I'm growing rather tired of this growing trend in high profile releases. (SPOILER)Mass Effect 3 did it, (SPOILER)Final Fantasy XIII-2 did it, and word is the much anticipated (SPOILER)Assassin's Creed III does it as well, which, assuming it's true, is highly disappointing.

Do you think this is ever a sound way of doing things or is it just a lazy way for writers to end these characters' stories rather than giving them drawn out closure?

I'm sure there are examples of it being necessary and handled well, but I certainly can't think of any.