User blog:Jacked Maverick/My Thoughts on the Seven Cancelled Franchises



'''The following contains spoilers for the endings of Hero, Vol. 1, Most Wanted, Book 1, It Lives In The Woods, and It Lives Beneath. But since they have been cancelled, does it really matter?'''

Okay… I was not expecting to make this blog post. Not because of the topic, but because my previous blog post seemed pretty final. (https://choices-stories-you-play.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Jacked_Maverick/How_Right_Were_My_2020_Predictions) Like a goodbye to making essays and being active on the wiki. But with this new dropping… it’s too big to not comment on. I wanted to keep my personal feelings out of this rant, but with how devastating this news is, I’ve struggled. I’m not bitter or anything. Remember that.

I didn’t plan this blog post, nor do I think there really is a point to this post. I just felt the need to talk about it. I apologize in advance if my thoughts are all over the place. I’ll try to organize as much as possible.

For those of you who don’t know, Choices has said yesterday (Friday, January 22, 2021) that Most Wanted, Book 1, Hero, Vol. 1, Nightbound, the It Lives anthology, The Elementalists, Distant Shores, and Ride or Die: A Bad Boy Romance, Book 1 will not be getting sequels. Or any sort of additional book like how Winters Past was.

This was a stone thrown by the celestials to shake things up for us. Of course, this was met by tremendous backlash from the community. I mean, how could we not riot? They confirmed and announced some of these books would get another entry. Others… didn’t. I find it a bit odd they had to mention Nightbound and Distant Shores since they were already confirmed to be standalones. But that’s not the point. The point is they mentioned those two in particular to put alongside the other books they’ve cancelled. They were already done for good. So why reiterate them?

=The Future We Were Promised=

Most Wanted, Book 1
Let’s get this one out of the way. To me personally, this one hurt the most.



Most Wanted was the first book I ever played that fateful night of Wednesday, August 17, 2016. If Endless Summer, Book 1 made me fall in love with this app, Most Wanted was the catalyst that set me on this journey. The ending was definitely sequel bait. A major cliffhanger that would be injustice to not resolve. Four years later and there is no real payoff despite being promised for so long. For some reason, them mentioning this book alongside the other six basically made them acknowledge how long they’ve been holding it over our heads.

Most Wanted, Book 2 was the only one to have a cover actually finished!

Hero, Vol. 1
I’m going to say something that is a bit controversial. I wasn’t a big fan of Hero. I just thought it was middle of the road. A bit slow in the in the entire 15 chapter run.

But the reason it hurt as much as it did was because of the potential it had. I didn’t really want a sequel to Hero, honestly. The only reason I did was because on what it could have been! It was likely that we were going to get a Hero & Endless Summer crossover!

Pixelberry even stated on Saturday, September 8, 2018 on a livestream that Hero, Vol. 2 was even playable at that moment! On Friday, June 7, 2019, it was implied that the script was for real finished! Either they had clear intentions of releasing it, or those were lies.

I understand cancelling a proposed sequel because of lack of writers or lack of interest. But c’mon! They (allegedly) had scripts for this already completed!

They claim the different art style is the reason for the delay. That at least makes sense. Art is expensive.

Most Wanted & Hero
I already accepted these two were never returning way before I deleted the app on Wednesday, June 3, 2020. It was not a decision I made lightly.

But the fact that they are only just now “officially” confirming that they are never returning still makes it hurt for some reason. I guess I thought that as long as they kept postponing it, there was still hope. Even though I already knew in my heart they were never giving us sequels.

Ride or Die: A Bad Boy Romance
To me personally, I’m pretty happy it got axed, but I understand other people liked it. It’s because everyone else loved it as much as they did that really surprised me when this got canned.

Out of the seven cancelled franchises, this was the only genderlocked one and the only one that wasn't cancelled for financial reasons.

Not to sound condescending, but I don't think the Ride or Die fans would have cared if the sequel didn't follow the original vision of the head writer. This type of story has been done all over across many years and outlets. In Choices' case, I don't think the fans would have cared about the lead writer leaving if it meant getting a sequel.

Like they said, it doesn’t matter whether they are critically acclaimed or not. Enough people need to spend enough money on it to get a sequel. And because there were people who liked it and Pixelberry did confirm a sequel beforehand meant that Ride-or-Die was easily profitable.

It doesn’t matter whether you liked this or not. The point is they promised a sequel to Ride-or-Die and now that it’s been two years since it first started, they went back on it. Proving they care more about profit than actual feelings.

=The Forgotten=

Nightbound & Distant Shores
I don’t have much to say for this one because as I said in the introduction, it was weird for them to include these two alongside the others. Unlike those other five, Nightbound and Distant Shores were both already announced to not be getting sequels. Them to reiterate it in 2021 is… a bit out of left field.

