What happened to the Midnight Club franchise? Find out!

Developed by Rockstar at a time when the studio used to take a little more risk in the gaming industry, Midnight Club was an iconic series of street racing games.

The IP debuted in 2000 on the PS2 and quickly stood out for its approach of taking players to real cities like New York, Los Angeles, Paris and Tokyo. But what happened to the franchise over the years? If you came looking for the answer, you’re in the right place!

Each title in the series Midnight Club offers a vast catalog of vehicles, including highly customizable cars and motorcycles that can be optimized for both performance and visual aspects.

In addition, its map also allowed players to choose their own routes and challenge other drivers in any of the cities mentioned above. Well, the game was certainly a craze among tuning lovers in 2000 — especially fans of the franchise. Fast and Furious.

Midnight Club franchise closed in 2010

Even though it had been popular among PS2 gamers in the 2000s, the franchise came to an abrupt and unexplained end in 2010, when Rockstar halted plans for a future game in the series.

As a result, the development team at the studio responsible for the property was slowly dismantled. There was hope in 2012, when Take-Two once again registered the trademark. Midnight Club — but unfortunately, that was not the case.

Rockstar never really explained the end of the property, but the abandonment occurred just before the release of Red Dead Redemption e GTA V — the only franchises that currently receive active investment from the company.

As GTA has evolved considerably in terms of car physics, Rockstar may certainly have decided to invest efforts in the fifth game in the franchise instead of making a new one Midnight Club.

What does the future hold for the Midnight Club franchise?

Well, even though it’s faded from the industry, the franchise Midnight Club is still revered by a legion of fans around the world. Its return is uncertain, but Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick mentioned the property for the first time in 13 years on an earnings call with investors in 2022.

Before discussing the Zynga acquisition and the mobile market, Zelnick listed some of the publisher’s key franchises on the call. “Our labels are home to some of the most iconic brands in the world, such as Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, Midnight Club, NBA 2K, BioShock, Borderlands, Sid Meier’s Civilization, Mafia e Kerbal Space Program“.

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