Top 20 Video Games That RUINED Their Companies

[@WatchMojo]

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! For more content like this, click here: kzbin.info/aero/PLmZTDWJGfRq2ywaCXlZ9FrfrNaoJ7VocW&si=-2-9XmpRgbXMqePL

[@annoyingPoe15]

Okami is a amazing game edited

[@manueltapia1859]

No doubt E T 1983 not only solf poorly, it left workers unemployed that later started the videogames crash 😮

[@DarthKilaj85]

Plans for future Mass Effect games have been put on hold I am sorry what? Did someone not tell you there is a new Mass Effect coming out?

[@memphisjaxx]

Games don't ruin companies. Companies ruin games.

[@shanekidd5766]

2K, needs to see this post.

[@MaxModded]

Nicely put

[@kerriekermelcatlover7243]

I am surprised Concord didn't even make the list.

[@SpikeTheWolf]

Too obvious I think? Who knows.

[@kerriekermelcatlover7243]

@ Maybe…

[@theevilnerd42]

Figures haven't really come out yet for Concord so we don't really know if it ruined their company, I mean, Sony is still easily afloat

[@aliastheabnormal]

Concord didn't really affect anything. The status quo didn't change. And Sony still has unlimited money to cover the losses. At the end of the day it will just be remembered as one more bad game in a year full of them.

[@aliastheabnormal]

@@theevilnerd42 They have. It's at least a 200 million dollar loss.

[@louismonnichii7619]

Too bad about Team Bondi. LA Noire is one of my all-time fave games

[@jakeheerwagen8007]

Would be cool if they released another game similar to it cause it was so much fun

[@welcometothemovies9157]

​@jakeheerwagen8007 there was a game being developed but like they said the company went under cause of all the money spent on LA Noire

[@blueminitour541]

Yeah i liked that game too. Sucks that we will never see a sequel

[@mylsyl]

U forgot concord. I'm glad firewalk shut down because of of the shit show they made and let's all stand together and dance on their grave in our droves

[@c00mgoblin]

Dude im so sad about Okami that’s legitimately one of my favorite games. 😭

[@Canadiansamurai]

Blame Keiji inafune. He was the one who personally ordered the shutdown of clover studios.

[@deitrichtennin8267]

One of the best games that nobody played

[@maddestmike5791]

It's a miracle Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts didn't completely sink Rare.

[@Madman-bi5bf]

I keep forgetting they're still a thing

[@pyrusmew5]

They say that Nuts & Bolts was made ahead of its time

[@FastTquick]

Here’s another honorable mention: Ultima IX: Ascension. The game was released in a buggy, unfinished state in 1999 for PC. Because of the poor reviews and terrible sales, Origin Systems suffered financially from the game’s failure, and were eventually dissolved in 2004.

[@Balc0ra]

So many games here that did fail, but still ended up being cult classics. Tbh if Blur was not released the same week as Split Second, I'm sure it would have faired a bit better. As "what game did you buy" was a hot topic at my job back then

[@namelastname1085]

I remember buying that game when it released, hoping it would spark a racing game fever within me. I paid full price, and probably played it an hour max. I despised it. It was like it couldn't make up it's mind whether it wanted to be realistic or "arcadie". I don't know what I was thinking when I got that game, cos I usually tend to go for the more realistic ones. I really wanted to like racing games but I could never get into them. I just didn't get it, and still don't tbh. My favorite racing game ever was probably Motor Storm, I enjoyed the crash physics. Also kinda liked Burnout. I just never understood the appeal with games like Need 4 Speed and others.

[@nikobellic8002]

@@namelastname1085 Need for speed is great. It has had customization, police chases and open world.

[@namelastname1085]

@@nikobellic8002 Yes, but as I'm sure you know with a username like that, GTA has that and a lot more. Like I said, I just didn't "get" Need for Speed. Wasn't for me. I find racing games incredibly boring, even if I am winning. By the way, GTA 4 is my favorite GTA. I was literally only playing it earlier around the time I posted that first comment lol.

[@nathanm2419]

Instead of the power of two maybe epic Mickey needed the power of many.

