This Xbox 360 Horror Game Should Have Been Microsoft’s Resident Evil

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In early 2005, Monolith Productions revealed they were creating a new horror game for PC and the next generation of consoles. This console turned out to be the Xbox 360, which was released later that year. Monolith’s Condemned: Criminal Origins was among the games available when the 360 launched. The developers envisioned Condemned as a large, expansive series, with Xbox potentially benefiting greatly, but those plans never materialized. As a result, Microsoft lost the opportunity to help establish a horror franchise that could have competed with Resident Evil.

Condemned: Criminal Origins Should’ve Been the Start of Something Great

When the Xbox 360 first launched, Condemned: Criminal Origins was a big success, earning positive reviews and selling well. Critics especially liked its impressive graphics and sound. It became one of the best-selling launch titles for the console, exceeding the developers’ expectations and ranking as the fifth highest-selling game at launch.

The team always had high hopes that Condemned would become a big series. To build excitement, they released a free six-part online game, Condemned: The Prequel Story, two months before Criminal Origins came out. Then, a month before Condemned launched, Warner Bros. announced they were making a movie based in the game’s world.

It’s important to remember this all started before the first Condemned: Criminal Origins game even came out. And that was just the beginning. Monolith Productions said they had planned out three more games before Criminal Origins was released, which is unusual for a new, unproven game. This shows Monolith had a lot of faith in Condemned and believed it could become a long-running series.

Fortunately, the game received the great reviews we talked about earlier. Condemned was a commercial and critical success, and it remains a well-regarded horror game with unique first-person combat. While Criminal Origins may not be as widely remembered, it’s still a classic title that horror fans should definitely check out.

The Beginning of the End for Condemned‘s Expanded Universe

It’s clear Monolith had a vision for the future of the Condemned series, and the first game was a big hit. So what happened? Why haven’t we gotten the fourth Condemned game that the developers were planning for the Xbox Series X? There are a number of factors that led to the series ultimately failing to continue.

Before the game Criminal Origins came out, Warner Bros. was interested in developing a broader universe around the Condemned series. Jace Hall, who co-founded Monolith and later became a vice president at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in 2004, was a key supporter of this idea.

Hall explained in a 2004 interview that they aimed to build a vast and expansive world, similar to Star Wars, that could accommodate many different stories. This led them to hire Kurt Sutter to write the script. At the time, Sutter was primarily known for his work on the show The Shield, but he later went on to create Sons of Anarchy and write the film Southpaw. In 2007, they brought in Tarsem Singh, a director famous for the visually stunning fantasy film The Fall, to direct the project.

Sadly, the film adaptation of Condemned was never heard from again. At the same time, Monolith was developing a sequel to Criminal Origins. This time around, Condemned 2: Bloodshot wouldn’t be limited to just one console; it was released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. While Xbox 360 players got the game a week earlier, it was a very brief period of exclusivity.

Interestingly, Bloodshot achieved similar results to the first game. Critics generally agreed it was a significant improvement over Criminal Origins, offering a dark and unsettling mood, striking and gritty graphics, and truly frightening sound effects. While exact sales figures are hard to come by, Hall mentioned in 2015 that both games performed well commercially.

It’s a shame we never got a third game in the Condemned series from Monolith. There were likely many reasons why, including the fact that Monolith was also working on the successful F.E.A.R. series at the time, dividing their focus. Shortly after F.E.A.R. 2 came out, Warner Bros. shifted the team to working on games based on existing licenses rather than creating new ones.

This decision ultimately led to one of Monolith’s greatest achievements, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Released in 2014, the game introduced the innovative Nemesis System and quickly became a commercial hit. A year later, Hall shared on Facebook that he was considering partnering with an experienced indie development team to revive and continue the Condemned series.

That initial idea never went anywhere. Soon after, Monolith released Mordor, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, but the game was criticized for having too many small purchases and a needlessly large world. While Monolith tried to fix the issues, Shadow of War ended up being the last game they created before Warner Bros. shut down the studio in 2025.

It’s hard to say exactly why Condemned didn’t succeed, but a lack of support from Warner Bros. was likely the main issue. It’s a shame a company like Microsoft, which recognized the game’s potential, didn’t continue the series. Fortunately, Hall still owns all the rights to Condemned, so there’s still a chance we could see Condemned 3 in the future.

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2025-10-31 20:14