I went through the Game Database a few days back and observed that a few series have REALLY declined in recent years. All of the following series have lost over half of their predecessors' sales with recent iterations.

Note that the data here is slightly aged, meaning that those games with 56% drops may only be 55% drops and such.

Some things I've noticed:

• Nintendo has really been the victim of exclusive or predominatnly Nintendo series declining in recent years. We have Wii Fit, Nintendogs, Wii Play, and Cooking Mama all near the top. Further down, there's also console Zelda games, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Professor Layton, Handheld Sonic games, Metroidvania titles (if you include Mirror of Fate as one), Mario Party, and Just Dance.
• Another big loser is licensed games in general. Multiple LEGO series were one-hit wonders, Kung Fu Panda was a surprisingly big hit back in 2008 that never carried any momentum, The Force Unleashed 2 did poorly, and even sports games like Tony Hawk, Pro Evolution Soccer, and Madden have fallen a lot, despite the rise of games like FIFA.
• Gears of War's Judgement game did a fraction of the sales of any of its predecessors.
• Music games, despite only being a recent hit, have all done poorly more recently, with Guitar Hero and Rock Band dead and Just Dance plummeting.
• I didn't count Brain Age because I think VGChartz isn't really tracking it in all regions. Consider it an honorable mention.

Any additions you'd like me to add or observations to make?

Stupid Cats, destroying Nintendogs appeal :(

Soul Calibur V came out with no hype in any way. It just released at some point, IV had the backing of Yoda and Vader. Then again...maybe the series has just lost it's way.

Having a look Tekken was worse I think, Tekken 6 was 4 million on all formats, Tekken Tag 2 just 1 million.

You forgot God of War

PS3

Cool! Yea, all those casual games were more of a wii thing where they came and gone

Piracy is to blame for GoW: Ghost of Sparta's huge drop off, a huge bloody shame because that game is amazing.

At least it sold a further 1.1 million+ at retail including the HD remaster (Origins + Saga) and probably a further 500K+ with digital making it so that 2.5m+ people have paid to play it.

Good idea for a thread and nice to see the extra effort made to work out the % drops! :)

That's interesting. I wouldn't call Zelda in decline since the 3D games sell 3-4 million (Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, and Skyward Sword)

Wow, the Nintendo and Lego games used to sell amazingly well! So many games have had such huge declines.

Like this a lot!!!!
Funny how some annualized franchises grow (COD, AC, FIFA) while others fall. Music/Casual ones are expected (Just Dance, Fit, Guitar Hero) as casuals won't buy them EVERY year.

Nintendo has suffered a lot this gen lol