Not every series gets more than one or two games, though. Here are some popular series that probably won’t get another game.
In the video game business, sequels are often a sign of how well a series has done. Games that aren’t popular or don’t catch the public’s attention in any way often don’t have a future. Even so, sometimes the most popular video game series stop making new games. This can happen for a number of different reasons.
Whether it’s because the already-released games are hard to top with a new one or because the story of the game has reached its natural end, these series probably won’t get any more games. Even though gamers will remember and play these titles forever, it’s likely that the developers have done everything they could with them.
Minecraft
When Markus Persson released Minecraft for the first time in 2009, he probably didn’t think it would become the most popular video game ever. The game’s simple design has made it easy to move to different platforms from one generation to the next. Also, the PC version has continued to get changes and improvements that make the game better for players.
Simply put, Microsoft, which owns the Minecraft brand, couldn’t make a Minecraft 2 that would be better than the first game. Most likely, the game will be updated and added to forever and ever, and spin-offs like Minecraft: Story Mode will give players a different experience than the base game’s endless possibilities.
Nintendogs
Nintendogs was one of the first games to show what the original Nintendo DS could do. When they came out in 2005, the games let players pretend to have a dog and play with it, feed it, bathe it, and take it for walks. The game also let players use wifi connections to talk to the pets of other players.
Nintendogs + Cats, which came out at the same time as the 3DS, added to the game by letting players pretend to own cats. Both games have even been used in the Super Smash Bros. series in different ways. But since there hasn’t been a new game in the series since 2011, it’s likely that Nintendo won’t make any more soon.
Portal
Even though Valve is best known for making Steam, an online marketplace for video games, they have also made a number of other important contributions to the past of video games. One of their biggest hits was the first-person puzzle game Portal, which came out in 2007. The story of the game was quickly turned into Internet jokes like “the cake is a lie.”
Portal 2 came out in 2011, with well-known players like Stephen Merchant and J.K. Simmons lending their voices to the game. There hasn’t been a new game in the series in over 10 years, but given how Portal 2 ends, it might be best not to change what works. Also, since 2013, J.J. Abrams has been making a movie based on the games.
F-Zero
Once upon a time, F-Zero was one of the best driving games from Nintendo. Captain Falcon was the main character in the series. After being playable in the Super Smash Bros. series, he went on to become a video game star. But the last F-Zero game was F-Zero Climax for the GameBoy Advance, which came out in 2004. This is almost 20 years ago.
It’s safe to say that Nintendo has no plans to bring back the F-Zero series any time soon. Even long-running series like Mario Kart haven’t gotten a brand-new game since 2014. Mario Kart 8 has been ported to the Nintendo Switch and has recently gotten new material. Adding Captain Falcon as a possible racer in Mario Kart might be a good way to find a middle ground.
Mother
Modern gamers probably know Mother best from the Super Smash Bros games, just like they know F-Zero best from the Mario games. The best game in the series is Earthbound, which came out for the SNES in 1994 and has been a mainstay of the RPG genre ever since. But its sequel, Mother 3, was never released in the West, even though fans asked for it for decades.
Maybe Nintendo will be able to add Mother 3 to the Nintendo Switch Online library, but it’s unlikely that a new game will be added. In fact, when fans of the series got together to make their own sequel, they called it “Mother 4,” but they later changed the name to “Oddity” and stopped making work on the game.
King’s Quest
The first King’s Quest game came out in the 1980s and was one of Sierra Games’ most popular PC games. The brand went on into the 1990s and has been updated for modern times over and over again, but it was dormant for many years after Sierra went out of business in the 2000s.
The Odd Gentlemen, a video game company, brought King’s Quest back to life in 2015 with a rebooted title that told the story of King Graham’s early years. But Sierra hasn’t done anything since the last part came out in 2016, so King’s Quest would probably need to be brought back to life for another game.
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger, which came out for the SNES in 1995, is often thought to be one of the best JRPGs of all time. Chrono Cross, a sequel for the PlayStation 1, came after it, but Square hasn’t made any new games since then. Also, Square dropped the rights for new games in the series when they stopped being made in the early 2000s.
Fans of Chrono Trigger don’t seem to have much of a future, which is sad, but many likely like it that way. Since it’s one of the best games ever made, it’s hard to live up to its reputation. Plus, ports and re-releases keep bringing Chrono Trigger to the attention of new generations of gamers.
Guitar Hero
It hasn’t always been easy for the Guitar Hero series. The first game in the series came out in 2005. It was made by Harmonix for the PlayStation 2 and came with guitar-shaped controls so that players could feel like real rock stars. As more games in the series came out for other platforms, they made a lot of money.
There were also many spin-offs, such as DJ Hero, Band Hero, Guitar Hero: Metallica, and Guitar Hero: On Tour for Nintendo DS. Since 2015, there hasn’t been a new Flappy Bird game in the series, and the company that owned it, Activision, was bought out by Ubisoft. Still, fans of the series can probably play Guitar Hero machines in arcades to repeat the experience.
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear is a long-running video game series that started with the same-named MSX2 game in 1987. As it changed over the years, its main character, Solid Snake, became well-known in games like Metal Gear Solid. Solid Snake was even the first character from a different game to be added to the Super Smash Bros. series.
Aside from spin-offs, there have been 5 main games in the Metal Gear Solid series. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which came out in 2015, was the last main game in the series. After that game came out, the game’s director, Hideo Kojima, left Konami and started his own video game business. Since then, he has been working on the Death Stranding series, which started in 2019.
Wii Fit
Nintendo has always tried to make games that give fans a better experience. One of their most risky efforts to do this was the Wii Fit game for the Nintendo Wii, which came out in 2007. The Wii Fit Balance Board came with the game, and players used it to play minigames that got them moving and even did yoga practises.
There were two more games in the series: Wii Fit Plus in 2009 and Wii Fit U in 2013. Even though Ring Fit Adventure is a spiritual successor to it on the Switch, the series and the Wii Fit Balance Board are possibly on their last legs. Still, adding Wii Fit Trainer to Super Smash Bros. is probably going to be its lasting impact.
