3 Xbox Game Franchises That Never Made It Past the Original Xbox

When Microsoft entered the home video game console market, the Xbox quickly took hold and launched several long-running franchises. Series like Gears of War, Fable, and Halo all went on to appear on subsequent systems, but not every game developed into a full-fledged franchise. Several had plenty of promise with planned sequels or spinoffs, but when it came time to develop a new game, it didn’t happen. Each of these three games was ripe for franchising, but when the original Xbox came and went, they went with it, ensuring that no franchises made it past the original Xbox.

1) Blinx: The Time Sweeper

Blinx: The Time Sweeper is a 2002 platformer that was advertised as “The World’s First 4-D Action Game.” It’s centered around a cat named Blinx who strives to prevent the end of the world and rescue the princess. To do so, he uses his trusty TS-1000 Vacuum Cleaner, which can slow, speed up, record, reverse, and stop time. The game had everything — a fun, charismatic character with mascot potential, excellent mechanics, and more — but only one sequel followed: Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space, in 2004. That ended the Blinx franchise, and it hasn’t been seen since, but it’s an excellent candidate for a modern revival.

2) Advent Rising

Advent Rising was released in 2005 for the Xbox, and it was a third-person action-adventure with a lot to offer. The game was the first in a planned trilogy, so it launched with a large marketing campaign, including a spin-off comic book series and more. It’s a pretty decent sci-fi game that had plenty of potential, but it wasn’t a great seller, so Majesco Entertainment abandoned its plans for the franchise, dropping the sequels, tie-in novel, and more. Part of the problem revolves around the game’s bugs, which were evident upon release, so further development could theoretically revive Advent Rising on modern consoles, but that’s highly unlikely to happen.

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3) Phantom Dust

Phantom Dust is an interesting game released in 2004 that blends action, strategy, and digital collectible card gameplay. It’s a sci-fi game set on a post-apocalyptic Earth and was primarily marketed to Japanese players. Eventually, this strategy shifted to the West, and the game did fairly well with critics. Unfortunately, all plans for a sequel were killed because it wasn’t a huge seller. There was a plan for a remake, but this, too, was eventually canceled. Fortunately, a remaster was released in 2017 for Xbox One and PCs, but a sequel or expansion into a proper franchise seems unlikely at this point.

What franchise do you wish made it off the Xbox? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!