History CreatorKiller / VideoGames

* The Platform/Sega32X existing to begin with and the terribly botched U.S. launch of the Platform/SegaSaturn were a more than adequate one-two punch to become this for Sega as a hardware company, as consumers and third party developers had finally had enough of Sega's boneheaded business decisions (and in the latter's case [[RightHandVersusLeftHand constant infighting between Sega of America and the home office in Japan.]]) While the Saturn's successor in the Platform/SegaDreamcast was pretty well received the market's confidence in Sega was gone, and sales were disappointing since people were [[FireflyEffect hesitant to invest in a console made by a company teetering on the brink of bankruptcy]]. When Microsoft announced the Platform/{{Xbox}} would be released in 2001 Sega, now drowning in debt and needing their CEO to invest '''$500 million of his own money''' to keep the lights on at all,[[note]]Really not helping here was VideoGame/{{Seaman}} going so far over budget that it would have had to sell two copies of the game to every Dreamcast owner just to break even, which [[AudienceAlienatingPremise it certainly did not do]]. In terms of absolute money lost it's likely the biggest bomb in video game history[[/note]] threw in the towel and exited [[MediaNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames that console war]] before two of the competitors made it to market. Sega still exists today as a pretty heavy hitter among game publishers, but their only contributions to the hardware market since the Dreamcast have been re-releases of their older systems.

* The Platform/{{Amiga}} [=CD32=] was planned for American release by Commodore, but a patent dispute got in the way, and the company eventually filed for bankruptcy several months later, in part due to the lost (by law) sales.

* The RDI Halcyon, noted for being [[MedalOfDishonor the poorest selling console ever]] at only 13 units, bankrupted RDI Video Systems.

* The ''VideoGame/DefJamSeries'' of fighting games started with two [[SleeperHit surprise hits]], but ''Def Jam Icon'' failed to match either game's success, leading to the demise of EA Chicago. Some of its former employees would go on to form a new studio called Robomodo and work under Activision on ''VideoGame/TonyHawksProSkater'' games in the early- to mid-2010s, but that venture also ended in failure (as detailed in the "Activision" folder).

* The double whammy of the ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'' [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames tie-in game]] and the 2009 ''VideoGame/BionicCommando'', both of which sold poorly, led to Creator/SquareEnix doing [[http://kotaku.com/5806511/bankrupted-studio-says-square%20enix-demanded-code-by-fax-didnt-recognize-ffxii-screenshots what can only be described as "death by trolling"]] on [=GRIN=]'s ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' spin-off project ''Fortress'', killing the entire company. This eventually led to the creation of OVERKILL Software, best known for ''VideoGame/PaydayTheHeist'' and ''VideoGame/Payday2''. Both games have references to GRIN and its demise (the character of "Wolf" in particular, [[InkSuitActor voiced by and heavily based on]] one of the two founders, [[AxCrazy essentially went postal]] because his company died the same way GRIN did in reality), showing that there's still at least some bitterness remaining.

