Manhunter 3: London
Why was there never a Manhunter 3?
This topic originally resided over in the FAQ for MH3:L until it took on a life of its own and ended up being given its own page. There are many rumours surrounding the demise of the Manhunter series, and in this section we will sort through them, dispelling some and examining those that seem most likely to be true.
Rumour: The Manhunter series was cancelled because the games sold poorly.
Response: Wrong on two counts. First of all, the Manhunter series was not - and still has never been - officially declared "cancelled". Of course, since the series was never picked up again after the second game, the end result is about the same. Second, the Manhunter games were critically acclaimed and in fact sold quite well. Both titles sold well over 100,000 copies - a respectable feat in the late 1980's, when personal computing was not so widespread as it is today.
Rumour: After Manhunter 2: San Francisco was released, the gaming industry went through a lot of changes, and Sierra was more focused on using the new technology to showcase its primary series (King's Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest and Leisure Suit Larry) than on developing games that were not considered its mainstays.
Response: It's certainly true that the gaming industry went through a lot of changes in the late 1980's and early 1990's. In a matter of just a few short years, Sierra went from its 16-colour AGI development system to the higher-resolution SCI-0 and then the 256-colour SCI-1. It's equally true that Sierra would have wanted these improvements reflected in their flagship products. However, there were still a number of new games produced and series begun during this period: the Hero's Quest/Quest for Glory series, the Laura Bow series, the Conquests series, Code Name: Iceman, and more. If Sierra had wanted a third Manhunter game, it shouldn't have been too much of a stretch for them - especially since Evryware would have handled all of the art, music and programming.
Rumour: Manhunter 3: London never saw the light of day because of creative differences between the Murrys and Ken Williams regarding the direction the series should take.
Response: Ken Williams himself refutes this rumour here, saying that he does not recall any disagreements over the direction of the Manhunter series.
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