Top 10 Evil Corporations from Video Game

Sure, those giant, faceless corporations might seem like nice guys – but what happens when corporations become too rich, powerful, and start using their resources for evil? Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’ll be counting down the Top 10 Evil Video Game Corporations.

Aesir Corporation is a major pharmaceuticals company and the main evil entity in “Max Payne.” For years they have been producing and flooding the streets with an illegal drug known as ‘Valkyr.’ They work with mob families, employ ruthless mercenaries, and generally cause mayhem for Max Payne and the inhabitants of his world. The company is run by a maniacal businesswoman named Nicole Horne, who, beyond hooking thousands of people on a highly-addictive intravenous drug, is also personally responsible for Max Payne’s slow descent into a revenge-fuelled insanity.

Hyperion is a high-tech weapons manufacturer run by Handsome Jack. After the Vault was discovered in “Borderlands 1”, The Company invades the planet Pandora to mine all of its valuable Eridium resources. Employing an army of high-tech robots known as “Loaders,” Handsome Jack unleashes his army of ruthless mech killers on the “Borderlands 2” heroes while shooting giant lasers from his orbiting satellite base. Luckily, you can get your hands on some powerful Hyperion-brand weapons of your own and give Handsome Jack a taste of his own medicine.

With humble beginnings as an influential clothing company, Ultor eventually expands to become corporation with interests in a variety of industries from real estate to weapon manufacturing. Some of their transgressions include gentrifying the entire Saint’s Row District and turning the Saints hideout into an upscale tourist trap. In the “Red Faction” series, Ultor was responsible for the initial colonization and mining of Mars – treating miners with forced indenture, brutal bashings if anyone speaks up, and exposure to a deadly space plague, which eventually lead to an uprising from the miners. … Did we mention these guys started out selling T-Shirts?

Armacham is a high-tech industrial weaponry research firm headed by Genevieve Aristide, and responsible for the events of the “F.E.A.R” series. Their scientific experiments on young child Alma Wade threw her into a berserk rage and caused her to use her supernatural powers for evil. They have also produced an army of genetically modified clones known as the “Replica” forces that they telepathically controlled. Armacham is a classic scientific megapower, using their vast resources for the sake of monetary gain and experimental warfare.

Atlas is a private military corporation that rose to prominence after the Gulf War. The head of Atlas, Jonathan Irons, seems like a nice guy, even giving Protagonist Jack Mitchell a new state of the art prosthetic robot arm. A solid acting performance by Kevin Spacey as Jonathan Irons helped make him go from a fatherly figure to a despised villain. After becoming the world’s leading superpower and being granted a seat on the UN security council, Atlas did a predictable about-face and declared war on the United States. Ballsy move.

Sorry Black Mesa fans, those guys weren't quite as evil as Aperture. Originally a fairly unassuming manufacturer of shower curtains, Aperture science slowly became the most influential scientific research company in the world, developing unique technologies such as the portal gun, propulsion gel, and most importantly, the A.I. GLaDOS. And that’s not even taking into account the company founder Cave Johnson, who recruited homeless people as test subjects for potentially lethal experiments. Also they sell deadly machine gun turrets to everyday families, but they’re cute turrets.

Rupture Farms was a meat-processing company with a dilemma: it had over-farmed the creatures used for its products, Meeches, Scrabs, and other forms of wildlife. As a result, the Magog Cartel, a group of vile cigar-smoking bigwigs, decided to start using its own slaves, yes slaves as its new source of meat. This led to a revolt led by Abe, the game’s protagonist, after he discovers the truth and attempts to prevent the inevitable; his transformation into a delicious edible treat.

Abstergo Industries is the modern manifestation of the Templar Order. Responsible for most of humanity’s technological advances since the dawn of civilization, Abstergo also pushes a decidedly evil mandate that involves sitting at the head of a world-wide totalitarian regime that masks ‘the barbaric nature of humanity.’ The Templars were also responsible for historical atrocities like Hitler’s rise to power and the JFK shooting. Oh yeah and their main front in the modern world is to sell video games based on ancestral memories found in test subject’s DNA. I wonder where Ubisoft got the inspiration to write that.

Shinra is an mega-corporation that generates what’s known as Mako energy by drilling holes into the Planet Gaia and sucking out an essence known as The Lifestream. But its not just they’re distain for the environment that gets them on here, as Shinra began experimenting with genetic engineering and created a class of super-soldiers known as SOLDIER. In fact, the main protagonist and antagonist of “Final Fantasy 7”, Cloud and Sephiroth, are both former SOLDIER experiments that decided to rebel against the company for different reasons. No matter how you look at it, all of the events in “Final Fantasy 7” stem from the actions of Shinra and its high-ranking executives.

Ultratech
“Killer Instinct” series (1994-)

Union Aerospace Corporation
“Doom” series (1993-2004)

Vault-Tec
“Fallout” series (1997-2010)

Datadyne
“Perfect Dark” (2000)

Fontaine Futuristics/Ryan Corporation
“Bioshock” series (2007-13)

A powerful scientific research firm, the company began experimenting with the zombifying ‘T-Virus’ in the late ‘70s. And by the events of the games, violent in-fighting between Umbrella scientists broke out, and the t-virus was released into one of their own facilities by an estranged employee, which started a chain of events where the virus would eventually spread into the nearby Raccoon City. Notable for their dangerous biological experiments, and complete disregard of human life, no other company even comes close to being more evil than Umbrella.

Do you agree with our list? Which video game company do you think is run by crazy maniacs? For more not so evil Top 10’s published daily, be sure to subscribe