* Creator/SiliconKnights, a Canadian studio best known for ''VideoGame/BloodOmenLegacyOfKain'' and ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' was greatly hurt by the poor sales of ''VideoGame/TooHuman'', which prompted an attempted lawsuit against Creator/EpicGames. In 2007, Silicon Knights tried to put some of the blame for the game's tepid commercial and critical response on Epic by stating that the company gave them an unfinished and inferior version of [[MediaNotes/UnrealEngine Unreal Engine 3]], arguing that they were sabotaging competitors to prop up their own titles like ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', and that Epic should relinquish all profits from the game as recompense. Epic immediately counter-sued; not only stating that Silicon Knights ''knew'' that [=UE3=] was unfinished and that Epic might not offer support for any issues that arose, but claiming that the proprietary engine SK made after ditching [=UE3=] actually contained several chunks of [=UE3=] code without permission, and thus constituted as copyright infringement. After five years, the jury [[https://www.shacknews.com/article/74032/epic-games-wins-on-all-counts-in-silicon-knights-lawsuit ruled in Epic's favour on all counts]] due to ''overwhelming evidence'' being discovered. As a result, [[https://www.polygon.com/gaming/2012/5/30/3052869/court-finds-for-epic-games-on-all-counts-in-silicon-knights-suit Epic was awarded $4.45 million in damages]] ([[https://www.vg247.com/epic-judgment-doubled-silicon-knights-ordered-to-pay-over-9-million which a judge later doubled to over $9 million]]) and Silicon Knights were [[https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/court-orders-silicon-knights-to-recall-destroy-its-unreal-engine-games/ ordered to recall and destroy all unsold copies]] of ''Too Human'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' at their own expense and [[https://www.neogaf.com/threads/deathblow-silicon-knights-ordered-to-destroy-all-software-with-unreal-code.499120/ delete all game code derived from the stolen engine]] on top of that, forcing SK to cancel three games they were developing before they were even announced. With their reputation in tatters and essentially no money left to start developing another title -- ''X-Men: Destiny'' was also a critical and commercial flop -- Silicon Knights ultimately filed for bankruptcy in May 2014.
** Silicon Knights' collapse in 2014 would also prove a CreatorKiller for Denis Dyack, as his next studios, Precursor Games and Quantum Entanglement Entertainment, would try and fail to crowdfund a CreatorDrivenSuccessor to ''Eternal Darkness'' titled ''Shadow of the Eternals'': [[https://www.gamesindustry.biz/shadow-of-the-eternals-kickstarter-cancelled the first campaign was cut short]], whilst [[https://www.gamespot.com/articles/shadow-of-the-eternals-kickstarter-fails/1100-6413622/ the second failed to reach its $750,000 goal]], leading to [[https://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/09/29/precursor-games-halts-shadow-of-the-eternals-development.aspx development being shut down]] and [[https://www.eurogamer.net/shadow-of-the-eternals-dev-precursor-games-disbands both studios disbanding]], with Dyack [[https://www.nintendo-insider.com/shadow-of-the-eternals-kickstarter-failure-blamed-on-extremely-unethical-press/ blaming the press for the game's failure]]. His current studio, Apocalypse Games, is trapped in DevelopmentHell trying to produce an ActionRPG called ''Deadhaus Sonata''.

* Creator/SiliconKnights, a Canadian studio best known for ''VideoGame/BloodOmenLegacyOfKain'' and ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' was greatly hurt by the underperformance of ''VideoGame/TooHuman'', which prompted an attempted lawsuit against Creator/EpicGames. In 2007, Silicon Knights tried to put some of the blame for the game's tepid commercial and critical response on Epic by stating that the company gave them an unfinished and inferior version of [[MediaNotes/UnrealEngine Unreal Engine 3]], arguing that they were sabotaging competitors to prop up their own titles like ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', and that Epic should relinquish all profits from the game as recompense. Epic immediately counter-sued; not only stating that Silicon Knights ''knew'' that [=UE3=] was unfinished and that Epic might not offer support for any issues that arose, but claiming that the proprietary engine SK made after ditching [=UE3=] actually contained several chunks of [=UE3=] code without permission, and thus constituted as copyright infringement. After five years, the jury [[https://www.shacknews.com/article/74032/epic-games-wins-on-all-counts-in-silicon-knights-lawsuit ruled in Epic's favour on all counts]] due to ''overwhelming evidence'' being discovered. As a result, [[https://www.polygon.com/gaming/2012/5/30/3052869/court-finds-for-epic-games-on-all-counts-in-silicon-knights-suit Epic was awarded $4.45 million in damages]] ([[https://www.vg247.com/epic-judgment-doubled-silicon-knights-ordered-to-pay-over-9-million which a judge later doubled to over $9 million]]) and Silicon Knights were [[https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/court-orders-silicon-knights-to-recall-destroy-its-unreal-engine-games/ ordered to recall and destroy all unsold copies]] of ''Too Human'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' at their own expense and [[https://www.neogaf.com/threads/deathblow-silicon-knights-ordered-to-destroy-all-software-with-unreal-code.499120/ delete all game code derived from the stolen engine]] on top of that, forcing SK to cancel three games they were developing before they were even announced. With their reputation in tatters and essentially no money left to start developing another title, Silicon Knights ultimately filed for bankruptcy in May 2014.

