Dead Video Game Franchises That Need to Make a Comeback

With video games having been around as long as they have, we’ve seen more than a few once-popular series eventually fall by the wayside. For every enduring property like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Doom, or Resident Evil, there are dozens of now-dead video game franchises that were once some of the more successful and beloved titles on their platforms, only to now be mostly lost to the annals of history. But just because a franchise is currently MIA doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. In the last decade, we’ve seen revivals of classic IP like Contra, Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, and more, and the following 10 franchises are ones that should cash in on the ongoing nostalgia wave with a new game.

• Developer — Nintendo EAD, Amusement Vision, Nintendo Software Technology
• Publisher — Nintendo
• First Game — F-Zero (SNES, 1991)
• Last Game — F-Zero 99 (Nintendo Switch, 2023)
• Platforms — SNES, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Nintendo Switch

For its time, F-Zero was one of the best (if not the best) futuristic racing games, paving the way for Wipeout on PS1 and even Shin’en’s Fusion racing series. But other than a fleetingly fun online-only roguelike on the Nintendo Switch Online service (F-Zero 99), it’s been 20 years since we got a proper new F-Zero game. Interestingly, one of the debut titles for the Switch 2-exclusive Nintendo Switch Online GameCube Classic Game Collection is the excellent F-Zero GX, which could be a subtle hint that Nintendo is gauging interest in a franchise revival.

• Developer — Guerrilla Games, Supermassive Games
• Publisher — Sony Interactive Entertainment
• First Game — Killzone (PlayStation 2, 2004)
• Last Game — Killzone Shadow Fall (PlayStation 4, 2013)
• Platforms — PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP, PS Vita

The Killzone series is an interesting one in that it starts and ends somewhat weak, but the middle two entries count as some of the best FPS titles ever made. Even still, Killzone and Killzone Shadow Fall are far from being “bad” games in any sense of the term, and it would be amazing to see what Guerrilla Games could do with the franchise with its groundbreaking Decima Engine used for the Horizon series (as well as by Kojima Productions for the Death Stranding games). As far as FPS games with jaw-dropping spectacle and unique art direction go, Killzone sits at or near the top, and it deserves a comeback on the next generation of PlayStation hardware.

• Developer — Free Radical Design
• Publisher — Eidos Interactive, Electronic Arts
• First Game — TimeSplitters (PlayStation 2, 2000)
• Last Game — TimeSplitters: Future Perfect (GameCube, PS2, Xbox, 2005)
• Platforms — PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox

Another FPS franchise that hit fast, hard, and then burned out while it was still on top is TimeSplitters. Electronic Arts prematurely pulled the plug on the TimeSplitters IP after the disappointing sales performance of the third game, Future Perfect, which is a shame considering how phenomenal an FPS it was for its time (and truthfully, still is). Free Radical Design doesn’t exist as a studio anymore, but to see several of the key TimeSplitters staff reunite on a new entry would be huge, especially considering many of them also worked on all-time genre classics like GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark.

• Developer — SingleTrac, Sony Interactive Studios America/989 Studios, Incognito Entertainment, Eat Sleep Play
• Publisher — Sony Interactive Entertainment
• First Game — Twisted Metal (PlayStation, 1995)
• Last Game — Twisted Metal (PlayStation 3, 2012)
• Platforms — PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP

With a Twisted Metal television adaptation doing fairly well, it’s surprising to see that Sony has yet to revive the franchise. The last entry in the Twisted Metal series was the eponymous franchise reboot on PS3 way back in 2012, meaning we’re long overdue for a new game in the flagship car combat series. There was a time when Twisted Metal was synonymous with the PlayStation brand, and the fact that more than a few developers are working on Twisted Metal-inspired car combat games with a PS1 aesthetic proves that Sony is sitting on a potential goldmine with a franchise revival.

• Developer — Westwood Studios
• Publisher — Westwood Studios, Electronic Arts
• First Game — Command & Conquer (PC, 1995)
• Last Game — Command & Conquer Remastered Collection (PC, 2020)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, Xbox 360

At one point in time, Command & Conquer was THE RTS franchise, paving the way for a flood of imitators and competitors that never could quite scratch the same itch as Westwood Studios’ classic IP (Warcraft and StarCraft not withstanding). Unfortunately, it’s been well over a decade since the last proper entry in the C&C franchise, with the most recent release being a remastered collection of all the classic series entries that proves it still holds up in a modern context. The Command & Conquer-inspired Tempest Rising continues to be hugely popular on Steam, pointing to a golden opportunity for EA to revive the franchise with a new entry featuring some impressive visuals and on-screen spectacle.