[@disneyvideocollector9375]

LA Noire is personally one of my favorite video games of all time

[@jacobshuttlesworth6105]

".. being flippant young man..."

[@danielmannion1629]

It's up there for sure

[@cscmusictv]

11:56 Ion Storm actually closed in 2005. 2001 is when Romero left.

[@RudolfSikorsky]

Exactly. It was just Dallas studio that was closed. Daikatana sure flopped but crazy spending on office, etc had its part also. Deus Ex was developed in Austin studio and was commercially very successful. Second game not so much. Actually I've totally missed Ion Storm's Anachronox. Must try it I guess.

[@garcel1251]

The only Bond game that will ever matter is 007 Golden Eye on N64

[@AllThingsInfamous1]

Everything or nothing was pretty good too.

[@Jakeakatheone]

Nah. Nightfire is GOATED

[@connorrivers995]

I liked Quantum of Solace. Though to be fair, it was mostly a Casino Royale game. And it's ending was better than the movie.

[@dannynoonan249]

Mario & Luigi Bowser's inside Story + Bowser Jr's Journey for 3DS. A remake of a DS game you could still play on the 3DS! was a commercial failure, likely leading to AlphaDream's bankruptcy in 2019. Didnt help the fact that the 3DS was already on its way out as the Switch era was just around the corner. Here's my question, Why couldn't they just make that DS remake for the Switch instead of the 3DS?

[@michaelfoti4203]

2:19 EA’s fault 11:10 hey they fixed it, over a decade later! 17:23 this game was released on the 5200

[@brandonrobinson529]

Core Design: I should of known better what me and my co workers did to Tomb Raider The Angel Of Darkness

[@DRCEQ]

Lair was a result of executive meddling. They forced Factor 5 to use the motion controls on the PS3, and the rest is history.

[@parkerthomson7130]

I feel like one entry that probably could’ve made the cut was sonic 06 because honestly not only with that game a major disappointment but also kind of let a huge broken impact on sonic as long with Sega and team sonic

[@ymkyourmoneyking8157]

Sonic team is on track now so that makes no senss

[@user-lb9xw4xf2q]

I think the ending of Mass Effect 3 did wound the franchise, but so no one would forgive a misstep with Andromeda, let alone so many.

[@Trist233]

You forgot Saints Row (2022).

[@brandonrobinson529]

Ya it was a downfall for Saints Row franchise and Saints Row fans GOD DAMMIT I want Saints Row 2 Remastered

[@scottishfilmhistorian]

I got that on PS Plus and still haven't played it... such a disappointment.

[@AkaManah45]

That was actually the new company that messed up the game not the other way around.

[@beam5925]

Yeah, that game should never exist alongside Agents of mayham

[@FatalistBY]

But it's WOOOOOKEN! W0keM0f0s does not criticize w0ken games.

[@TheNaturalPatHarris]

We don’t accept any shenmue slander around here, Pal!

[@edwardkitrick5120]

Now that all the bugs have been worked out several years later, mass effect: Andromeda is a pretty good game with a lackluster story, excellent mechanics and combat structure and good enough graphics and character work. If it had been released in a completed state, it would’ve been the start of another good trilogy I think.

[@kielbaily8513]

I love that there are actually good games on this list. It shows that what makes or breaks a game isn't how good the game is or how dedicated the fanbase is, but how high the sales figures are.

[@rafaelamadeus5155]

Activision Blizzard with Warcraft III: Reforged. When the game was released in late January 2020 as a remastered version of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion The Frozen Throne, it was met with extremely negative reception. It was even labelled as the worst video game according to Metacritic (score was 0.5), with most comments being "overwhelmingly disliked". Due to the numerous bugs, some users have requested a refund, hence this game was called "Warcraft III: Refunded". Also, Blizzard Classic Game Team, which develops this remastered version of the game, was dissolved because of this failure.

[@HM71787]

Sega Dreamcast had some of the best games ever made for any console its a shame how the bad ones discouraged them from continuing to make a new platform.