* Creator/SiliconKnights, a Canadian studio best known for 'VideoGame/BloodOmenLegacyOfKain'' and ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' was greatly hurt by the underperformance of ''VideoGame/TooHuman'', which prompted an attempted lawsuit against Creator/EpicGames. In 2007, Silicon Knights tried to put some of the blame for the game's tepid commercial and critical response on Epic by stating that the company gave them an unfinished and inferior version of [UsefulNotes/UnrealEngine Unreal Engine 3]], arguing that they were sabotaging competitors to prop up their own titles like VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', and that Epic should relinquish all profits from the game as recompense. Epic immediately counter-sued; not only stating that Silicon Knights ''knew'' that [=UE3=] was unfinished and that Epic might not offer support for any issues that arose, but claiming that the proprietary engine Silicon Knight made after ditching [=UE3=] actually contained several chunks of [=UE3=] code without permission, and thus constituted as copyright infringement. After five years, the jury [[https://www.shacknews.com/article/74032/epic-games-wins-on-all-counts-in-silicon-knights-lawsuit ruled in Epic's favour on all counts]] due to ''overwhelming evidence'' being discovered. As a result, [[https://www.polygon.com/gaming/2012/5/30/3052869/court-finds-for-epic-games-on-all-counts-in-silicon-knights-suit Epic was awarded $4.45 million in damages]] ([[https://www.vg247.com/epic-judgment-doubled-silicon-knights-ordered-to-pay-over-9-million which a judge later doubled to over $9 million]]) and Silicon Knights were [[https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/court-orders-silicon-knights-to-recall-destroy-its-unreal-engine-games/ ordered to recall and destroy all unsold copies]] of ''Too Human'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' at their own expense and [[https://www.neogaf.com/threads/deathblow-silicon-knights-ordered-to-destroy-all-software-with-unreal-code.499120/ delete all game code derived from the stolen engine]], forcing SK to cancel three games they were developing before they were even announced. With their reputation in tatters and essentially no money left to start developing another title, Silicon Knights ultimately filed for bankruptcy in May 2014.

* Once renowned for their work on ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid: [[VideoGameRemake The Twin Snakes]]'', a pair of {{cult classic}}s for the Platform/NintendoGameCube, Creator/SiliconKnights would be crippled by the one-two punch of ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' and finished off by a failed lawsuit after their split from Nintendo. Going into detail:
** The first blow came with ''Too Human''. Having been in DevelopmentHell since 1999 and having been planned to be part of a trilogy, the game suffered from controversy leading up to launch, owing to Silicon Knights launching a lawsuit accusing Epic Games of sabotaging the game, Dyack's frequent complaints about the industry and [[https://www.neogaf.com/threads/too-human-%C2%96-stand-and-be-counted.318653 his notorious publicity stunt on NeoGAF]] before releasing in 2008. The game received [[https://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/too-human a tepid critical reception]] and [[https://www.vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=22053 failed to sell a million copies]], ultimately [[StillbornFranchise preventing any sequels from being made]].
** This was followed up by ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' in 2011, an outright critical and commercial bomb that was plagued by a TroubledDevelopment, with two conflicting accounts on why it failed: [[http://nichegamer.com/2015/05/denis-dyack-interview-part-1-yellow-journalism-and-what-really-happened-with-x-men-destiny Dyack blamed behind-the-scenes licensing issues and Disney's buyout of Marvel leaving both them and Activision with their hands tied]], whilst [[https://archive.ph/ccLjr a few former SK staff members blamed Dyack for mismanaging and neglecting the game in favour of trying to get an Eternal Darkness sequel off the ground.]]
** The deathblow came in 2012, when their lawsuit with Creator/EpicGames ended with the jury not only [[https://www.shacknews.com/article/74032/epic-games-wins-on-all-counts-in-silicon-knights-lawsuit ruling in Epic's favour on all counts]], but found ''overwhelming evidence'' that SK had illegally used code from Unreal Engine 3 to make ''Too Human'' and ''X-Men: Destiny''. As a result, [[https://www.polygon.com/gaming/2012/5/30/3052869/court-finds-for-epic-games-on-all-counts-in-silicon-knights-suit Epic was awarded $4.45 million in damages,]] later [[https://www.vg247.com/epic-judgment-doubled-silicon-knights-ordered-to-pay-over-9-million doubled to just over $9 million by a judge,]] and Silicon Knights were [[https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/court-orders-silicon-knights-to-recall-destroy-its-unreal-engine-games/ ordered to recall and destroy all unsold copies]] of ''Too Human'' and ''X-Men: Destiny'' at their own expense and [[https://www.neogaf.com/threads/deathblow-silicon-knights-ordered-to-destroy-all-software-with-unreal-code.499120/ delete all game code derived from the stolen engine,]] forcing SK to cancel three games they were developing before they were even announced. With their reputation in tatters and no chance to publish another title, Silicon Knights ultimately filed for bankruptcy in May 2014.
** Silicon Knights' collapse in 2014 would also prove a CreatorKiller for Denis Dyack, as his next studios, Precursor Games and Quantum Entanglement Entertainment, would attempt and ultimately fail to crowdfund a CreatorDrivenSuccessor to ''Eternal Darkness'' titled ''Shadow of the Eternals'': [[https://www.gamesindustry.biz/shadow-of-the-eternals-kickstarter-cancelled the first campaign was cut short]], whilst [[https://www.gamespot.com/articles/shadow-of-the-eternals-kickstarter-fails/1100-6413622/ the second failed to reach its $750,000 goal]], leading to [[https://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/09/29/precursor-games-halts-shadow-of-the-eternals-development.aspx development being shut down]] and [[https://www.eurogamer.net/shadow-of-the-eternals-dev-precursor-games-disbands both studios disbanding,]] with Dyack [[https://www.nintendo-insider.com/shadow-of-the-eternals-kickstarter-failure-blamed-on-extremely-unethical-press/ blaming the press for the game's failure.]] His current studio, Apocalypse Games, is trapped in DevelopmentHell trying to produce an ActionRPG called ''Deadhaus Sonata''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Forspoken}}'' received mixed-to-negative reviews for its [[ClicheStorm bland game design]], empty open world, [[{{narm}} poor writing, annoying protagonist]] and [[ItsShortSoItSucks small amount of content]] for a $70 [[Platform/PlayStation5 PS5]] exclusive, and ended up tanking financially, losing out to Xbox’s much cheaper and more acclaimed ''VideoGame/HiFiRush'' despite that game having zero marketing prior to release. Creator/SquareEnix dissolved the developer, Luminous Productions, less than two months after the game's release.

