Top 10 Multiplayer Games That Ended Their Studios

Realtime Worlds

Before “APB”, Realtime Worlds was regarded as an innovator in game development, having worked on the very first “Crackdown” game for Xbox 360. Unfortunately, the awards and titles it would earn from this first success would not save them from closure. “APB” was to cash-in on the popularity of “Grand Theft Auto” and “Saints Row” by implementing an online multiplayer spin. Think “cops & robbers”. With a controversial review embargo, the game was already in hot water, and the dwindling player count forced a shift to a free-to-play model. Alas, Realtime Worlds was forced to perform layoffs before needing to sell assets, shutting its doors weeks after “APB’s” launch. Today, the game lives on under a different publisher and a more healthy playerbase as “APB: Reloaded”.

Roadhouse Interactive

Roadhouse Interactive was a Canadian studio responsible for these two bizarre games. “Legacy of the Beast” was a mobile RPG developed to coincide with the band Iron Maiden’s newest tour at the time whereas “Family Guy Online” was...well, an MMO where players could explore Quahog and interact with the show’s characters. As one might expect, “Family Guy Online” never caught on and had its plug pulled less than a year after launch. The “Iron Maiden” mobile game, on the other hand, would see a solid launch, yet not a big enough revenue stream to keep Roadhouse Interactive afloat. Layoffs were conducted in 2016 before the studio went defunct, and “Legacy of the Beast” was handed over to publisher Nodding Frog Interactive for further development.

Papaya Studio

If you have never heard of Papaya Studio before, you aren’t alone. This studio was responsible for a small handful of licensed titles throughout the 2000’s, none of which made any impact whatsoever. What did them in was a “Smash Bros” clone starring a wide variety of Cartoon Network characters. “Cartoon Network: Punch-Time Explosion” suffered from a variety of issues from audio bugs and glitches to unbalanced gameplay and carbon copy mechanics. In other words, it was a worse version of Nintendo’s acclaimed fighting franchise. Even with an expanded console version, the game performed about as poorly as most would anticipate both commercially and critically. Papaya Studio would shut down sometime in 2013.

Turbine

A MOBA starring our favorite DC superheroes and villains sounds like a total romp, but when “League of Legends” and “DOTA 2” have already secured a hefty playerbase, you can’t expect folks to suddenly abandon the game they call home. What made things worse for “Infinite Crisis” and developer Turbine, though, was the lack of identity. Yes, the DC Comics theme was enough to distinguish itself visually, but at its core, it was just “League” and “DOTA” with a comic book vibe. Even with plans for additional characters, maps, and cosmetics, it wasn’t enough to raise a community. “Infinite Crisis” would shut down five months after launch while Turbine went through rounds of layoffs before rebranding as WB Games Boston.

Studio Roqovan

Even if military shooters have burnt you out for several years, “World War Toons” was one with potential. Yes, it was yet another military shooter set in World War II. However, the charm of this one was its “Looney Tunes” visual style, and it was coming from a studio made up of former staff from Pixar, Disney, and Activision “Call of Duty” studio Infinity Ward. Unfortunately, “World War Toons” got more complex and expensive as more features such as a VR mode were added. To make things worse, a project with SNK involving the “Metal Slug” IP went haywire, forcing the game to be pulled shortly after launch. Studio Roqovan would end up selling “World War Toons” and closing its doors in March 2019.

Black Rock Studios

This racing game featured a mechanic where players could trigger environmental hazards to decimate leading opponents. It was destructive, it was chaotic, and it was a symphony of explosions and exhilarating racing fun! So, what went wrong? Well, “Split/Second” launched right before two other racing games - “Blur” and “ModNation Racers”. There just wasn’t enough room in the world for three racing games to launch so close together, and with one of them coming straight from PlayStation, most folks had already spent their money. “Split/Second” would sell a mere eighty-six thousand copies in twelve days. It simply wasn’t enough for publisher Disney Interactive to greenlight a sequel, and Black Rock would find itself closed in 2011.

Lionhead Studios

Man, “Fable” went down HARD after the launch of the third game, and what killed it AND its homestead developer, Lionhead Studios, was “Fable Legends”. “Legends” was to jump aboard the tidal wave of online co-op games by pitting four Hero players against one Villain player who controlled the quests. Basically, it was “Fable” as a tabletop RPG in video game form. The problem here was that the game had grown to be ludicrously expensive, costing Microsoft roughly seventy-five million dollars, a massive bill for a game that was to utilize a free-to-play model! Microsoft wasn’t about it. Lionhead would close in March 2016 with “Fable Legends” getting its plug pulled a month after.

Gazillion Entertainment

This MMORPG starring Marvel’s greatest heroes would go through just as many trials and tribulations as DC’s “DOTA” clone. Indeed, “Marvel Heroes” found a small, yet humble fanbase in the few years it ran thanks to its roster of characters and simple gameplay. Everything turned catastrophic for developer Gazillion Entertainment after Disney decided to revoke the Marvel license. By this point, all of Gazillion’s resources had been poured into the game. There was no other source of income for the studio! Unable to further operate their only game, Gazillion was forced to close and completely shut down “Marvel Heroes” in 2017.

Boss Key Productions

When it comes to multiplayer games that destroyed their studios, the case of “Radical Heights” and Boss Key Productions is arguably one of the most prolific. The studio had already failed to gain an audience with “Lawbreakers” in 2017, resulting in the studio hemorrhaging money. In an effort to save themselves, Boss Key Productions spent two months working on a battle royale with an over-the-top 80’s theme called “Radical Heights”. Clearly an attempt to cash-in on “Fortnite’s” success, the rushed development showed in its unpolished animations, bland visuals, and lack of personality. It was moderately functional, sure, but this was not enough to bring home the bacon. Boss Key Productions closed a month after “Radical Heights” launched.

United Front Games

For a time, it seemed like United Front Games was on top of the world, having developed exceptional kart racer “ModNation Racers” and the critically acclaimed “Sleeping Dogs”. Trouble came as soon as the studio dipped its toes into online multiplayer. “Smash + Grab” wasn’t catching any attention, and “Sleeping Dogs” was too valuable to abandon even with a cancelled sequel. The studio attempted to make an online multiplayer game set in the “Sleeping Dogs” world called “Triad Wars”, but the beta showed a bleak future as players were not about the base-building and monetization. Towards the end of 2015, United Front Games announced its closure and stated, “We’ve loved seeing how you’ve played ‘Triad Wars’, but we know it wasn’t right for many of you.”