10 Exact Moments That RUINED Video Game Franchises

10 Exact Moments That RUINED Video Game Franchises

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we are zooming in our lens to see the precise moment things went wrong. These are the Exact Moments That RUINED Video Game Franchises. Now admittedly, some of these EXACT moments didn’t take down franchises all on their own, but they certainly caught our eye... And not in the “ohh that’s a lovely flower” kinda way, more like the “is there a body in that bush?” kinda way.

Day 1

“Sim City” (2013)

“SimCity” should have been a triumphant revival of the legendary city-building franchise. Instead it became a case study in how to fumble an easy throw. The biggest issue was the always-online requirement, which we’ve seen a lot in failed games, we just thought this idea had died by the eighth generation of gaming… apparently not. Even though it was largely a single-player experience, players were forced to connect to EA’s servers, which promptly collapsed at launch. People couldn’t log in, couldn’t access cities they’d already built, and in some cases lost progress entirely. When it did work, the simulation itself felt constrained. City sizes were surprisingly small, limiting creativity, and the much-hyped regional system never quite delivered the interconnected depth players expected. The AI traffic and resource systems were also riddled with odd behavior that broke immersion. The backlash was intense, trust eroded quickly, and the franchise never truly recovered. And unfortunately for “Sim City”, we can zoom in on that day 1 launch as the moment that killed the series.

That Awful Trailer

“Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare” (2016)

Admittedly, this series hasn’t died, but a cash cow like this needs a LOT of Warfare to take down, and Infinite Warfare has done significant damage. “Call of Duty” spent much of the 2010s trying to outrun its own shadow. After years of modern and near-future warfare, the series veered hard into jetpacks, wall-running, and sci-fi spectacle, feeling like it was chasing trends more than setting them. The pivot seemed almost like a reaction to games such as “Titanfall”. “Black Ops III” leaned heavily into cybernetic soldiers and surreal storytelling, and by the time “Infinite Warfare” arrived in 2016, frustration boiled over. Its reveal trailer became one of the most disliked videos on YouTube, a public signal that the audience wanted something different. While “Infinite Warfare” had its defenders, many felt it strayed too far from the franchise’s roots. And I dunno? It looks like a regular grounded shooter to me?

The Camera

“Dino Crisis 3” (1999)

The original “Dino Crisis” was a smart twist on the “Resident Evil” survival horror template that was dominating 90s gaming, trading zombies for velociraptors and tension that felt genuinely fresh. “Dino Crisis 2” doubled down on action and delivered a fast, arcade-style sequel that doesn’t get nearly enough credit. A modern remake of either would be welcome, just saying, no big deal, please do it Capcom you’ve run out of good Resident Evils to remake. But whatever you do, don’t remake “Dino Crisis 3.” Instead of building on what worked, it buried the series. When you could actually see it, the game didn’t hold up. Combat felt awkward, pacing dragged, and the setting shift stripped away much of the original’s identity. Why would it be hard to see you ask? The camera! And from the moment theat game started, it ruined everything. Easily one of the most disorienting cameras in early 3D gaming, it made it hard to even see what was attacking you.

The Holson Twins

“Duke Nukem Forever” (2011)

The gutsy, stupid humour of the Duke Nukem series is what made it a household name. Duke wasn’t afraid to be the poster child of 90s crass, and nostalgia certainly got in the way when we were actually excited for Duke to come back in 2011. Unfortunately, we went in smiling, and very quickly our smile turned to a frown. Like talking to uncle you remember being hilarious when you were a kid, and you chat as an adult and the guy has a lot of opinions on how the country should run. The Holsom Twins show up almost immediately in “Duke Nukem Forever,” and they pretty much summarize the game’s biggest problems in under five minutes. Framed as a painfully outdated Olsen twins parody, they lean hard into ditzy voices, blunt innuendo, and humor that feels stuck in the late ’90s. The joke, such as it is, doesn’t land, and it’s made worse by the fact that most of the women in the game are written and portrayed in nearly the same exaggerated way. Duke as a character has never exactly been subtle or progressive, so none of this is shocking, but it still feels creatively lazy. He could have been 2011 edgy, but instead he was 1996 edgy, and it didn’t land.

MS Loves SL

“Halo 5” (2015)

People argue about when “Halo” lost its spark. Some point to Bungie handing the series over. Others blame “Halo 4” for undoing Chief’s ambiguous fate. The real fracture, though, arguably came with “Halo 5: Guardians,” and more specifically, how it was sold. The marketing built up a dramatic manhunt, Master Chief branded a traitor, hunted across the galaxy by Spartan Locke, with heavy hints of ideological betrayal and personal conflict. The trailers suggested a divided UNSC, a moral clash, maybe even a full-on rivalry. What players got instead was far tamer. Chief goes off-mission to find Cortana, Locke confronts him once, they fight briefly, and then the tension dissolves almost immediately. The sweeping narrative teased in those cinematic ads never materializes. Expectations weren’t just missed, they were misdirected. Once the fight was done, and that tension dissolved, players sat back in their chairs and said “I don’t think I like this”.

