Hey guys!
Welcome back to Top 10 Gaming, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
EA is getting a lot of understandable flak for their choices with microtransactions in
the new Battlefront game.
But that is far from the only time they’ve killed a series.
Let’s talk about some of the saddest instances of franchisicide out there.
If you enjoy this, check out our video on the best Batman games ever!
Now get ready, it’s time for the Top 10 Video Game Franchises that EA Killed!
Number 10: Dungeon Keeper.
Dungeon Keeper was a cult classic from 1997 that came out of Bullfrog Productions, a game
developer that had been acquired by EA in 95.
The game and its sequel were huge hits, but as time went on EA became more and more involved,
resulting in a cancelled third instalment and a shutdown of Bullfrog in 2001.
But the final nail in the coffin came when EA finally revived the series in 2014, by
making a mobile game.
And guess what the mobile game was full of?
Microtransactions.
Fans wept, and the franchise died for the second time.
Number 9: Medal of Honour.
Medal of Honour was in a bit of a rough place.
It was super successful, but started to fall behind once Call of Duty burst onto the scene.
In 2012, EA tried to bring it back by changing things up and making it more like CoD, but
it totally backfired.
Call of Duty fans just kept playing Call of Duty, and Medal of Honour fans didn’t like
that so much had been changed.
Now to be fair, EA was in a bit of a rough spot here, since it was really tough to compete
with CoD.
But they definitely messed up.
Number 8: SimCity.
Here’s one example of when EA brought a game back to life…
only to brutally slaughter it and send it back to the grave.
After years of waiting, fans were delighted to hear that EA was coming out with a modern
instalment in the super-popular SimCity franchise.
The gameplay was lackluster, but what really killed it was terrible server problems on
launch, because of the decision to make it highly dependent on an internet connection.
2 years later, Maxis, the developer of SimCity, was shut down by EA, after almost thirty years
of operation.
Whaddaya know?
Number 7: Command and Conquer.
The Command and Conquer games were incredibly innovative, setting the bar for future RTS
games like Starcraft and Warcraft 2.
Sadly, once EA got their hands on Westwood Studios, the games started to go downhill.
But the last straw that broke the camel’s back was Command and Conquer 4.
They tried to change too much too quickly, and it resulted in a game few played, and
even fewer enjoyed.
And that was that.
For Command and Conquer it was so long, and thanks for all the Tiberium.
Number 6: Ultima.
The Ultima series was a hugely popular series, with countless awards won.
Ultima Online played a tremendous role in the development of MMORPGs.
Sadly, Ultima 9 ended up being a steaming turd, and EA decided to shut down games in
development, and the studio was eventually disbanded.
A few online Ultima games came out since, but they shut down pretty quickly.
To be fair, Origin made mistakes of their own, but EA was definitely a big part of the
problem.
The worst part?
By shutting down the future games, EA closed the door to Harry Potter Online.
I would have KILLED for that game as a kid.
Number 5: Need for Speed.
Need for speed has been around for ages, I still remember playing the demo on my dad’s
computer in his office back in the 90s.
However, things aren’t looking so hot for it nowadays.
The 2015 game was poorly received due to the familiar always online problem, and the most
recent installment, Need for Speed: Payback, is full of microtransactions.
Yep, loot boxes are slowly but surely killing off our favourite franchises.
Fans are slamming the game and EA, and even though EA somewhat changed the progression
system, the damage may already be done.
This happened fairly recently, so it may be that we haven’t seen the last of the franchise,
but it doesn’t look good right now, especially given the community’s feelings towards EA
right now.
Number 4: Mass Effect.
Hoo boy, did they mess up on this one.
With three hugely successful games under their belt, fans thought Andromeda was destined
to be an incredible success.
Sadly, EA ended up rushing the crap out of the relatively inexperienced team at BioWare
Montreal, and the game was not in a good place on release.
They intended to patch it later, but it was so universally trashed that they didn’t
bother, the studio was shut down, and the game was left to lie there mutilated on the
floor.
Number 3: Dead Space.
In one of the most recent developments, EA shut down Visceral games, the studio behind
the Dead Space series.
Unlike many other members of this list, Visceral was actually an EA property originally, as
Redwood Shores.
But just because they started it, doesn’t mean they can’t be blamed for killing it.
Shutting down the studio dashed the hopes many fans had of another sequel, and soured
people even more towards EA.
Yep, Dead Space seems to be just plain dead.
Number 2: NBA Street.
NBA Street was one of the most popular basketball games out there for a time, so naturally EA
wanted a piece of the pie.
They acquired the studio behind the games, NuFX, in 2004, and pumped out a few games
that went pretty badly.
When they didn’t sell, EA had 2 options: Fix the problems, or can the franchise.
Guess which option they chose!
Number 1: Star Wars: Battlefront.
We all knew this one was coming.
We were all so psyched for the new installment to the Battlefront franchise, then they completely
ruined it by making it pay to win.
While they temporarily removed the microtransactions, the problem is… it’s temporary.
And they’ll likely be back.
So sales have been pretty atrocious, and one thing we know about EA is that they don’t
abide games that sell poorly.
There’s a chance that they could revive the franchise by changing up the microtransaction
and progression systems and doing some serious damage control, but as of now it’s looking
like the series could be in big trouble.
And it hurts so much because I really really want to play it.
That’s it for today!
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10 Gaming for more videos!
Let me know your thoughts on this in the comment section down below!
Obviously I’m exaggerating somewhat, EA isn’t the antichrist or anything, but my
goodness have they made some poor decisions in recent years.
Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Top 10 Gaming.
Later gamers!