By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming - Biggest franchises that are now dead

Alex_The_Hedgehog on 06 November 2025

Castlevania and Breath of Fire comes to my mind.



My Youtube Channel for Super Mario World Hacks

Around the Network
xl-klaudkil on 06 November 2025
curl-6 said:
xl-klaudkil said:

Socom.

Was Socom ever that big?

Not knocking it, but I never got the impression it was a megaton seller.

It sold millions? Soo yea it whas big on ps2 for a while.



Bofferbrauer2 on 07 November 2025
Kaunisto said:

Thinking of the older ones, King's Quest(/Space Quest/Police Quest - which held on longer as SWAT).

Personally I miss Populous. And Lemmings.

Agree on all of those. Additionally to those Sierra adventures I would add the Lucasfilm adventures outside of Monkey Island, which got a new entry recently.

Populous II was the last game I bought on 3'5" floppy discs, for 2€ used but complete in box in 1999. Populous III was a letdown, as it felt like a very different game with the franchise name tacked on to it.

Speaking of games made by Bullfrog, pretty much their entire catalogue of titles could be listed here: The Theme series (Theme park/Theme Hospital), Magic carpet, Dungeon Keeper,  and from Peter Molyneux's later studios Black & White and Fable



The Nintendo eShop rating Thread: http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=237454 List as Google Doc:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aW2hXQT1TheElVS7z-F3pP-7nbqdrDqWNTxl6JoJWBY/edit?usp=sharing

The Steam/GOG key gifting thread: https://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread/242024/the-steamgog-key-gifting-thread/1/ 

Free Pc Games thread: https://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread/248138/free-pc-games/1/

Bofferbrauer2 on 07 November 2025
SvennoJ said:

I've always been into racing, some of the biggest corpses

Need For Speed, over 150 million sales over the decades. It should have died sooner though, and can still come back ('shelved' for now).

Burnout, Paradise killed it.

Wipeout, went portable and died. It did come back to console remastered but Psygnosis is no more.

Colin McRae Rally, went through the Dirt. Died with Colin McRae himself.

Oh yeah, played all of those and if you want to play an arcade racer these days, your options are pretty limited.

Also, Flatout. Haven't really seen any games in that kind of niche ever since it's last entry.



The Nintendo eShop rating Thread: http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=237454 List as Google Doc:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aW2hXQT1TheElVS7z-F3pP-7nbqdrDqWNTxl6JoJWBY/edit?usp=sharing

The Steam/GOG key gifting thread: https://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread/242024/the-steamgog-key-gifting-thread/1/ 

Free Pc Games thread: https://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread/248138/free-pc-games/1/

Farsala on 07 November 2025

Spyro and its extension Skylanders.

Both were quite big in their day but no longer seeing new releases.



Around the Network
Jumpin on 07 November 2025

Pacman
Wizardry
Lode Runner
Battletoads
Double Dragon
Streets of Rage
Street Gangs

Last edited by Jumpin - on 08 November 2025

I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.

HoloDust on 07 November 2025

Not sure if anyone mentioned it, but what's considered by many as ultimate Run'N'Gun game franchise, is, unfortunately, also effectively dead - Metal Slug.



Wman1996 on 07 November 2025
mZuzek said:

Guitar Hero, probably?

That would have to be the poster child. It was like a boom bust cycle. Even Rock Band despite getting new tracks for 4 until recently has effectively been dead for a while.

Medal of Honor apparently sold over 39 million units. That's a lot for something now dead.

Uncharted isn't technically dead yet. But with no new game since 2017 and not even another remaster for nearly 4 years it is dying. 

With how long many games take and how long a lot of Naughty Dog games take, I am down with another developer taking the reins. 



Lifetime Sales Predictions 

Switch: 161 million (was 73 million, then 96 million, then 113 million, then 125 million, then 144 million, then 151 million, then 156 million)

PS5: 122 million (was 105 million, then 115 million) Xbox Series X/S: 38 million (was 60 million, then 67 million, then 57 million. then 48 million. then 40 million)

Switch 2: 120 million (was 116 million)

PS4: 120 mil (was 100 then 130 million, then 122 million) Xbox One: 51 mil (was 50 then 55 mil)

3DS: 75.5 mil (was 73, then 77 million)

"Let go your earthly tether, enter the void, empty and become wind." - Guru Laghima

G2ThaUNiT on 07 November 2025
Jumpin said:

Pacman
Wizardry
Lode Runner
Battletoads
Double Dragon
Streets of Rage
Street Gangs

We got Streets of Rage 4 in 2020 and Sega’s already shown that they’re working on 5

Also, didn’t we get a new Double Dragon just last week? 



You called down the thunder, now reap the whirlwind

mZuzek on 07 November 2025
JackHandy said:
mZuzek said:

Guitar Hero, probably?

As a guitar player, I never thought Guitar Hero was great. It always felt like a stupid kids toy to me, like one of those Hot Lixx guitars from the 80's, and I hated the trend with an unhealthy passion. lol

Well, it is a toy. It is to playing guitar what playing with car toys is to driving. I don't think there's many guitar players out there that got into Guitar Hero, but I can guarantee you there's a lot of people who got into playing guitar because of Guitar Hero - I can attest to that myself.



My top 50 games as of 2025!