Vengeance and Silent Hill F, which show that old series can feel new again. However, many franchises have suffered significant damage due to poor publisher decisions. This summary will cover 20 examples of games that experienced substantial harm from such choices. Starting with number 20, Batman Arkham Asylum. This series is a prime example of complete mismanagement by a publisher attempting to extract every last drop from a franchise. Rock Steady developers created three brilliant Batman games that were so influential they inspired industry-wide change, particularly their combat system. Yet, Warner Bros. Games, the publisher, made all the wrong choices. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, a live-service game set in the Arkham universe, was widely perceived as a flop even before release. It promised hundreds of hours of gameplay, but the content wasn't engaging enough. The plot was embarrassing and grim, bearing little resemblance to the Arkham games. The concept of playing as a gang of people with guns, rather than iconic superheroes like Green Lantern, Superman, the Flash, or Batman, was unappealing. The game also featured a canonical and cringe-inducing death of Batman, which felt more like a farce than a tragedy, and was one of the final major performances by beloved Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy. Gotham Knights, another game inspired by the Arkham series, also contributed to the decline. Though not a live-service game, it was rough, with a simplified and inferior combat system compared to Arkham. Collectively, Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad have tarnished the reputation of Arkham and Batman games. Warner Bros. Games has made many questionable decisions, and fans hope for a new, good Batman Arkham game, possibly from Rock Steady or another competent developer, especially with the success of Arkham Shadow in VR and Lego Batman games. Next, at number 19, Metal Gear Solid. While Silent Hill has made a successful comeback, Konami made detrimental decisions with its biggest franchise, Metal Gear Solid. In 2015, Hideo Kojima, the mastermind behind the series, left Konami under unclear circumstances. Konami then attempted to erase Kojima Productions' involvement from Metal Gear Solid 5 and even blocked Kojima from accepting a developer of the year award. Beyond this perceived bad blood, Metal Gear Solid 5 was laden with microtransactions. Despite being a massive game, players needed to spend real money to acquire resources for gear, leaving a "nasty taste" at launch, though this aspect has largely been forgotten over time. Konami's subsequent decision led to Metal Gear Survive, the first technically modern AAA Metal Gear game without any Kojima involvement. It was a "soulless mess," devoid of the series' colorful cast and creativity, replaced by randomly generated NPCs. Survive was a survival crafting game grafted onto an engine designed for cinematic stealth, resulting in a fundamentally wrong feel. Although not the worst game ever, it effectively killed one of the most beloved franchises. While Konami has improved with the Master Collection and the remake of Metal Gear Solid 3 Delta, a new major Metal Gear game that isn't a remake or re-release seems unlikely. At number 18, James Bond. James Bond and video games have a rich history, with GoldenEye 007 being a landmark title that proved console first-person shooters could be popular. Other 007 games like Nightfire and Everything or Nothing also showcased Bond's potential under new management. However, Activision mishandled the franchise. Under Activision, developer Eurocom produced 007 Legends, a brutal torture of the James Bond legacy. This rough game reimagined past Bond movies with Daniel Craig, forcing players through "lame half-ass recreations" of entire films, boiling down plots to badly made shootouts. Released in 2012, it was pulled from digital marketplaces by 2013. Eurocom, which had developed the excellent Nightfire, was made to churn out an unfinished sequel, effectively killing the series. While a new James Bond game from the Hitman developers looks promising, the damage to the GoldenEye-era games is done. Number 17 highlights Mass Effect, a series on life support due to two critical decisions. The original Mass Effect trilogy was highly successful, but the ending of Mass Effect 3 drew significant criticism. One publisher decision, the "war assets and galactic readiness system," contributed to this. EA, always seeking bigger profits, pushed for multiplayer features, which translated into these systems. War assets were permanently debuffed by 50% in single-player, requiring online play to temporarily boost them to 100% for the "best" endings. Even if players achieved 100%, the percentage would eventually revert. This system, largely forgotten now due to its removal in the Legendary Edition, impacted the story's conclusion. Despite this, Mass Effect 3 was a hit. However, Mass Effect Andromeda, intended to reset the universe with new characters and adventures, ended up being a "great sleep aid." It had good movement and combat but lacked pulse and energy. The story felt like a dull retread, new aliens were unexciting, and planet exploration fizzled. A new Mass Effect game is anticipated, but it will need to be exceptional to overcome Andromeda's legacy. At number 16, Dead Space. EA holds a record for ruining franchises, including Command and Conquer and Sim City. Dead Space is a recent victim. EA's decision to make Dead Space 3 a cooperative action game with microtransactions for stronger guns wounded the promising survival horror series. However, it was another baffling EA decision that delivered the final blow. The 2023 Dead Space remake was excellent, praised by critics and fans for its atmosphere, added content, seamless map traversal, and graphical enhancements. Despite its success, EA's unrealistic sales expectations led to its abandonment. Releasing second in sales behind Call of Duty in January for a remake of a "dead franchise" should have been considered good. Instead, EA expected "blockbuster sales" from a survival horror game not called