[@MetaFoxx278]

That wasn’t it. Really, Sega had already lost the trust of gamers going back to the 32X, only making it worse with the Saturn (at least in the West). They did try to rectify the problem with the Dreamcast, but the damage was already done, and they lost a lot of money with the Dreamcast that they couldn’t recoup. Essentially what happens when the bulk of your library consists of arcade ports (quick, quarter munching experiences) and not enough longer, more nuanced titles to show for.

[@arthurjones3670]

How the fuck could la noire ruin a company that game was awesome

[@paultapner2769]

Angel of Darkness was the first Tomb Raider game I ever played and I loved it. The one thing established fans of properties always forget is that any product could be someone's first. I could never get past the ghost though. I wonder now hearing that it was rushed into release if that was actually doable. Good you mention ET. From around the same time though was 1984's Megagames. I forget their titles but British company Imagine was going to release a very big and expensive game for the Spectrum. And another for the Commodore 64. The two most popular machines of the time. The company went into liquidation while they were still being worked on though, these having pushed them over the financial edge. Don't think they ever came out in any form.

[@mikewagner9395]

I'm surprised Pandemic Studios didn't make this list. The Saboteur was an awesome game but the studio closed shortly after

[@LucienneintheDreaming]

I still havent been through Dead Space 3. Ill do the beginning and then quit.

[@fuelledbylattes]

I mean, "for better AND worse", surely it's gotta be Final Fantasy XIV Online (1.0, for worse; 2.0+ for better)? 1.0 XIV nearly bankrupted Square Enix, as I understand it, and now XIV is one of the backbones of the company.

[@MzMedooza]

Square was struggling back in 2001, before the merger with Enix. They tried to cash grab with recycled resources, making FFX-2. Kingdom Hearts was the last SquareSoft game and it absolutely ruined them, thanks to Disney.

[@cscmusictv]

12:43 Factor 5 did reopen in 2017. And it was 2011, not 2009 when the studio initially closed.

[@cpurday9681]

Kingdoms of Amalur was a masterpiece and is one of my favourite games after three decades of gaming. I’ve almost finished it on 5 different consoles.

[@NeonKnightOA]

It's said Age of Empires III sunk Ensemble Studios (Halo Wars was made when Ensemble already knew about its destiny). But former Ensemble employees will tell you otherwise. In fact, AoE3 just got a Definitive Edition rerelease not so long ago. A game that could make the list is Unreal II The Awakening, which brought Legend Entertainment down.

[@mikitz]

Can't blame E.T.'s budget for the crash of Atari.

[@craigh5236]

E.T. was just the last straw that broke the camel's back. It was a long time coming.

[@e.g.9823]

Whatever studio that designed that "Avengers" game for PS4 & PS5.

[@AndersonTenecela]

That was Crystal dynamics, but they are still around just under the ownership of Embrace Group

[@domotormate]

The worst thing about Lair killing Factor 5 is they couldn't finish Superman: Blue Steel, which might have finally been the game Superman deserved.

[@utisti4976]

It's the other way around. The companies ruined their games.

[@erikk7643]

LA Noire is amazing. My older teen kids played it together and still talk about it to this day

[@zatoth13]

What about Custer’s Revenge? I’m not getting into the details, but I cannot imagine the studio that made it surviving long after…

[@DrVenture45]

I think Mass Effect left such a sour taste that gamers who liked the series (until 3) just can’t get back into it. Now developers are trying anything to crawl back from oblivion, but it all feels moot at this point. In the immortal words of Dr. McCoy “It’s dead, Jim”.

[@CandiceVidito32]

E.T The Extra Terrestrial looks like one of those old timey games that you would find in an arcade.

[@NoMoreAlts]

Ridiculous coward bully hiding under keyboards

[@Reaperguy67]

Argreed. Also et is such a good movie. If you ever get it . Don't get it from universal studios. It will be like 30$. Try finding it some where else used

[@Reaperguy67]

@NoMoreAlts no one is hiding under a keyboard except you and you have been harassing others.

