previously on WatchMojo number one the
closure of many beloved development
studios well now it's time to dig that
grave even deeper name's dave with
WatchMojo and today we'll be counting
down our picks for the top 10 video game
companies ruined by Electronic Arts for
this list we'll be looking at the 10
video game developers that will close
down due to Electronic Arts and no you
know what no they don't deserve to be
called Electronic Arts with that track
record so I asked people on Twitter what
EA should actually stand for and you
guys did not disappoint
you'll be seeing their answers in this
video instead of the words Electronic
Arts you might think that it's mean but
the fact that this top 10 video can even
exist is proof of its justification this
is home this mess number 10 phenom
acclaimed development there is a room
monument right near some in your army
there it's the only way you can break
through the grey feather this company
was created in 1997 by vulcanic the
designer responsible for the settlers
and the settlers 3 this company
developed spell force 1 & 2 and numerous
expansion packs before they were
acquired by evil army in 2006 the name
was proudly changed to EA phenom ik and
they developed three games under their
overlords umbrella BattleForge lords of
Ultima and command & Conquer Tiberium
alliances select location unfortunately
that would prove to be their final game
as the studio was started by executive
assistants in the summer of 2013 the
reasons were bagged with easy
application simply stating that it was
part of their realignment and that they
were better focusing their teams against
priority growth areas whatever that
means
number nine mythic entertainment mythic
made a name for itself developing online
tales like aliens online and Dark Age of
Camelot the latter released in 2001 five
years before their acquisition by EU
[ __ ]
under everything's ass they released
another MMORPG Warhammer Online Age of
reckoning before being fused with
Bioware to form the oft forgotten
Bioware mythic it was around the time of
this motor that mythic founder Marc
Jacobs left the company though the
studio eventually reclaimed the mythic
entertainment name they quickly
tarnished it with the release of the
quickly revived freemium mobile game
Dungeon Keeper or dungeon keeper mobile
this would tragically be their final
creative output as mythic was dissolved
just four months after that game's
release in 2014
number eight bullfrog productions you
know speaking at Dungeon Keeper here we
have the makers of the original
iteration bullfrog is an old company
having been founded back in 1987 by les
Edgar and Peter Molyneux they became
renowned for games like the original
Dungeon Keeper populous and syndicate
this success eventually led Molyneux to
be named vice president over at enter US
prompting them to purchase bullfrog the
next year in 1995 as you can guess this
proved to be the death Neal for the
company
Molyneux hated his new corporate
position and resigned leading every a
halt to ban him from their offices other
bullfrog employees disliked the head
offices alleged quote dictatorial
management Oriole approached and bailed
with Molyneux the company never
recovered and bullfrog was merged into
EA UK in 2001 my other directors have
all failed me number 7 DreamWorks
interactive also known as Danger Close
games in 1995 Steven Spielberg
DreamWorks and Microsoft embarked on a
joint venture to form DreamWorks
interactive they developed various
Jurassic Park and goosebumps games
before striking a fig with male of
honour and its sequel Melvin our
underground
[Music]
both games were monumental successes
serving as the major influence to the
world war two FPS genre and then eat
apples got involved that pick will give
you nightmares
they acquired the company in 2000
rebranding them EA Los Angeles and sent
them to work on the embarrassing
Goldeneye rogue agent and more Medal of
Honor games they were rebranded again to
Danger Close and developed the maligned
Mela wanna warfighter in 2012 this game
fared very poorly and eat almonds pulled
the plug on the company turns out danger
was very close indeed
number 6 endemic studios keep your
panties on Mary I just got a word over
the radio there's an army convoy right
outside this town with tanks thank god
formed in 1998 by X Activision employees
just Resnick and Andrew Goldman pandemic
quickly distinguished itself with titles
like the original Star Wars Battlefront
gains mercenaries playground of
destruction and Destroy All Humans
things were going well for pandemic
until expensive arcade purchased their
parent company VG holding they only
release two gains under their new
overlords both of which received poor
reception mercenaries to welder flames
and the Lord of the Rings conquest the
company's Australia branch was closed
shortly after the latter's launch in
January 2008 and the whole company
followed in November 228 people were
laid off and 35 were absorbed to the EA
Los Angeles pandemic had its own
pandemic me I can't believe you actually
beat me they never do you know you don't