• Developer — Nintendo R&D1, Tose, Project Sora
• Publisher — Nintendo
• First Game — Kid Icarus (NES, 1986)
• Last Game — Kid Icarus: Uprising (Nintendo 3DS, 2012)
• Platforms — NES, Game Boy, Nintendo 3DS

The original Kid Icarus is one of several important games to release on the NES in 1986, and it remains one of Nintendo’s more unique titles from the era. Despite that, Nintendo would only ever follow it up with two handheld sequels — Of Myths and Monsters on Game Boy and Kid Icarus: Uprising on 3DS — and never give us a proper home console successor. Considering Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai is a known fan of Kid Icarus (and even developed Uprising), perhaps his next venture could be a new franchise entry now that he’s reportedly “done” with Smash Bros. after Ultimate. And as far as what kind of game it could/should be, another on-rails shooter like Uprising, but on the Switch 2, seems like a perfect fit.

• Developer — Volition
• Publisher — THQ, THQ Nordic, Deep Silver
• First Game — Red Faction (PC, PlayStation 2, 2001)
• Last Game — Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-Mars-Tered (PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, 2018)
• Platforms — PC, PS2, PS3, GameCube, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One

Lots of players remember Red Faction as one of the first FPS titles they played that successfully adapted mouse and keyboard controls to a standard gamepad with the dual-analog control scheme that’s now commonplace in the genre, but its environmental destruction tech was also highly impressive for its time. While Red Faction 2 moved away from the destruction aspect to focus on shooting, it came back in full force with Red Faction: Guerrilla, which may just be the best game in the franchise. Voltion may no longer exist, but that doesn’t mean that THQ Nordic should give up on the Red Faction franchise, and following in Guerrilla‘s footsteps seems like the best move.

• Developer — Acquire, K2, FromSoftware
• Publisher — Sony Music Entertainment Japan, Activision, Acquire, FromSoftware, Sega, Nintendo, Microsoft Game Studios
• First Game — Tenchu: Stealth Assassins (PlayStation, 1998)
• Last Game — Tenchu: Shadow Assassins (Wii, PSP, 2009)
• Platforms — PS1, PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360

The first Tenchu came out at a near-perfect time when the popularity of stealth games was on the rise, but it quickly deviated from its strong stealth template to veer more into action/hack-and-slash territory. It’s been more than 15 years since we last had a new entry in the franchise, but games like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice proved that modern games mixing action and stealth like Tenchu did could be a huge hit, even winning Game of the Year. Considering FromSoftware has experience with the Tenchu franchise, it’s hard to think of a better studio to spearhead a series revival.

• Developer — Capcom
• Publisher — Capcom
• First Game — Dino Crisis (PlayStation, 1999)
• Last Game — Dino Crisis 3 (Xbox, 2003)
• Platforms — PC, PS1, PS2, Sega Dreamcast, Xbox

Resident Evil continues to be one of Capcom’s most successful franchises, but the company has seemingly all but forgotten about its other survival horror classic, Dino Crisis. The recent GOG Preservation Program releases of Dino Crisis and Dino Crisis 2 were a big deal, making these beloved classics playable on modern hardware for the first time in many years, and that PlayStation followed suit by making both games available on PSN is telling. With any luck, Capcom could be looking at how these remasters perform to determine whether we get a new game, and imagining a new Dino Crisis made in the RE Engine is almost too much to bear without it being real.

• Developer — Ubisoft, Gameloft, Red Storm Entertainment
• Publisher — Ubisoft, Microsoft Game Studios, Gameloft, Aspyr
• First Game — Splinter Cell (PC, Xbox, 2002)
• Last Game — Splinter Cell: Blacklist (PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360, 2013)
• Platforms — Android, iOS, PC, PS2, PS3, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Wii, Wii U, Xbox, Xbox 360

It’s hard to believe that it’s been more than 10 years since the last proper Splinter Cell game considering how popular the franchise was for Ubisoft. Still, Ubisoft has previously hinted at the possibility of a remake of the original Splinter Cell, which would be great to see come to fruition. The Splinter Cell series was always a little more grounded in reality than similar games like Metal Gear Solid or Syphon Filter, which helped it stand out and carve out a nice niche in the genre. While the later Splinter Cell games became more action-oriented (Conviction and Blacklist), they’re still great titles, and a franchise revival could strike a better balance between classic and modern Splinter Cell for the best of both worlds.