The Best Game Franchises That Should Return In 2026

The medium of gaming has evolved in a multitude of ways over the years, especially in terms of the games themselves. In the past, AAA game franchises would have multiple entries on a single console generation. However, in the age of modern gaming, the budgets of these games now contain multi-million dollar budgets and years of development time, with fans lucky to receive one entry on their system of choice if lucky. This leads to certain franchises being ultimately forgotten or left behind (due to factors such as lack of time/budget/popularity, or if a studio deems the game to be “too risky). This has unfortunately happened to a few franchises I personally enjoyed, which I hope to explain in more detail here. The goal is to bring light to some less-popular gaming franchises, while providing reasons for why they should return.

Choice 1: Destroy All Humans

While the Destroy All Humans series hasn’t entirely fallen into obscurity (especially with the release of the two mildly successful remakes a few years back), the series has undoubtedly taken a dip in popularity when compared to its peak. Regardless, most people enjoy the franchise for its signature humor (especially from the protagonist Crypto-137, with his Nicholson-esque voice) and sandbox open-world gameplay. I personally had the most fun using Crypto’s powers to mess around with other NPCs, whether it be via mind control or the aptly named Probe Gun. Ultimately, there is a lot of untapped potential with this series, considering the other entries in the series past the 2nd game were heavily criticized (for factors such as straying too far from the series formula, or simply bad gameplay). Considering THQ’s work on the remakes, I believe they could make a long-overdue 3rd Destroy All Humans game as a nostalgic return to form for long-time fans.

Choice 2: Epic Mickey

To some, the Epic Mickey Franchise may seem like forgotten run-of-the-mill platformers from the 2010’s. However, to fans such as myself, the series’s gameplay and general atmosphere make it immediately stand out from other platformers of the time. For instance, the series’ iconic Morality and paint systems, as well as their grimy and atmospheric level designs, were spearheaded by Warren Spector (who is also known for his work on the Deus Ex games). While the morality system was admittedly not as fleshed out as it could have been (generally consisting of two linear “paint” paths, Hero/Good or Scrapper/Bad), it is still a unique gameplay element for the platformer genre. I especially enjoyed how the route you choose physically changes Mickey’s appearance, even if it’s not very game-changing. Speaking of paint, the general gameplay of Mickey’s paintbrush is simple, consisting of the two paint choices mentioned prior. Generally, you use paint to add on to broken structures, while thinner removes paint. In-game, this mechanic certainly opens up many opportunities for unique obstacles, enemy encounters, and well-hidden secrets.

This is another franchise that has thankfully been revisited by THQ (with their recent remake of the first Epic Mickey game, which I highly recommend due to its accuracy to the original game). I personally hope the remake was successful enough to warrant a remake of EM2, as (in my opinion) it desperately needs one. Specifically, I would hope THQ considers reworking/re-adding the game’s scrapped content, which was notoriously removed from the final project due to extremely rushed development time. Besides from this, I would also love to see an entirely new entry in the series. There are many gameplay mechanics that could be expanded in an Epic Mickey 3, such as a true morality system.

Choice 3: Saints Row

This final entry is a painful one, mainly due to the (quite frankly) terrible 2022 reboot. Ultimately, I believe this reboot caused severe damage to the SR brand, which makes it an unlikely franchise to be revisited in the near future. Additionally, the reboot’s poor reception ultimately led Volution Studios, the developer team of the SR series, to be shut down. This is extremely unfortunate, as there is generally a lack of competition in the open-world sandbox genre. While many debate over what tone was best for the series, many could agree that Saints Row (especially the first four entries) had unique gameplay mechanics that set it apart from other GTA clones. For instance, the (sometimes controversial) zany humor and gadgets, as well as the highly customizable character creation options, quickly became series staples.

At the time of writing this, I am starting my first playthrough of Saints Row 4. While I believe the entry was controversial for the time, I am personally highly enjoying what I’m playing, especially using campaign co-op (another series staple that will be sorely missed). A multitude of fresh ideas and gameplay elements made the Saints Row series great (through all of its many forms), which could be refined and built upon further in a new game. Regardless of what studio intends to develop a new SR game in the future, the best case scenario would be reboot/reimagining of the original games. Additionally, it would be great if this hypothetical game found a good balance in tone for the game’s humor.