It so happens that little-known developers risk everything and, almost without pants, generate hits in the gaming industry. And it so happens that famous studios are betting on a seemingly win-win idea … and soon go to the dustbin of history.
Game development is a complex art that requires great physical and spiritual efforts from creators. For example, the Cuphead developers believed in their project so much that they laid the houses and forgot about sleep. Their efforts have paid off: the game has received excellent reviews and fans around the world. This example motivates young developers who have ambitions and desires.
But modern game development is like launching a rocket: you can do everything right, but there is a great chance of being burned up without even entering Earth’s orbit. Unfortunately, there are plenty of such cases in the gaming industry. As you may have guessed, today we are going to talk about the projects that ruined game studios.
ET (Extra-Terrestrial)
By tradition, let’s start with the most ancient case, when the game turned into horror for the whole company. This case is notable for the fact that it launched a series of events that almost destroyed the gaming industry.
Yes, ET not only brought down the video game market, but buried its creator, Atari. Movie games have always been a product, but this is a special case. On Christmas Eve, the American kids were shown the film ET (ET), which immediately got a game for the popular Atari 2600 at the time.
The fun ended at the moment of contact between the cartridge and the contact plate. From the very first seconds, the game made it clear that there was nothing to catch here, which spoiled the Christmas morning for many kids. Terrible controls, indistinct gameplay, a sea of bugs: the indignation of gamers knew no bounds.
As a result, the game was massively returned back to stores, and the credibility of the gaming industry was exhausted. Atari dug itself a hole from which it tried to get out for many years, but in 2013 declared itself bankrupt.
Hellgate: London
I remember being a kid when I found a pirate from Hellgate: London on the counter of a store. My childish mind was captivated by the art on the box and the description, which spoke of magic and technology living side by side. Also on the box was the inscription: “Killer Diablo”. Fortunately, my PC was unable to run this “masterpiece” and I had one less childhood injury.
Hellgate: London was developed by Flagship, a studio made up of former Blizzard employees. Then the “blizzard” has already become famous Diablo, and the defectors decided to make her a killer. Flagship spent two years and millions of budget on development, but the game failed miserably.
It looked like Diablo with a third-person view, but the chips that worked in the Blizzard project did not catch on with Hellgate: London. The locations in Diablo were not full of variety, but the view from the top distracted the player from imperfect style. In Hellgate: London, the situation is about the same, but now the camera was hung behind the hero’s back, and the player could enjoy the dullness of the locations. The gameplay tried to copy Diablo, but it turned out only a miserable resemblance to the grind.
In the end, the game only brought disappointment to the developers. Flagship tried to fix everything in the multiplayer Mythos addon, but debts bankrupted the studio and it closed in 2008.
Homefront
There is no story sadder than the story of THQ’s failures. Many cool and diverse games came out from under the wing of the publisher, but a series of failures ruined the company. In fact, the last two nails in the studio’s coffin are Homefront and uDraw.
Homefront is another killer from our top, but the project was opposed by Call of Duty. The developers loved to taunt a competitor because of the unrealistic setting, but they themselves did not shine with originality.
Homefront told a story about the distant future, where South and North Korea united and took over the entire world. A group of rebels are fighting the regime and so on. The game turned out to be so original that THQ shares fell 26% due to the failed Homefront launch.
Even before the release of Homefront, the company released the uDraw graphics tablet. THQ believed in the success of the project so much that they invested almost all the money in it. As a result, Homefront and uDraw became the last projects of the publisher and in 2013 THQ ceased to exist, having sold off intellectual property. Now the studio is afloat again, changed its name to THQ Nordic and since 2015 has resumed its activities.
Too human
In the modern gaming industry, big ambitions are great. It’s cool when the developers have an idea in which they invest a lot of money and soul. But it also happens that ambition can only hurt, which is what happened with Silicon Knights.
Over the years of its existence, the studio has been remembered for the good Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. The studio was destroyed by its most ambitious project – Too Human. The Knights worked on the game for 10 years, during which it switched from one platform to another, until in 2005 Microsoft made it an Xbox 360 exclusive.
In 2008, Too Human was released, but it was received ambiguously. The developers immediately began to look for the culprits, because they themselves are great. The arm came to Epic Games, which provided the “Knights” with the Unreal Engine 3. The developers accused the “epics” of setting up, they say they sold them a crooked engine to destroy the competitor Gears of War.
Epic Games turned out to be “themselves with a mustache” and filed a counterclaim, they say, Silicon Knights used their engine without permission. “Epics” won the case and doomed the “Silicone Knights” to bankruptcy. In 2011, the studio released the terrible X-Men: Destiny, and in 2014 finally admits its death.
Fable legends
Lionhead’s first Fable is my all-time favorite game in which I explored every pixel and every bug. Thanks for this masterpiece is Peter Molyneux, who knew how to create great worlds. But he has a worst enemy – his tongue. During his career, Molyneux became famous not only for good games, but also for loud statements. The designer promised the players mountains of gold, but the matter did not go beyond words.
In 2012, Molyneux left Lionhead to create his own studio, 22Cans. The designer left his team, but his spirit did not leave the studio walls. As a result, the “Lion’s Heads” became infected with the “eloquence” of Molyneux and began to promise mountains of gold themselves.
In 2014, the studio announced Fable Legends, which was planned to be stuffed with such a variety of gameplay that it just drools. A group of heroes are thrown onto the map, where they must defeat the villain controlled by the player. He must set traps, send monsters, and the brave must keep the defense. If you get tired of beating villains’ faces, then welcome to mini-games with Kinect.
Fable Legends was conceived as an Xbox One exclusive, and spent $ 75 million on development. The developers realized that their ambitions played a cruel joke on them and postponed the release from year to year. Microsoft did not tolerate such impudence and in 2016 threw developers out into the street, shutting down Lionhead.