I know this was a short entry but… I’m honestly stumped why they would mention them.

Was there still demand for sequels to them? Did they just need two more books to make their list appear longer and like it held more weight?

I’m confused. Maybe you guys in the comments section will help me out.

It Lives & The Elementalists
Both of these had sequels teased and never outright confirmed.

It Lives Beneath had that post-credit scene with Jocelyn Wu that promised so much more. The It Lives In The Woods cast and It Lives Beneath cast would team up to take on The Power! And maybe help Noah Marshall/"Devon" out in the Redfield state.

After The Elementalists: Winters Past concluded on Tuesday, December 17, 2019, Pixelberry announced that “we may see our Penderghast friends again in the future.”

Even when asked about a third It Lives book, they will always respond with something along the lines of “It isn’t cancelled. We hope to revisit it in the future.”

But the cancellation of The Elementalists, Book 2 back on Friday, August 2, 2019 felt different than It Lives. At first they said there will not be an Elementalists Three, then after Winters Past concluded they seemed to go back on it and said it was possible now.

These two franchises were based on the assumption of “maybe” they will happen. Neither confirming or denying.

=Miscellaneous=

Blades of Light & Shadow


Now knowing they can just cancel already promised books, what's stopping them from doing the same thing in the future? They already said that Blades of Light and Shadow, Book 2 will come out in 2022 due to the overwhelming resources being put in. That's what they said about Hero before, so why wouldn't they cancel Blades of Light & Shadow now?

Mother of the Year


I know this one was never mentioned in the blog post they announced the cancelations, but I want to mention this one because it kind of leaves it as an odd duck.

Out of all the singular books that have not been cancelled right away (like Nightbound, Distant Shores, and The Royal Masquerade), this is currently the only one whose fate is still up in the air. It did not have a Book 2 confirmed, but it did get a sequel “teased” when it ended on Friday, December 13, 2019.

Whether or not you liked it is once again not the point. The point is why did they not mention that alongside the other horses getting shot behind the barn?

New Stuff
As I mentioned in my “Why I Decided To Delete Choices” post (https://choices-stories-you-play.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Jacked_Maverick/Why_I_Finally_Decided_To_Delete_Choices), there is just nothing to look forward to anymore! I don’t want to be in the fandom of a company that treats their consumers like that. Especially ones that have been there since the Hollywood U and High School Story Prime days.

I know for a fact this latest onslaught of cancellations made other fans delete the day that news dropped. Watch them change their minds when they see their numbers drop, which I don’t have hope for.

Me personally? These upcoming stories don’t interest me anymore. I have no connection to them, so why even bother reading them knowing how they don’t care for stuff fans have built a bond with? I’m not saying the upcoming stuff like Crimes of Passion or the Untitled Zombie Apocalypse Book will be total garbage. They actually look astonishing! But what I’m saying is that no matter how cool they appear to be, it’s not worth sacrificing my morals over by reinstalling the app. You all already know how I feel about Blades of Light & Shadow (https://choices-stories-you-play.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Jacked_Maverick/Blades_of_Light_%26_Shadow_is_a_Miracle._(With_Review), a risk move made by them that can only be summed up as an "imitation" of Pixelberry's Golden Age. All the upcoming adventures just feel like a company trying to capture of what made them special in the first place. An imitation.

Right now, the only things that will make me reinstall is a sequel to Mother of the Year and maybe to finish up Open Heart: Second Year. Open Heart is the only “current” franchise I for real miss.

Pixelberry mentioned in the blog that if it wasn’t for other financially successful franchises, they wouldn’t have taken risks such as Blades of Light & Shadow or Endless Summer or The Royal Franchise.

I get that, but at least stick with the original visions!

=The Future We Deserve (Conclusion)= The Forgotten (and Ride or Die) both had endings. Sure they didn’t have the endings. But they each at least had an ending, with Mother of the Year also being an exception where you can make the argument that it had the appropriate ending for it’s story.

Everything else had an ending to some regard. Where while it was indeed the end of the story, there were still plenty of loose ends. Even finished franchises I didn’t even mention got this treatment. Like Perfect Match and Wishful Thinking. Both didn’t have definitive endings answering unresolved questions, but they at least had some sort of stopping point.

Hero, Vol. 1 and Most Wanted, Book 1 hurt as much as they did because they straight up had cliffhangers. Like, what do we do now? Just move on from life?

Who murdered Hayley Rose?

How will Hero’s "Alex" deal with being on that planet?

As the introduction said, I don’t really think there was a point to be made on this blog. I just had too many feelings to share. If there was a takeaway, it would be to quote our very own StoryGirl83 (Mar) from Twitter: “I get they made new books to keep the lights on, but I’m not going to pay for something I don’t want.”

I also get it. But it also shows that having quality content does not always equal profit. And in this current world… that can’t be all that matters, can it?