[@CandiceVidito32]

@@Reaperguy67 I still have the VHS copy of the movie

[@NoMoreAlts]

​@@Reaperguy67unlike you

[@parkerthomson7130]

I love playing epic Mickey one and two. In my opinion I felt like a well-deserved sequel. I really like the voice acting and I really love the gameplay overall oh yeah the second, it also led to the cancellation of epic Mickey three so yeah, they have that.

[@Goated_SnoopDogg]

its Bond - i. Like Ipod, Iphone. If it was Bond ee it'd be spelt Bondie. As an Australian its infuriating lmao

[@markgoldspink5109]

Lol, I'm calling it Bondee Beach from now on. No i'm not, that sounds awful.

[@HJS31]

I actually really like Mass Effect Andromeda and I hope the story will continue in some way. The studio just needed more time to hash out the issues

[@ratedtriplex]

I think even if it was well polished it wouldn't have been well received. I put it in the same boat as Battlefield Hardline and Gotham Knights because all 3 got hate for being too different from what came before.

[@Rob.Inson94]

@@ratedtriplexthat’s a really great comparison.

[@WilliamJester-sd7rh]

I’m surprised that Epic Mickey 2 had that bad of an impact, I knew it was bad but didn’t think it was that bad. And I’m surprised that Blur was the reason it’s development studio shut down, and that game was a childhood staple for me and my sister. And E.T. being on here needs no explanation.

[@Animeguy300]

Awesome list thanks watchmojo

[@mattgerrish908]

8:16 Actually I heard Visceral Games was closed by EA simply because they made single player games which EA hates since single player games don't offer enough opportunities for microtransactions to squeeze money out of players.

[@01devilsmilitia]

mass effect andromeda, dead space 3, haze and the tomb raider games are brilliant

[@CH-uk1il]

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr's Journey AlphaDream Great remake, but horrible sales doomed the company.

[@aliastheabnormal]

Never forget, Never bet on Duke.

[@danielstokes2127]

Okami is a terrific game so I feel bad that clover studios had to shut down

[@noiisserpmii]

Blur was really slept on. I remember making my friends play the demo

[@namelastname1085]

I fucking hated it tbh

[@triniborn76]

With the whole retro craze that landfill of games is a treasure now!

[@sugreev2001]

LA Noire died because of Team Bondi’s crappy CEO. I still love and play the game sometimes to this day. It was unlike anything that has ever been made, and it is still unlike anything else in the gaming scene.

[@maxmazzotti6651]

What about 343 Industries for Halo 5 and Infinite?

[@MetaFoxx278]

Because they are still around (new name and all). Their studio never closed down because as of right now at MGS, no other developer has been tasked with taking over Halo.

[@mojo3318]

It sucks that video games ruined their companies! How their companies were ruined is understandable. Perhaps they could make more games if that didn't happen to them.

[@Memelord2020]

A recent one: Concord by Firewalk Studios

[@applejuicejunkie316]

Mass Effect Andromeda shouldn't have been hated on as much as it was. It got the Star Wars prequel treatment.

[@trolace8159]

Kingdoms of Amalur is one of my top 3, its unfortunate. Would have loved to set a sequel or another title. I know they re released it, but I still find my way back to the original release

[@sabraa-ranks4603]

LA Noire was sick and everyone hoped there would be a sequel.

[@earlmoore7003]

The Dead Space Remake was amazing but sadly not a lot of old time fans gave it a chance, thus ending the DS series 😢😭

[@rwwilson21]

with simcity, Cities: skylines has truly taken over.

[@Cloker79]

mass effect isn't on hold they said they are not making DA DLC because they are working on another ME game

[@AtsumuHinata]

007 Legends was just biting off more than they could chew.

[@hunterkillerstudios]

Man, I loved all the Hype for Redfall and I was so excited to experience this masterpiece that was meant to be an amazing and unique experience since at the time. The cod Zombies mode was LACKIN hard and I thought I was gonna get a good alternative until they made a zombies mode worth my time. THAT IS, UNTIL IT RELEASED!!!! This game crushed my hope of getting a good PVE game, The AI was buggy, the games story was short as hell, and to top it off, the gameplay just sucked all around. I held my tongue and played through this nightmare fest, and thought: “This game could possibly get better and people were being too judgmental”. Turns out I was just in denial…….THANKS A LOT ARCANE STUDIOS 😡

[@michaellee4276]

That SimCity disaster made Cities:skylines the premier city planning/ building game.