Outdated At Release

“Thief” (2014)

The “Thief” series was never a sales juggernaut, but its influence ran deep. Long before “immersive sim” became a buzzword, those games were quietly defining it. Stealth built on sound and shadow, layered level design, player freedom that felt genuinely ahead of its time. They weren’t mainstream blockbusters, but they were revered, the kind of titles developers cite as inspiration years later. The 2014 reboot felt so flat you’d think they’d invented the concept of the game that morning. It wasn’t broken, exactly, but it lacked the ambition and edge that made the originals special. From the second the game started, it took about 30 minutes to work out that games like “Dishonored” had already refined and modernized many of the same ideas with more confidence and creativity, TWO YEARS EARLIER. It should have reminded everyone why “Thief” mattered. Instead, it mostly reminded players how far the genre had moved on without it.

Killed The Arkhamverse

“Suicide Squad Kill the Justic League” (2024)

“Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” didn’t just launch into a crowded live-service market, it walked straight into a legacy problem. By tying itself directly to the Arkhamverse, the same universe that gave us “Batman: Arkham Asylum,” “Arkham City,” and “Arkham Knight,” it inherited enormous goodwill. For years, that continuity was treated as one of the strongest in superhero gaming. So when “Suicide Squad” centered its premise on mind-controlled Justice League members and culminated in their deaths, many fans felt blindsided. For many fans, the Arkham series ended on a strong note with “Batman: Arkham Knight,” wrapping up Bruce Wayne’s story with emotional weight and a sense of finality. Then “Suicide Squad” reopened that continuity, only to have beloved heroes, including this version of Batman, reduced to brainwashed antagonists and disposable boss encounters. It killed the Arkhamverse, and the Arkham game series.

EA’s Comment

“Star Wars Battlefront II” (2017)

This game should have been a guaranteed win. Massive budget, iconic license, gorgeous visuals. Instead, it became the poster child for loot box backlash. At launch, core characters like Darth Vader were locked behind absurd grind walls unless players paid real money. The progression system tied gameplay power directly to randomized crates, meaning those who spent more had a tangible advantage. It felt pay-to-win, and it kinda was, especially in a competitive multiplayer shooter. The outrage exploded online, culminating in EA’s infamous Reddit response that became one of the most downvoted comments in platform history. Governments even began investigating loot boxes as potential gambling. EA scrambled to disable microtransactions days before launch, but the damage was done. And that Reddit comment solidified the hatred, and destroyed the series.

My Face is Tired

“Mass Effect: Andromeda” (2017)

You know you’re in for a bad day when the internet destroys you hours before launch, and for “Mass Effect: Andromeda”, unfinished animations, clipped cutscenes, and viral GIFs spread rapidly across the internet in a very VERY short time. “Mass Effect: Andromeda” didn’t stumble quietly, it face-planted. By the time the full game was released, the conversation was already dominated by stiff expressions, wandering eyes, and characters delivering emotional lines with faces that barely moved. Moments meant to carry weight became punchlines. Foster Addison’s now-infamous “my face is tired” line only made things worse, awkward writing colliding with visibly rough presentation. It wasn’t just one bad scene, it was a pattern that signaled a lack of polish. Behind the curtain, reports of troubled development and studio friction painted a messy picture. And in the exact same year as our previous entry, EA took ANOTHER hit. Maaaaybe EA should consider giving their devs more time? More resources? More love? Maybe?

Kojima Leaves

“Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” (2015)

In one of the wildest moves of all time, and one of the biggest series blunders to EVER take place, Kojima was fired from Konami halfway through the development of “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain”. Yikes. For nearly three decades, Kojima shaped the series with his unmistakable mix of political drama, surreal twists, fourth-wall breaks, and big-budget spectacle. Each entry felt personal, experimental, and unapologetically weird, and fans embraced that identity. During the release window of “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain,” cracks between Kojima and Konami became public. Reports suggested disagreements over scope, costs, and direction. The fallout was messy, with rumors of demotions and internal tension. Eventually, Kojima departed and formed a new Kojima Productions under Sony, leading to “Death Stranding.” Meanwhile, Konami pushed forward without him. The result? “Metal Gear Survive”. Ha. Ha. Ha.