Making games is a difficult job from troubleshooting numerous problems to crunch. It's always great to play a new game but employees in the background deserve some recognition. Sometimes those employees find themselves without a job when their studios go under. It's always a sad time in the gaming industry.
There are a number of failed game studios, definitely more than 10, and they've all made a significant impact on the games industry. This list celebrates their memories by taking a look at their best games, according to Metacritic.
10 Relic Entertainment (Published By THQ) - Company of Heroes (93)
The publisher, THQ, being an acronym for Toy HeadQuarters launched in 1989 and initially saw success. They released fan favorites such as the WWE games and partnered with Nickelodeon, Disney, and Pixar. If you played a SpongeBob game growing up, it was probably made by THQ. The publisher starting suffering in 2010 and eventually sold of its major assets (including the IP, Company of Heroes), according to Investopedia. Company of Heroes for PC has a 93 on Metacritic. It was a strategy game based on World War II. Its realistic approach and destructible environments were praised by fans and critics alike.
9 Atari - Unreal Tournament 2004 (93)
Atari was once the biggest game studio out there serving as the backbone for the game industry we know and love today. Its gaming console was iconic, which brought games like Pong to a wide audience. Atari starting struggling in the 2000s and couldn't keep up with competitors. They eventually went bankrupt in 2013 and revived later to make casino games. Unreal Tournament 2004 beats out many iconic games with a 93 Metascore. It's a first-person multiplayer shooter. This entry brought vehicles and large scale battles to the franchise. Unreal Tournament has stayed alive over the years thanks to Epic Games and Digital Extremes.
8 Lionhead Studios - Black and White (90)
Lionhead Studios, established in 1996, is largely known for the Fable series, which saw huge success. Microsoft noticed this and bought the studio, releasing Fable II for the Xbox 360. Disagreements between Lionhead and Microsoft about the development of Fable III eventually lead to the studio's demise. Lionhead's other famous game was Black and White, which recieved a 90 on Metacritic. The game envisioned the player as a god in the strategy, SIM inspired RPG. The gamer ruled over the Land of Eden where animals evolved to be evil or good.
7 Core Design - Tomb Raider (91)
Core Design was one of the best game studios in 1998 thanks to its massively successful Tomb Raider. The protagonist of Tomb Raider, Lara Croft, became an icon for the game industry and pop culture as a whole. The original Tomb Raider launched a series that's still alive today and inspired two blockbuster movies.
Sadly, the sixth Tomb Raider was a disaster, which caused the publisher Eidos to give the franchise to Crystal Dynamics. Afterward, Core Design split into two groups, eventually leading to its downfall. The Original Tomb Raider for the PlayStation has a 91 on Metacritic. It brought players to Ancient Rome, Incan Ruins, Egyptian Pyramids and the City of Atlantis.
6 Westwood Studios - Command and Conquer (94)
Westwood Studios made numerous games for consoles and PC in 1985 including Red Alert, Eye of The Beholder, and Command and Conquer. The studio was acquired by Electronic Arts in 1998 - the start of their downfall.
Westwood staff felt EA was forcing gameplay changes to fit with management demands. The dispute was never mitigated, which lead to EA's decision to shut down the studio. Command and Conquer was their best game with a score of 94. It was one of the earliest entries in the RTS genre and pitted the Global Defense Initiative and the Brotherhood of Nod against each other.
5 Silicon Knights - Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (92)
Silicon Knights was a talented developer, with Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and the Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes remake under their belt, but a lawsuit brought their demise. Their 2008 game, Too Human, failed and they blamed Epic's Unreal Engine 3. The developer sued Epic games, which brought an unfortunate detail to life.
Silicon Knights illegally used Unreal Engine for X-Men: Destiny. The lost lawsuit brought Silicon Knights down. Metacritic gave their game, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, a 92. This GameCube horror game combined the thriller genre with puzzles.
4 LucasArts - Grim Fandango (94)
George Lucas created LucasArts in 1982. This allowed him to expand his movies into the realm of video games. Many Indiana Jones games and Star Wars games were created under LucasArts including the iconic Star Wars: The Old Republic. When Disney bought Star Wars they canceled many Lucas Arts projects such as the highly anticipated Star Wars 1313.
Disney gave EA the rights to Star Wars games and LucasArts stopped developing though they still publish games. Grim Fandango, with a 94 on Metacritic, was one of the best games from LucasArts. It followed a travel agent in the Land of the Dead who gets entangled with a vast conspiracy.
3 Telltale Games - The Walking Dead (94)
Three employees from Lucasarts wanted to make narrative-driven games that were self-published. Their ideal game was different from what most people have come to expect from modern gaming. They lacked in gameplay but flourished in emotional storytelling.
The studio hit it big with their release of The Walking Dead in 2012. It pushed Telltale into a full-fledged studio that has worked on numerous properties such as Game of Thrones and Batman. Sadly, their sales could not live up to the success of The Walking Dead. Various investors started pulling their fundings and major layoffs hit Telltale in 2018 until it was eventually shut down. The Walking Dead Season 1 recieved a 94 on Metacritic and won the Game of the Year in 2012.
2 Broderbund - The Last Express (82)
The studio, established in 1980, was responsible for games like Prince of Persia and Lodderunner. The studio tried to buy The Learning Company and was ironically bought by The Learning Company three years later, according to Investopedia. The toymaker, Mattel, bought the two companies in 1999 and ended up closing them down after bad sales. The Last Express has an 82 on Metacritic. It takes a historical realism approach to storytelling. A passenger is involved in a murder mystery on a train during the eve of World War I.
1 3DO - High Heat Major League Baseball 2003 (84)
The studio, founded in 1991, largely focused on gaming hardware. Their console, 3DO, discarded cartridges for discs and had a multiplayer functionality. The $699 console failed and the company started developing games. Most of their games were not reviewed well and the company went bankrupt in 2003. Ironically, 2002 saw the release of their top-rated game, High Heat Major League Baseball. It recieved an 84 from Metacritic and featured a Season mode.