and just like that these companies were
no more hey everyone I'm Ricky with
WatchMojo and today we're counting down
our picks for the top 10 video game
development companies ruined by one game
sorry
my face is tired from dealing with
everything for this list we'll be
looking at video game development
companies who face financial ruin or got
a really bad reputation based on one
game that was critically destroyed or
financially unviable alright on to
number 10 some of you guys may know
Phelps he's the cop who broke the
jewelry store murder stand up and think
about Phelps number 10 flagship studios
Hell Gate London
hellgate London was an RPG
hack-and-slash game from flagship
studios small company founded by former
Blizzard North executives they had
abandoned ship following a dispute with
blizzards parent company Vivendi Hell
Gate was their first creation and it was
released to incredible hype on October
31st 2007 however it was considered a
massive disappointment and received
middling reviews with many criticizing
the game's lackluster combat mechanics
and technological shortcomings following
the game's release flagship received
funding from Comerica Bank to support
post release content and the game itself
was used as collateral
unfortunately flagship filed for
bankruptcy in the summer of 2008 and
subsequently lost the IP rights to Hell
Gate just like that flagship studios had
come and gone number 9 real-time world's
APB all-points bulletin last crazy lots
of opportunities lots of choices
following crackdown in 2007 real-time
worlds released APB all-points bulletin
an open-world multiplayer version of
cops and robbers in this game users play
as either an enforcer or a criminal and
carry out faction specific objectives
quite astoundingly it eventually became
one of the most expensive video games
ever made with costs exceeding 100
million dollars the game did not match
the scope and promise of its budget and
it received relatively poor reviews from
critics it also wasn't very popular just
six weeks after the game's release
real-time entered administration the
game servers were eventually shut down
real-time was liquidated and the rights
to APB were purchased by k2 network for
just 1.5 million
number eight factor five layer
factor 5 was a pretty big company in the
90s and 2000's developing games like the
turrican series and Star Wars Rogue
Squadron following two Rogue Squadron
sequels for the Gamecube factor 5 went
to work on layer a ps3 exclusive that
took advantage of the new six axis
function unfortunately that's exactly
what people hated about the game while
most players praised the art direction
in graphics the game was fiercely
condemned for its poor controls the
condescending layer reviewers guide that
Sony sent to critics certainly didn't
help factor 5s reputation was ruined and
they later closed their doors after an
unrelated issue with publisher brash
entertainment it was the diviners order
owned no survivors
number 7 Team Bondi LA noire
motive opportunity hard evidence best of
all the interrogation based LA noire
certainly had its issues but it was
mostly commended for being unique and
different it would also prove to be Team
Bondi s only game the company was
founded in 2003 and le noir was
announced two years later following a
very lengthy development process and a
significant publishing swap la noir was
finally released in May of 2011 to
positive critical reception and strong
sales however allegations of poor
working conditions at Bondi quickly
surfaced and the controversy tarnished
the reputation between rock star and
Bondi left without a publisher and with
no other company willing to work with
them Bondi was placed into
administration on August 31st 2011 they
were liquidated the following October
you expect me to believe that it's all
very convenient number six free radical
design case crazy stuff happening out
there and blow up at the cleansing skin
and people crazy haze was widely touted
as a halo killer it turned out to be a
studio killer instead haze came from
free radical design the team behind the
amazing time splitter series it was
their third new IP and their first game
since timesplitters future perfect in
2005 the game faced a rather expensive
development as free radical created
their own graphics engine and the game
itself was radically redesigned under
Ubisoft to compete with more mainstream
shooters to further complicate matters
Ubisoft decided to cancel the Xbox 360
and PC releases and make
pays a ps3 exclusive the game was a
critical and commercial disaster and
free-radical went bankrupt just seven
months after its release
where exactly are we going number five
Silicon Knights too human we are on a
vital mission to uphold justice gonna be
a rough trip to human was just a
monumental failure on all fronts it was
