Every decade features a ton of popular games, many of which go on to become massive multimedia franchises spanning dozens of new games, comics, novels, movies, and more. While each decade is different, the franchises it spawns are often distinctive, unlike anything that came before. We looked at the 2000s to identify the decade’s biggest video game franchises, primarily those that established themselves before blossoming into something much larger than their first entry. We found five of the biggest that got their start in the ‘00s and listed them in no particular order.
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1) Mass Effect
The Mass Effect franchise kicked off in 2007 as an exclusive title for the Xbox 360. It received widespread critical acclaim and sold remarkably well. Its gameplay received praise for its interactive storytelling, which makes it feel like you’re almost playing a movie. The characters, settings, lore, and everything else became legendary, and three sequels followed in 2010, 2012, and 2017, respectively. As of writing, a fifth sequel has yet to be announced, but it’s likely only a matter of time. The franchise has since moved away from Xbox exclusivity and is now available on numerous consoles and handheld systems, including phones.
2) Halo
Like Mass Effect, Halo began life as an Xbox exclusive, a status it held for 25 years. Still, it’s making its way to the PlayStation 5 and has expanded into arcades and a handful of other systems. Halo: Combat Evolved launched in 2001 and became the dominant first-person shooter on the Xbox. What followed was a series of sequels and spin-offs, expanding the franchise’s already extensive lore into a full-blown, epic tale that’s since spanned novels, comics, and a TV series that few fans recognize. Regardless, Halo grew into a massive franchise, and while its popularity has waned in recent years, it remains very much active.
3) BioShock
BioShock came a little late in the 2000s, dropping on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2007. The game established the franchise’s lore, which is very much story-driven and details isolated, intended utopias-turned-dystopias filled with dangerous enemies. The game received worldwide acclaim for its narrative, visual design, and themes, with many calling it one of the best games of its kind. Since the release of BioShock, two mainline sequels followed alongside various DLC, re-releases, and remasters. The last release was 2016’s BioShock: The Collection, so it’s high time another sequel arrived, as players enjoy the aesthetics and gameplay too much to keep the franchise in the dark.
4) God of War
The first God of War arrived on the PlayStation 2 in 2005, introducing Kratos, a Spartan warrior who becomes the God of War through acts of violent vengeance. The game’s lore dove deeply into the Greek pantheon to create an entirely new story that gamers absolutely loved. Multiple sequels followed over several years, and in 2018, the franchise shifted to Norse mythology, taking Kratos out of Greece and placing him in Scandinavia. The new games are heavily story-driven, but retain the same aesthetics as their predecessors, and their popularity reinvigorated the franchise to new heights.
5) Call of Duty
It’s hard even to imagine modern FPS gaming without Call of Duty, which first appeared on PC, macOS, and multiple consoles in 2003. Initially, the game was all about World War II and established many of the franchise’s norms, but by 2007, it branched into Modern Warfare. Since then, the franchise has expanded significantly, including Black Ops and new versions of Modern Warfare, each with its own detailed solo campaigns and some of the best FPS multiplayer in gaming history. As of writing, there have been 22 Call of Duty games, selling more than 500 million copies total, making it the biggest franchise to come out of the 2000s.
What’s your favorite franchise that started in the 2000s? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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