[@gamemasteranthony2756]

Surprised Okami and L.A. Noire are on this list, given how good the games were. But then if the sales were so lackluster, I have to wonder how bad the marketing was.

[@MetaFoxx278]

In the case of Ōkami, Capcom kind of sabotaged Clover Studios in the marketing department probably because of the lackluster sales of Viewtiful Joe 2. That’s an educated guess on my part. As for L.A. Noire, that had more to do with its development cycle than anything. Hence why Team Bondi no longer exists today. Look up that game’s development history and you’ll see why.

[@zimandgirfanful]

L a norie is one of my all time favorites I dont know how that game would have made a company go under.

[@Jamal-bl7yh]

Pac Man and The Ghostly Adventures (2013) Namco Bandai I don't need to say more here I don't want to at all

[@KadeemG61]

I'm surprised you didn't put Bombcord on this list.

[@Alex-ng6hc]

One would argue that it was Eiddos Interactive that destroyed Core Design, not Angel of Darkness. Yes, it had its problems, but Eiddos worked their team to death throughout the franchise because of their overzealous marketing. Besides, I'd rather play Angel of Darkness over Chronicles

[@X2011racer]

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric or Mighty No. 9 didn't even make the list. Sonic Boom led to the ruination of Big Red Button, which was an indie studio founded by former Naughty Dog developers who were primarily responsible for the Crash series, as shown in the tech demo they made for Sega. Comcept, the company behind Mighty No. 9, fell into financial ruin after continuing to invest in projects that went nowhere following the release of the game. They were eventually bought out by Level-5 and were reborn as Level-5 Comcept, but the company didn't last long and was eventually absorbed into Level-5.

[@Thereallyinsaneninja]

It's sad that E.T. turned into mess because if atari give the developer more time then all the glitches could have been fixed and have been patient for the next year holiday season

[@treyjayray1859]

Sad that Okami didn't sell well. I played it and loved it.

[@alexanderhikel2350]

Why the hell is LA noire the thumbnail? That game was great

[@whocares9033]

Because releasing it caused the studio to shut down Doesn't matter how good a game is if nobody buys it

[@Balc0ra]

Because, as the headline said, did ruin the studio that made it. It was closed more or less after release

[@Cloud-9_C9]

​@@whocares9033funny thing is the same ungrateful generation will probably prefer those games now than the once we've been getting these days no one is ever satisfied until we start getting lame a$$ games back to back then they prefer the once they didn't appreciate 🤷‍♂️

[@beatingstuff88]

@@whocares9033 People bought LA Noire, thats not the issue The issue was that Team Bondi was mismanaged as fuck with Mcnamara being, according to multiple devs, a massive dickhead and Rockstar basically had to come in to save the project to take creative control themselves after becoming disillusioned with Bondi's management.

[@sabraa-ranks4603]

@@beatingstuff88Exactly. I remember people buying the shit out of that game. It had good reviews for the time as well. It was deserving of a sequel. The company would have balled itself up with or without that game.

[@donnylee1992]

There's been a new Mass Effect game in development for years now.

[@mccalejk2]

Of all the reason Sega shut down, I’ve never heard of Shenmue being one of the reasons why 😂

[@cscmusictv]

3:55 Are you sure it was Okami, and not God Hand, that ruined Clover Studio?

[@rrqkuaci]

both Okami and God Hand did not sold well for Capcom, by the time Okami was released and it failed (sadly…) it’s like a putting a nail in the coffin

[@cscmusictv]

@rrqkuaci but God Hand's reviews (at the time) weren't as great as Okami's

[@rrqkuaci]

@@cscmusictv in the publishers eye, even back then, if it’s not sold…it’s not good for the business, just a sad and miserable things that we just have to accept, i love Okami (i played the pc version) and i even love God Hand back in the PS2 but no matter how good or bad some people say it, it’s the amount of money that i makes the only thing the publishers care about

[@connorrivers995]

I'm surprised Skull and Bones isn't here, seeing as it essentially killed Ubisoft: Singapore.