originally announced way back in 1999
and was scheduled to release on the
original PlayStation however changing
partnership deals and an emphasis on
other games resulted in lengthy delays
and the game wasn't released until 2008
it eventually racked up a budget between
60 and 100 million and received mediocre
reviews it was also the subject of a
heated lawsuit as Epic Games sued
Silicon Knights over their
misappropriated use of their Unreal
Engine 3 the lawsuit was finally settled
in 2012 and Silicon Knights was forced
to pay 4.45 million and recall and
destroy all the unsold copies of too
human unsurprisingly they filed for
bankruptcy
shortly after I will take an
expeditionary force to secure one there
will be no expedition Mulder number 4
core design Tomb Raider the Angel of
Darkness
[Music]
this was the first Tomb Raider game made
for the PlayStation 2 and to take
advantage of this new technology poor
design decided to significantly overhaul
the character and setting however they
quickly collapsed under the weight of
their ambition projects and ideas were
continually scrapped the company lacked
leadership and the team was horribly
fragmented and aimless the quickly
approaching deadlines also caused them
to cut various significant elements from
the finished product the resulting game
was broken and messy and it received
terrible reviews core designs reputation
was permanently tarnished and parent
company I dos gave the Tomb Raider IP to
Crystal Dynamics key employees quickly
left the core design was eventually
bought by rebellion developments before
its closure in 2010 I need to shimmy -
that won't weigh but I don't think I'm
strong enough yet number three Bioware
Montreal Mass Effect Andromeda I never
planned to be Pathfinder I don't know
what's out there where the Milky Way's
best and brightest we can do this this
one hits close to home
Bioware was once the name in story
driven RPGs games like Knights of the
Old Republic Dragon Age and Mass Effect
garnered them incredible praise and
popularity most people were willing to
forgive Bioware over bungling the Mass
Effect ending but Andromeda was an
unforgivable disaster developed by
Bioware Montreal studio it was mocked
and memed
before it was even released thanks to
the unintentionally hilarious facial
animations avocados were so good and
when it was released the game received
average reviews from critics and fans
alike Bioware Montreal would later be
merged with EAS mode of Studios just a
few months after the game's release a
move that many believed to be the direct
result of Andromeda's failure only a new
galaxy could pull me away and here we
are
number 2 ion storm daikatana
throughout the 90s John Romero was one
of the biggest names in gaming he was
known for designing Wolfenstein doom and
quake three of the most influential
titles in FPS history so when it was
announced that he and fellow designer
Tom Hall were leaving it and starting
their own company expectations were
through the roof however work on
daikatana was fraught with difficulty
and the game was released to terrible
reviews but worse it was a bona fide
commercial disaster reports forecasted
sales of 2.5 million but it pushed an
abysmal 40,000 copies the Dallas branch
was closed by parent company idols just
one year later and the Austin branch
soon followed and with that the most
promising gaming company in the world
crumbled to dust
before we get to our number one disaster
here are a few dishonorable mentions
[Applause]
look I got a couple things to take care
of thanks for the drink
[Music]
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notifications number one Sega Shenmue
real son where are you going
you're not going after them please don't
Shenmue was a technological marvel for
its time and Sega proved ridiculously
ambitious with its creation
unfortunately these marvels also came
with an inflated budget and Shenmue was
priced at an insane 70 million making it
the most expensive video game ever
developed at the time it had no hope of
recuperating its budget and while the
game sold a respectable 1.2 million
copies that was just not enough to turn
a profit the game was a massive
commercial flop and lost Sega a ton of
money its failure was a major
contributing factor to Sega's exit from
the console market and the Dreamcast
proved to be their final contribution
Shenmue not only killed the Dreamcast
but it killed Sega's participation in
the console race
[Music]
this list just goes to show that game
development can be brutal and very
unforgiving the people who work in this
industry are very brave souls alright
everyone thank you so much for watching
please make sure to drop a comment
letting me know which one of these game
development companies you guys miss the
most and I'll see you next time