Unfortunately, we have to state the fact that the transfer of a video game franchise to another developer usually takes place as in bad American comedies: if someone was asked to "Hold the baby," be sure that he will drop it completely. Of course, there are other ways: apart from the grumbling of a couple of fossilized dinosaurs, Fallout moved from Interplay to Bethesda very well. However, this is an exception. And the rule is the sad story of Halo, Bungie and 343 Industries. Especially for you Gmbox has prepared a compilation of 10 sad, but very interesting and instructive cases.
Devil May Cry - Ninja Theory
I can not believe that the creators of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice were able to spoil so much the cult franchise. Maybe wisdom came with age? After all, the spoiled Devil May Cry came out as early as 2013. So to spoil Dante - it was necessary to try. Previously, the demon hunter was a cheerful, humorous type. In reading Ninja Theory, he had accumulated some kind of already excessive narcissism and even emo-whining. The last drop in the patience of the fans was mockery of the wig-albino, I mean above the original color of Dante's hair. Almost immediately after the release of Capcom had to cut sales forecast by 800 thousand pieces, and about the sequel or rebut since then nothing is audible.
Def Jam - EA Chicago
Grotesque gangsters and fake wrestling - this strange mixture, whose name Def Jam, for a while worked. At least in the US. And in principle, it was not so bad: the plot and entourage as in the very first Saints Row, captures, throws and other techniques - from Wrestlemania. However, then the franchise was transferred to EA Chicago, and there they decided that the locations themselves should become weapons. As a result, the most uncomfortable management appeared, which one can only imagine: just to hit an opponent with a face against a wall - this was the whole affair. Therefore Def Jam ICON became the last of the Mohicans.
Mafia - Hangar 13
Mafia is an Italian word. And the first two Mafia were a stylish retro-response to the unprecedented success of the GTA - with all the relevant specifics and color. However it was in immemorial times. By the time the "Mafia" was handed over to the new developer, there was a mandatory requirement - to pay tribute to the sufferings of the blacks. In Hangar 13 overdone, and instead of creating some secondary African American character devoted to this topic the whole game. Whole. Well, the "Mafia" without the Italian mafia - it's a farce.
Max Payne - Rockstar
One of those cases when the first batch of screenshots drove the fans into deep skepticism. The Max Payne franchise has always been inspired by the noir films of the 1940s, so Rockstar's "radical" approach has caused the fans to misunderstand and annoy. Hawaiian shirt, bright sun, Brazil - seriously !? Particularly offensive is that Max Payne 3 as a thing in itself is a great game. Here is the best shooting in the history of Rockstar: no GTA V could not repeat this. One problem: it's NOT Max Payne. That affected the sales. Already half as much as L.A. Noire, which by the standards of Take Two sold very modestly.
Spyro The Dragon - all except Insomniac
Insomniac - a brilliant studio, to remember the real puncture in its glorious history is impossible. Her first game was Spyro The Dragon, and there was magic: despite the modest possibilities of the original PlayStation, it seemed like you were playing a cartoon from Pixar. However, it was a long time ago, since then the studio sold the franchise and went to more green pastures (yes much more green than the exclusive Spider-Man from Sony!), But all attempts of third parties to revive the Spyro dragon ended in complete failure. Maybe, at least Activision will get something worthwhile?
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - Robomodo
The spirit of carefree American punk rock finally died, and with him died and the franchise Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Do not believe me? So try to play the horrible fifth part. The original developers - Neversoft - as early as 2014 were included in the Infinity Ward, so they worked on Call of Duty, not to waste time. Pro Skater in the hands of Robomodo was doomed. One race without the legs of your character stuck in the ground, or - on the contrary - that it does not fly to heaven, as if it's a kind of farce in the style of the Goat Simulator - it was already an achievement. And of course graphics, behind their generation time by two. It is better then to play the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater on the first PlayStation.
Gears of War - The Coalition
Times change - for some, for the better, for others - not quite. Epic Games is reaping the fruits of Fortnite, Cliff Bleszinski is trying to recover from the terrible failure of Lawbreakers, and is urgently releasing his own "royal battle" in the state of raw alpha. Well, Gears of War in the meantime, without its founding fathers, significantly loses in quality. Why do you need the son of Marcus Phoenix, when Marcus himself is still quite in order? Commercial results are appropriate, and the continuation of Gears of War has not yet been heard.
Halo - 343 Industries
And one more dubious decision by Microsoft. In Bungie decided that after the original trilogy and Halo: Reach the story is complete. The company went under the wing of Activision - and started its own project, Destiny. But Gates needed his own cash cow, so the Halo franchise was transferred to 343 Industries. As a result, the fans remained unhappy with the plot campaign, which lasts only 6 hours and violates all the canons of the first three parts of Halo.
Mass Effect - Bioware Montreal
After the scandalous story with the ending and DLC Mass Effect 3, Electronic Arts was called the "Worst Company in America." Of course after this, the franchise went on a very long holiday. EA did not abandon plans for its revival, but - for trouble - decided to save on it. The development of Andromeda entrusted Bioware Montreal - office, which dealt exclusively with the multiplayer Mass Effect. Imagine: people who peacefully made "pi-piu" with cards for ME3, suddenly get a large-scale assignment for characters, plot, gameplay mechanics, locations and everything else. The development was carried out in a state of permanent crunch (that is, overtime work), and started a few times from scratch. Popular YouTube disposed of the most blatant animation errors on funny videos, well, everything that's next is history.
Crash Bandicoot - Everything except Naughty Dog
Like Mario for Nintendo or Sonic for Sega, Crash for Sony became the same mascot that managed to sell the prefix to the public. After the original trilogy, Naughty Dog was occupied by Jak & Daxter, safely selling the franchise about the marsupial coyote. Since then, third parties have repeatedly tried to make continuations - but to no avail: even the trendy tribal tattoos in the 2000s to the updated Crash did not help. After a couple of transactions, the brand was in the hands of Activision, and the company acted wisely: instead of trying to model a sequel, she simply reissued the classics in modern graphics, and started work only after consulting with Naughty Dog. That's the right approach! However, whether Activision will do exactly the continuation of the franchise is still a big question.