[@scriberothchild5335]

Really hoping Arkane makes a comeback because Dishonored and Prey are some of the coolest games I’ve ever played!

[@Reaperguy67]

I liked Dishonored for the stealth gameplay

[@FroFTW85]

Highly doubt it. Especially if EA continues to keep their control over the studio.

[@whocares9033]

Prey was mediocre at best and a disappointment to most

[@scriberothchild5335]

@@whocares9033 yeah well I don’t give a shit what you think bro lol

[@whocares9033]

@@scriberothchild5335 k

[@Pegfoxx]

I still play Blur to this day on my PC! I love this game, in my opinion Blur destroys Mario Kart in every way.

[@cscmusictv]

17:01 They DID release some games since. Also, why didn't you bother fact checking yourselves and write another script for this video rather than recycling it.

[@01devilsmilitia]

i will say that Epic Mickey 2 with actual VOICED dialogue is a win win, WHY they didnt do that in the remake of epic mickey is beyond me, that alone was enough to make me stop playing

[@starmancrusader]

The Saints Row reboot killed its studio

[@Madman-bi5bf]

Why do I get the feeling there's going to be a part 2 to this?

[@bluegold1026]

Okami is a game that needs more love. Even though it's gotten some in the way of re-releases on other systems, I think there could be a lot more." One wish I have is to see Amaterasu playable in the next Smash Bros game.

[@treyjayray1859]

Facts and I agree. It would be cool to see her as a smash character. I wonder what her mechanics would be.

[@bluegold1026]

@@treyjayray1859 You can switch between fire, ice and electric attacks AND switch between her three main weapons: a glaive, a rosary and I forgot what the third one was. Each weapon can have their own traits: one is fast but doesn't do much damage and another is heavy but does a lot of damage.

[@BharathKumar_0710]

MAX PAYNE 3 , the best of the series but worst in sales.

[@Marvel83]

I still go back and play ME:Andromeda every once in while

[@joshuagamboaii741]

Mario and Luigi Bowser's inside story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey. It shut down Alphadream.

[@AndersonTenecela]

Kinda funny even Concord at the end of this video but not on the list

[@LlamaRoyal]

I had so much high hopes for " LA Noire"

[@aiswallenstein2284]

i actually loved playing ET! It was so easy to play...

[@markgoldspink5109]

Kingdom's of Amalur was great, and I enjoyed Blur. Kingdom's of Amalur, isn't that getting a remaster this year (2024)?

[@Ogtrapking420]

I bet saints row is on here even tho I don’t think it was bad

[@brandonrobinson529]

And I don’t think L.A. Noire (2011) wasn’t that bad either me and my little brother like the game it just like a The Godfather drama film

[@Ogtrapking420]

@ I still gotta play it looks cool

[@dahlesa]

It should "Top 20 game companies that ruined their reputation". After that we could easily add Riot Games to this list. They have protected trinket-trollers and win-traders entire year of 2024 ranked season. That company laid off staff members but in their great stupidity kept the most corrupted ones who at request always removes made win-trading reports of these certain players. #riothasnofuture

[@AshPrimeDCFC]

As a Derby native, it saddens me that TWO Derby-based developers, Core Design and Eurocom, are on this list.

[@MaxWeb2599]

It's sad cause around half of the list are actually good games I personally liked, including la. Noir one of my favorite games.

[@tuckerbowen4626]

as the only person on earth who actually liked it, it's refreshing to not hear people complain about the Avengers game for once

[@ARIXANDRE]

Just got to admit that favorite devs teams died and look to tye future of From, Atlus/Sega, Larian l, CDPR...

[@BootMcGoop]

they are literally making a new ME game as we speak. What do you mean they've been put on hold?

[@MaejorReviews]

I remember 007 legends, it was fire