look so hot number 5 Bioware Montreal
I'm fine
my arms got the brunt of it stuff
exploding like this happen often
well the eternal a tech has ruined
Bioware's reputation and finances it's a
win-win or rather a lose-lose Bioware's
repertoire is now in the doldrums thanks
to the massively designing release like
Mass Effect Andromeda and anthem
you wouldn't be building this up if it
stayed that way yeah ok but it also
suffered financial losses including the
closure of their Montreal branch Bioware
Montreal was opened in 2009 to help the
primary Edmonton branch with
downloadable content and multiplayer and
then Phoenix Atari what I don't think
that's how it works I game anyways these
guys gave Montreal the range to its only
studio led title Mass Effect Andromeda
it didn't go well to say the least
the game was essentially laughed out of
existence tanking buy aways Montreal
branch
it was demoted to a support studio
before being merged with EA motive sorry
my face is tired from dealing with
everything
number 4 Maxis
[Music]
Maxis was founded in 1997 by Will Wright
and Jeff Brohm and quickly found success
with their simulation games
SimCity released in 1987 really put them
on the map then there are acquired by a
stoic way in 1997 like ever I want a
shot three years before they struck gold
again with the sims unfortunately things
took a nosedive in 2008 after a lengthy
development spore was launched with many
unfulfilled promises and controversial
DRM software and 2013 SimCity was an
unmitigated technical and PR disaster
just two years after its release
Max's main studios in Emeryville was
shuttered and the consolidated team was
sent to work with EA Mobile the Maxis
name survives to this day but the
company behind it died in 2015
[Music]
number three visceral gains
Isak
this rule is a bit of a different based
as it was actually started as an
everyday annal subsidiary it was
originally known as ei Redwood Shores
and they made a diverse range of games
including various successful movie
tie-ins but Redwood Shores found huge
success with dead space so much success
that the company became its own division
and was rebranded as visceral games
[Music]
unfortunately Dead Space 2 was
considered a financial disappointment so
extreme audacity ordered visceral to
make Dead Space 3 more accessible which
apparently meant adding
microtransactions and a co-op mechanic
in a horror game this backfired however
what ultimately killed visceral was
their single-player Star Wars game
codenamed project ragtag which their
overlords killed because they thought
single-player games weren't profitable
anymore it's something like that yeah
right and I just hope that every fan
walks away going wow I never thought
they were gonna bring my Star Wars
fantasy to life number 2 origin systems
the story behind origin systems is
tragic the company is super old-school
having been founded back in 1983 by
brothers Richard and Robert Garriott's
the company became world renowned for
their Ultima and Wing Commander
franchises and by 1988 it had grown to
50 employees and spread between Texas
and New Hampshire then extra ads
purchased the company in 1982 and they
continued to work on the Ultima series
but what ultimately killed the company
was Ultima 9 ascension
the game was a monumental disaster due
to technical issues and a story that
ignored or misrepresented previous
installments plot points resulting in
only 75,000 copies left without
confidence in the team extra [ __ ] ish
cancelled all of their pending projects
leading to the resignation of founder
Richard Garriott after existing solely
to support ultima online for a few years
the company was dissolved in 2004
what future path this I cannot see I
only know it to be true what more video
game content check out our gaming
channel mojo plays and discover games
and ideas who never knew existed with
more lists breakdowns in our latest
series arcade roulette Justin and John
are in there's a lot of things being
ripped off in this game number one
Westwood Studios reporting dead back in
1985 by Brett Sperry and Lewis Castle
Westwood water granddaddy's of the RTS
genre with June to before finding
incredible success with their command &
Conquer franchise this series eventually
earned them a place in the Guinness
World Records as the best-selling RTS
series be better double check this with
NORAD just doesn't make any sense
naturally exact amount saw dollar signs
and they scooped up the company for a
hundred and twenty two point five
million dollars they soon sated two
extra amounts profit-driven demands and
westwoods joy Bostick claimed that they
shift from passion to profit took its
toll early access eventually closed the
company after a few meddling releases
failed to meet their sizable
expectations in 2015 Sperry and Castle
we're awarded the game rewards industry
icon award for westwoods contribution to
the gaming industry way to spoil an
incredible legacy entertainment [ __ ]
it's a great fun to keep making games
I'm still making them I'm not gonna stop
til I fall in the mood for more awesome
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