* Since 2015, Atari has begun a fire sale of many of its brands. For example, Creator/THQNordic acquired ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark'', while Creator/HumongousEntertainment was sold to Tommo.

* In 1994, [[Creator/{{Motown}} Motown Records]] established their own video game company, but only released two games: ''WesternAnimation/BebesKids'' and ''Rap Jam: Volume One''. Both games were critical disasters, and Motown Software lasted only 3 years before shutting down. That said, ''Bebe's Kids'' developer Radical Entertainment survived and stayed strong until the early 2010's.

* In 1994, [[Creator/{{Motown}} Motown Records]] established their own video game company, but only released two games: ''WesternAnimation/BebesKids'' and ''Rap Jam: Volume One''. Both games were critical disasters, and Motown Software lasted only 3 years before shutting down. That said, ''Bebe's Kids'' developer Radical Entertainment survived and went on to develop several more games.

* Creator/TroikaGames was already showing signs of trouble even before the release of ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines''. The game used the new-and-powerful-at-the-time Source Engine, but the developers were contractually obligated to withhold the game's release until ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' was released. Once the game actually came out, it quickly became apparent that it was positively ''riddled'' with GameBreakingBug[=s=] (and in spite of the forced delay they could have used to fix bugs, [[ScrewedByTheNetwork the request to do so was denied by Activision]]), leading to the ''players'' having to make scores of silent patches to fix things[[note]]''Bloodlines'' went on to become a CultClassic later on, but also known as "don't play this without mods"[[/note]]. As should be expected, the final sales total for ''Bloodlines'' was lukewarm at best, forcing Troika to file for bankruptcy in early 2005.

