Top 20 Video Games That RUINED Their Companies

Realtime Worlds

Originally released in 2010, “APB” was an overly ambitious multiplayer game that became a financial disaster for its developers, Realtime Worlds. It was marketed as a “cops vs. robbers” MMO, taking place in an open-world city, where players had complete customization over their characters and vehicles. The game had plenty of potential, but was plagued with issues, such as poor performance, clunky controls, and unbalanced mechanics. Rumors claim it cost $100 million to make, which far outweighs the revenue it brought in. Shortly after its release, Realtime Worlds declared bankruptcy, with “APB” going down as one of the biggest failures in gaming history.

Eurocom

James Bond is one of the most iconic spy franchises in history and used to be a big deal in the gaming world as well. “007 Legends” was released in 2012 by Eurocom, seriously tarnishing the Bond legacy. Eurocom previously had a solid track record, but “007 Legends” majorly stained their reputation. The game was inspired by six different Bond films, but unfortunately fell completely flat. The development was seriously rushed, causing it to be released with lackluster visuals, boring level design, and a combat system that left a lot to be desired. Additionally, the story and voice acting were weak, making it a commercial flop. Eurocom subsequently shut down, with “007 Legends” dooming the studio.

BioWare Montreal

“Mass Effect: Andromeda” massively disappointed fans, causing the downfall of its developer, BioWare Montreal. Originally released in 2017 as a successor to the beloved “Mass Effect” trilogy, the expectations were high. Instead of giving the franchise a fresh start, it was unfortunately a disaster. The game was teeming with technical issues, which quickly became meme fodder online. Alongside this, the characters and story fell short of the original trilogy, failing to capture their charm. Months after release, BioWare Montreal was merged into another EA studio. Plans for future “Mass Effect” games have since been put on hold.

Clover Studio

“Okami” was released in 2006 for the PlayStation 2. The game was critically acclaimed for its stunning visuals. It told the story of the sun goddess Amaterasu, who took the form of a wolf, and sought to restore life to a world consumed by darkness. Its art style and innovative gameplay mechanics were considered groundbreaking for the time, causing the game to receive numerous Game of the Year awards. Unfortunately, it struggled to sell, with minimal marketing and a release late in the PS2’s life cycle. As a result, Capcom shut down Clover Studio not long after its release, ending one of the most creative game studios ever.

Junction Point Studios

In 2012, “Epic Mickey 2” was released by Junction Point Studios. It aimed to build on the original’s creativity and charm by expanding on its mechanics, with the addition of co-op play and voice acting for the characters. Unfortunately, despite these high expectations, the game flopped. The gameplay was repetitive, camera controls were clunky, and the story captured few players. Additionally, the co-op feature, one of its major selling points, was full of issues, such as poor AI making single-player a nightmare. Reviews were mostly negative, and in 2013, Disney shut down Junction Point Studios entirely.

Boss Key Productions

“Radical Heights” was a desperate attempt in 2018 to save Boss Key Productions, which unfortunately had the opposite result. It was a free-to-play battle royale game, with a brightly colored 80s game show aesthetic. Boss Key was already struggling after their previous game, “LawBreakers,” completely failed. In their haste to capitalize on the popular battle royal craze, they released Radical Heights in an extremely unfinished state. It was released with missing textures, bugs, and unfinished mechanics, lacking any polish and depth. This prevented the game from gaining any sort of traction, and wasn’t anywhere near enough to keep developers afloat. One month after release, the studio shut down, marking the end of Boss Key Productions.

Silicon Knights

“Too Human” was in development for nearly a decade, finally released in 2008 by Silicon Knights. It was an incredibly ambitious sci-fi game, combining Norse mythology with futuristic cybernetically enhanced humans. It was expected to be the first in a trilogy and an enormous hit for the Xbox 360. Instead, it was one of the most infamous flops in gaming, massively contributing to Silicon Knights’ closure in 2014. There were many troubles with development, the most major was legal battles with Epic Games regarding their use of Unreal Engine 3, causing them to develop their own engine. They lost this battle, and the court ordered them to destroy all copies of “Too Human” and other games developed with their engine.

Arkane Studios

Arkane Studios was once widely revered, developing the popular “Dishonored” series. In May 2023, they released “Redfall,” which delivered a devastating blow to the studio. It was a co-op open-world FPS, set in Massachusetts, where players would fight vampires. On release, the game was filled to the brim with technical issues. The world Arkane had crafted felt empty and lifeless. Additionally, the missions were repetitive, and the co-op mechanics were poorly implemented. While they haven’t been shut down, this negative reception and its lack of sales have left a massive stain on Arkane Studios' record.

Visceral Games


“Dead Space 3” was released in 2013 by Visceral Games, and hoped to massively expand the critically acclaimed series’ scope. Instead of taking a survival approach, it was more action-focused, introducing co-op gameplay. Unlike the first two games, this entry faced serious criticism, with many fans missing the horror elements. Not only this, but it also introduced microtransactions, which players found exploitative. The negative reception and lack of play interest meant the game had a poor long-term performance. In 2017, Visceral Games was closed by EA, ending the “Dead Space” franchise entirely.

Bizarre Creations

Bizarre Creations was famous for their “Project Gotham Racing” series, and in 2010 released “Blur,” a new style of game that combined arcade-style racing with intense combat. Unfortunately, they failed to make an impact on the gaming scene, and it struggled to find an audience. “Blur” featured exciting gameplay and innovative mechanics, but was killed by its more successful competition, such as “Mario Kart” and “Gran Turismo.” The reviews were mixed, and its marketing campaign was not very effective, leading it to fail at achieving the expected success. One year after release, Activision shut down Bizarre Creations, claiming their lackluster sales to be the cause.