Resident Evil. When these unrealistic targets weren't met, EA stopped issuing updates soon after launch, effectively putting the franchise back on ice. Number 15, Duke Nukem. This franchise is so deeply ruined it's an online laughingstock, making it hard to recall its past popularity. Duke Nukem 3D was a generational hit, but the series failed to sustain that success. Duke Nukem Forever, intended as a revival, became a "franchise killer." It was an old-school first-person shooter with a two-gun limit, unfunny one-liners, and a protagonist who felt anachronistic. After 14 years in development, a Guinness World Record, the game felt old and busted, like a high school jock trying to relive glory days in a changed world. The results were embarrassing. While a Duke Nukem revival might happen, current owners Gearbox seem content re-releasing Duke Nukem 3D. At number 14, Unreal Tournament. The story of modern Unreal Tournament, and the Unreal franchise as a whole, is sad. Unreal was foundational for Epic Games, giving its engine its name and catapulting the company into the big leagues. Now, with Fortnite's massive success, the Unreal series has been abandoned. More than just forgotten, Epic has actively buried the series; there's currently no legal way to purchase Unreal or Unreal Tournament online, an anomaly for such a profitable company. Epic's attempt to revive the series in 2014 with a new Unreal Tournament was crowdsourced, with development open to anyone. Instead of traditional microtransactions, it was free, featuring a marketplace for players to buy and sell assets. Epic essentially sought to create a business storefront to "leech off of" sales, a model now seen in the Unreal Engine marketplace, which, while useful, also contributes to "slop vaporware games." Number 13, Halo. As long as Microsoft is in gaming, Halo won't die, but without original developers Bungie, it's plagued by bad decisions. After Bungie's split, Microsoft struggled. Halo 4's Spartan Ops expansions were cut short; Halo 5: Guardians sidelined Master Chief and removed split-screen multiplayer; and Halo Infinite, while having fine aspects, abandoned its "infinite" promise. From Halo 4 to Infinite, the series has floundered, failing to recapture its former "mountain moving, earthshaking" cultural impact. Halo Infinite was meant to be a 10-year platform, but that didn't materialize. While not terrible, decisions around it were strange. With Halo Studios now working on multiple projects, there's hope, but recapturing the original games' "flame, feeling, excitement, fun factor" remains a challenge. At number 12, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Activision is a repeat offender. The mismanagement of the Tony Hawk series is legendary. While the series was naturally declining, Activision accelerated its demise with two back-to-back flops. Tony Hawk: Ride featured one of the worst controllers ever released: a skateboard controller that barely functioned and wasn't fun. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 was the final blow. With the licensing deal expiring in 2015, Activision commissioned a cheap, quickly developed game. It became notorious for bugs, being unfinished, and having boring, soulless levels. This major numbered entry "exploded everything." While Activision has since released great remakes of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2, the series still suffers from the momentum lost. Number 11, Crash Bandicoot. This series almost made a big comeback before crashing and burning due to Activision. Once a PS1 mascot, Crash Bandicoot declined with weird spin-offs and cheap PS2 games. The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy remake on PS4 was a solid return to form, followed by the excellent new game, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, which felt fresh and exciting. However, instead of greenlighting Crash Bandicoot 5, Activision published Crash Team Rumble, a "quick and dirty multiplayer game" inspired by Fall Guys. It was a "blatant cash grab" lacking soul, which critics and players recognized. It limped along for three seasons before closing permanently, with no further plans for the franchise. At number 10, Deus Ex. Many argue Deus Ex was murdered. This influential critical darling was revived by Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which gave it a facelift and a second lease on life. Eidos Montreal, a talented developer, successfully reintroduced the series to an audience hungry for immersive sims. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided looked even better with tighter gameplay and detailed environments. However, Square Enix didn't give developers enough time or money to finish the game, leaving it on a cliffhanger in the middle of a conspiracy-unraveling plot. This unfinished state, combined with Square Enix's unrealistic sales goals, led to a dead franchise. Similar fates almost befell Tomb Raider and Hitman, but Deus Ex wasn't so lucky, now "locked away in a vault." Number 9, Rainbow Six. This series is both alive and dead. Rainbow Six Siege is a thriving live-service game, a success for Ubisoft. Turning the tactical sim into a competitive online shooter was perhaps the right decision. However, Rainbow Six as a serious single-player sim game is dead. Originally a hardcore SWAT-style simulation by Red Storm Entertainment, the series shifted away from careful planning and simulation. The Rainbow Six Vegas sub-series reduced the simulation aspect but was still awesome. A new story-focused single-player Rainbow Six was in development for years, with magazine covers and E3 trailers, but it was canceled in favor of Siege. Siege erased the series' identity, reducing Rainbow Six and Splinter Cell's Third Echelon to cameos in short-lived live-service games like XDefiant. While Siege was a success, Rainbow Six Extraction, which added aliens to Siege's hardcore shooter gameplay, was an "obvious mistake." The glory days of classic Rainbow Six are long gone. At number 8, Lost Planet. This lesser Capcom series, once a unique oddity, is now abandoned, unlike other Capcom quirks. Capcom seemingly didn't