* [[DeathByAThousandCuts It wasn't just one game]] that ended up bringing down Creator/TelltaleGames, as ''every one of their games'' post-2012 -- with the exception of ''[[VideoGame/TheWalkingDead The Walking Dead: Season One]]'', their BreakoutHit, and ''VideoGame/MinecraftStoryMode'' -- lost them money. Because most of their output was {{Licensed Game}}s, Telltale made very small profit margins on them, requiring them to sell lots of copies in order to turn a profit. Their method of counteracting this -- producing lots and lots of games as quickly as possible -- also backfired on them, as it burnt out their staff and prevented Telltale from innovating, improving or experimenting with their games, leading to diminishing returns in both sales and reception due to [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks repetition]]. It was [[EnforcedTrope company policy]] for their games to be StrictlyFormula: Telltale's head at the time believed, essentially, that all they had to do was use their money from ''The Walking Dead'' to make a dozen or so more games just like it to make back a dozen times their money. In a weird way, their breakout hit ended up being their killer, by moving them away from their profitable budget games like ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'', ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland'', or ''VideoGame/StrongBadsCoolGameForAttractivePeople''; instead [[AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted using their new funds]] in endless attempts to recapture lightning in a bottle, with increasingly outdated and unimpressive results. Following the closure in 2018, the name and some of its assets were bought up by LCG Entertainment, forming a new Telltale company that has only the license to publish and sell games on Warner Bros. properties, and its own few original [=IPs=]. As for new games, the revived company has opted to develop only two so far, while collaborating with other studios, using an industry standard engine instead of its own, and choosing to complete all the title's episodes before release.

* While Creator/PeterMolyneux was always a controversial figure due to his tendency to oversell his games, at the end of the day they tended to be recieved well even if they weren't all that was promised. Then came ''Curiosity'', an experimental game where players worked to mine to the center of a cube, with the player who ended up opening it being promised a "life-changing prize"... which was that they'd be given godly powers in his next game, ''VideoGame/{{Godus}}'', along with a cut of its profits. And the player who ''did'' win never recieved his prize due to ''Godus'' releasing [[ObviousBeta unfinished]] and failing to make a profit. The backlash from the hype finally caught up to him this time, and Molyneux has been seldom heard from since.

* ''VideoGame/{{Daikatana}}'' didn't make anyone Creator/JohnRomero's bitch as he wanted to; it made Romero its own bitch and took his mainstream career momentum down with it. The [[AbusiveAdvertising infamous advertising campaign]] for the game made it the subject of ridicule even before it came out, and the buggy, uninspired mess that was released to the public [[ScheduleSlip years after it was originally supposed to]] finished the job of destroying any credibility he retained. His return to ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' mapping with ''VideoGame/{{Sigil}}'' has been well recieved however.

* The critical and financial failures of ''[[VideoGame/TonyHawksProSkater Tony Hawk]]'' ''Ride'', ''Shred'', and ''Pro Skater 5'' gave Robomodo a terrible standing in the industry, and not long after that last game's release, they became dead in the water.

* The ''VideoGame/DefJamSeries'' of fighting games started with two [[SleeperHit surprise hits]], but ''Def Jam Icon'' failed to match either game's success, leading to the demise of EA Chicago.
* Maxis Emeryville, best known for the ''VideoGame/SimCity'' and ''VideoGame/TheSims'' series, met their end two years after the release of ''VideoGame/SimCity2013''. The game, meant to be a long-awaited revitalization of the series after a ten-year SequelGap, fell under controversy for its mandatory always-online connectivity that caused an unprecedented DemandOverload at launch resulting in an unplayable game. Even after all was said and done, most critics found the game subpar at best and a huge disappointment for longtime series fans. While the game certainly wasn't an outright flop, it failed to live up to expectations and the heavy amount of controversy it caused did not sit well with EA, leading them to shut the Emeryville studio's doors and effectively burying the original Maxis name as people once knew it.
* Mythic Entertainment, the studio behind the popular [=MMORPGs=] ''VideoGame/DarkAgeOfCamelot'' and ''VideoGame/WarhammerOnline'' closed a few months after the release of ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper Mobile'', a game for mobile devices which quickly became notorious for its legendarily [[PayToWin aggressive microtransaction model]], and the insultingly cavalier approach to the source material's spirit and game mechanics in pursuit of monetization.