38 Studios

“Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning” was a highly praised game, noteworthy for its fascinating lore and engaging gameplay, but was a major factor in killing co-publisher 38 Studios. Despite its passionate fanbase and positive reviews, it failed to achieve the success developers hoped. It cost over $60 million, but made nowhere near this much money back. This caused 38 Studios to suffer immense financial strain, which also impacted their MMORPG, “Project Copernicus,” which never saw the light of day. Only a handful of months after “Reckoning’s” launch, 38 Studios had to abruptly shut down.

Team Bondi


This is not a bad game. It presents a stylish, in-depth story with cutting-edge graphics and animation. But the toll it took on Australian developer Team Bondi can not be overstated. Beginning development in 2004, the neo-noir had its overall style changed several times, along with switching from a PS3 exclusive to multi-platform release. The advanced engine that Team Bondi was responsible for stunted development time, so publisher Rockstar eventually had to come in to make sure the game would see the light of day. When it did, it was met with strong reviews, but sales weren’t strong enough to recoup the massive debt Team Bondi racked up during development, and ended up being closed shortly after Noire’s release.

Ion Storm


Whoever said there is no such thing as bad publicity obviously never met John Romero. After residing at id Software during development of influential shooters “Wolfenstein,” “Doom,” and “Quake,” Romero left to start his own company, Ion Storm. The developer’s first project, an FPS called “Daikatana,” was nothing short of overambitious, and had a release date set for Christmas 1997. It didn’t make it to shelves until the Summer of 2000, but not after an infamous print ad for thegame that proclaimed that John Romero was “About to make you his bitch.” The delays, the ad, and the fact that “Daikatana” was total crap led to Romero’s downfall and Ion Storm’s closing in 2001.

Factor 5


Dragons are awesome. This much is clear. German developer Factor 5 perfected the dogfighting genre with the “Star Wars: Rogue Squadron” games. This much is also clear. And the PlayStation 3 had motion-sensing technology in its controller that would fit perfectly with this type of game. But while the combination of these three sounds like a great gaming experience, Factor 5’s implementation of the Sixaxis motion controls left a lot to be desired. As in, you weren’t able to control your dragon properly. While they eventually released a patch that gave analog control, Lair turned out to be the last game Factor 5 would release, shutting down in 2009.

Free Radical Design


Free Radical Design was a developer made up of staff that split from Rare in 1999. Taking an impressive legacy with them, they went on to develop the “Timesplitters” series. Then in 2008, when the PlayStation 3 was facing a lack of quality original content, Free Radical released “Haze” for the system. But instead of being the “Halo”-killer that gamers were hoping it would be, “Haze” turned out to be mediocre at best, only fun when you are able to use the drug “Nectar,” which is taken away halfway through the game. When “Haze” crashed hard, Free Radical was absorbed by Crytek, and eventually closed in 2014.

Sega

In 1999, “Shenmue” was released for the Sega Dreamcast. Expectations were high, and it was marketed as an open-world action-adventure RPG. The narrative focused on a quest for vengeance, and featured groundbreaking mechanics for the time, such as day-night cycles and dynamic weather. It was critically acclaimed at release, but the production costs were enormous, estimated at around $70 million. Many players were put off by its slow pacing and peculiar gameplay mechanics, and it was unable to produce anything close to a profit. Sega was already struggling, and was facing massive competition in the console market. This caused Sega to shift from hardware production, ensuring the Dreamcast would be their last console.

Maxis Emeryville


Who thought that a city building simulation just had to be connected to the internet at all times? Well, apparently EA and Maxis did when they were developing this new generation of the beloved city builder. Maxis claimed that the online components were essential to the proper functioning of the game, while in reality, it did little more than act as a form of DRM. Because of this, the servers utterly fell apart when the game launched, leading to a fiasco that Maxis would never recover from. They eventually made the game playable without an Internet connection in 2014, but it couldn’t reverse the damage that the game had caused, resulting in EA closing down their Maxis Everyville studio in 2015.

Core Design


The British developer behind one of gaming’s most popular characters sought to bring her into the PS2 era with a complete overhaul. Unfortunately, the choices Core Design made on trying to update Lara Croft ended up leaving her in worse shape than ever, which included unpopular stealth and strength-building mechanics. It didn’t help that publisher Eidos was rushing them to release the game essentially unfinished. When “The Angel of Darkness” bombed, Core Design was closed and its assets given to other studios. While Lara may live on with Crystal Dynamics, Core was sent to the tombs as a relic of a time gone by.

3D Realms


When a game takes fourteen years to be released, its basically guaranteed a spot on a list like this. Despite development being started mere months after its predecessor came out, “Duke Nukem Forever” was scheduled for a 1998 release, before making the first of several engine changes. Three console generations passed, 3D Realms published some other games, and yet “Forever” remained in development as long as its title suggested. Eventually the developer let the project go, leading it to finally be finished by Gearbox in 2011. While 3D Realms still technically exists, the time and financial toll the development of “Duke” took on them ensured they’d never release another game again.

Atari, Inc


For a generation of game enthusiasts, this symbolizes all that was wrong with Atari at the time. “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” was meant to serve as a months-later tie-in to the Steven Spielberg movie of the same name, with Atari in charge of the adaptation. In order to make it to shelves in time for Christmas, Atari instructed lead designer Howard Scott Warshaw to make the game in five and a half weeks. The result: a shallow, practically unplayable mess of a game. Its legacy is tied to the industry crash of 1983, as well as the urban legend that turned out to be true – that unsold games were buried in a landfill in New Mexico.


Which game do you think had the biggest impact on its studio, for better or worse? Head on down to the comments section and let us know!