Bungie wasn't bankrupt and it didn't sell anything to MS as it was MS who bought out the whole studio only after they agreed with this. No solid reasons were given but according to Marty O'Donnell, there were no pressing financial issues at the time.
I still wonder sometimes what would have become of Halo if MS didn't buy out Bungie back then.
That's assuming they would even make it to 3 and not go with Destiny like GaaS in 2 ten years ago. Halo which we got was radically different from Halo which they've announced back in 1999.
Van Buren had been dead and buried for quite some time in favour of FOBOS, before Bethesda bought the rights for 3 Fallout games. And Interplay was in no position to make anything new and in a ton of debt because of unpaid wages. Van Buren had literally zero chance of being revived.Not only fallout already had cult status before bethesda bought the IP but Van Buren would be a thing sooner or later
Fallout is the big one.
Let's be blunt, without Fallout 3 - People would not be talking about the first two, beyond it being something that pops up in Ross's Game Dungeon or other shows covering obscure ancient games. They'd be in that bin next to games like Armed And Delirious or Baldies.
People like to forget that Fallout 2 was a what, 100k-seller by a publisher that had 2,000,000-sellers under their belt. There was never going to be a serious attempt at a Fallout 3 at Black Isle under those financial realities.
Interplay was still around for another few years or so after Fallout was sold to Bethesda, so yes, it counts.
Fallout is the big one.
Let's be blunt, without Fallout 3 - People would not be talking about the first two, beyond it being something that pops up in Ross's Game Dungeon or other shows covering obscure ancient games. They'd be in that bin next to games like Armed And Delirious or Baldies.
People like to forget that Fallout 2 was a what, 100k-seller by a publisher that had 2,000,000-sellers under their belt. There was never going to be a serious attempt at a Fallout 3 at Black Isle under those financial realities.
Interplay was still around for another few years or so after Fallout was sold to Bethesda, so yes, it counts.
Hitman?
XCOM
Developers: Zombie Studios (1998–2001); Runecraft (2000–1); Big Grub (2002); Yager Development (2012)
Publishers: Ripcord Games (1998–1999), Take-Two Interactive (2000–2001), Gotham Games (2002), 2K Games (2012)
The IP never changed hands since it always belonged to Lucasfilm and still does. The Disney acquisition didn't affect it, and EA is just contracted to publish them / let their studios develop them.Surprised no one has said Battlefront. I know the originals are beloved, but you can't deny that Battlefront 2015 was wildly successful despite some of its shortcomings.
And while BF2 is getting a ton of shit right now (deservedly so), it's still going to sell gangbusters.
I feel like we would open some doors if an IP was published by the same company, but developed by a different team.
Then you can start looking at stuff like Gradius V, F-Zero GX, Nier etc
The answer to your question is that there have not been any successful returns of this nature. .
There have been numerous examples named in this very thread :]
Almost none of the "examples" really adhere to the OP's stipulation that it can't just be an IP someone picked up as the result of a bankruptcy or liquidation. Almost every franchise that's been named has been the result of a liquidation or buyout of a defunct or nearly defunct company. It's rare that a healthy developer sells an IP to another healthy developer.
Yeah this is actually true. iD Software purchased the rights to Castle Wolfenstein from some copyright holder and made a successful franchise out of it.
I don't even...
Fallout 1/2 would be on the forever shortlist of best rpgs ever regardless of whether 3 came out. To say we wouldn't be talking about the first 2 without 3 is absurd. They were not 'obscure ancient games' they were 'extremely well known and respected ancient games'.
I mean, calling Fallout 1/2 'obscure' is just insane. You aren't being 'blunt', you're being 'wrong'.
Dude, game companies almost NEVER sell their IPs unless they are going out of business. I would be hard pressed to think of a time when ANY healthy game publisher sold an IP to another game publisher.....let alone one that became a popular revival.
The answer to your question is that there have not been any successful returns of this nature. At best there are instances where an IP holder "loaned" a forgotten IP to another developer and they did a cool reboot (Sam & Max, Monkey Island from Telltale).
The closest example I could think of would be when Microsoft bought Gears of War from Epic. Gears of War 4 was pretty well received, but I wouldn't say it is a big revival.