It happens more often than we would like. A gaming franchise that sat on the throne, becoming gaming royalty, is suddenly stripped of that crown because one game in the series ruined it all. Over on Reddit, gamers are debating which franchises have suffered this fate.
The conversation started with a user posing the question "What game franchise was top in gaming, but was ruined in the end?" Their own answer was Battlefield, but "they ruined it with Battlefield 2042". A short and sweet answer, and one that many players would agree with. It wasn't long before other users logged on and started listing their own choices.
Sticking with the FPS genre, one user nominated Medal of Honor which was a once very successful rival to Call of Duty, originally finding success on the first PlayStation. Far Cry was nominated with the comment "Ubisoft found lightning in a bottle with Far Cry 3 and have been trying to mimic it ever since." Another FPS which seemed inevitable is Halo, with over 400 replies in agreement, with one saying "that was a masterpiece series."
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With 1.1K upvotes one reply simply says "There's a lot of EA titles..."
One user, u/BigDzD, went a little deeper, "Honestly, if we're talking about AAA gaming here, what franchise hasn't been ruined? Ever since gaming turned into a billion dollar industry and all the suits took over, it's been a pretty steep decline." Though a retort came from u/runescapr_nerd_99, "Just have to look outside the top couple of franchises," before listing off titles like "Baldur's Gate, God of War, Spider-Man, Zelda."
Perhaps the most popular franchise is "top answer" in one reply as they nominate "Call of Duty" which for many has become a series constantly recycled, rather than refreshed.
Personally, I have to agree with u/agetro82 who put forward Burnout. Some games have come since and tried to replicate the success, but none have quite emulated the series yet.
Featured Image Credit: EATopics: Battlefield 2042, Halo, Call Of Duty, Baldur's Gate 3, The Legend Of Zelda