* THQ's own fall into bankruptcy was cemented with the uDraw [=GameTablet=] accessory. The original version developed for the Platform/{{Wii}} released in 2010 to great success, prompting the family games' division (despite other sections of THQ warning that it would be a bad idea) to not only fast-track development of "HD" versions for the Platform/PlayStation3 and Platform/Xbox360 to release a year later, but producing more units of these versions for launch than the Wii version sold in a year. These versions, due to being released for consoles that have a ''far'' smaller children/family audience and having no new releases to speak of, were poorly received and saw abysmal sales caused the company's net income to plummet. This is on top of THQ already struggling with the decline in the LicensedGame market, as traditional licensed children's games for consoles (a major pillar of their business) were now being supplanted by cheaper mobile offerings. The decline continued with the ''UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship'' video game rights being sold to Creator/ElectronicArts and the Wrestling/{{WWE}} rights being sold to Creator/TakeTwoInteractive, and the final deathblow was the release of ''VideoGame/DarksidersII'', which sold only 1.5 million copies and failed to turn a profit for THQ. The company tried to stay afloat by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but THQ's restructuring plan was rejected by a bankruptcy court, effectively dissolving the publisher and causing its properties to be auctioned off. Nordic Games [[http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/12/5805074/thq-trademark-acquired-nordic-games would buy the THQ label]] in June 2014, allowing them to publish games with the THQ branding before renaming themselves to Creator/THQNordic, but the original company is long gone.

* While ''VideoGame/NieR'' has [[VindicatedByHistory since been re-evaluated as a classic]], at the time of its release it met an underwhelming reception that caused its developer Cavia to close and be absorbed into AQ Interactive, who in turn got bought out by Marvelous Entertainment. Eventually Creator/PlatinumGames got their hands on the ''[=NieR=]'' franchise, with its sequel ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' being a major BreakthroughHit ''and'' SleeperHit for the ''Franchise/{{Drakengard}}'' franchise and is considered to be one of the best games released in 2017.

* ''VideoGame/{{Haze}}'' was a high-profile Platform/PlayStation3 flop which bankrupted the original incarnation of its developer, Free Radical Design. In fact, it flopped so badly it killed the other game Free Radical was working on, "Star Wars Battlefront III", and doomed any chance for a fourth ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters'' game. The company managed to hold off a more permanent demise by selling themselves to Crytek and becoming Crytek UK. Crytek UK itself collapsed later in 2014 amid reports of employee backlash over Crytek not paying them adequately, as well as corporate restructuring that saw much of its staff being terminated and the ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'' series being sold to Deep Silver. Deep Silver eventually founded a new incarnation of Free Radical in 2021, only for Deep Silver's parent company, the Embracer Group, to shutter them again just two years later.

* After a steady string of hits with its ''VideoGame/ProjectGothamRacing'' series, the disappointing sales figures of ''VideoGame/{{Blur}}'' and then their attempt at a Film/JamesBond game, ''VideoGame/BloodStone: 007'', killed Creator/BizarreCreations outright. Not helping matters were what many perceived as not-so-subtle insults towards ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' in the former's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08dbXQFyOLI TV commercial]].

* The new Atari's US branch [[http://www.gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=194566 have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] in hopes of separating from their French parent in [[CareerResurrection a revival attempt]] to be its own company again. Should it succeed, Atari plans to seek investments to grow in mobile and digital gaming markets in not just licensing Atari properties, but developing them as well. In addition, they are attempting to reenter the video game console market with a new console: the UsefulNotes/AtariVCS.

* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyon'' and its lackluster reception and sales killed any chance of Compile ever being able to buy back the Puyo franchise from Sega, leading to the company going bankrupt and its [=IPs=] getting spread around to various other companies. This in turn led to the ScrewedByTheLawyers situation currently plaguing the ''Madou Monogatari'' franchise.

* Creator/AlphaDream Corporation was little-known until it created the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series, a popular [=RPG=] spin-off series within the legendary ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' franchise. However, a combination of rising development costs, low software sales, and struggles with the transition to HD and multiplatform development spelled the company's death knell. Transitioning to create HD games was a costly endeavor which the company hoped to offset with the revenue from the ''Mario & Luigi'' series, but following ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'', each Nintendo 3DS entry in the series would sell pitifully. ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam'' barely hit 1 million lifetime sales, the remake of ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'' barely hit 500,000, and the remake of ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'' would become one of the worst-selling games in the entire ''Mario'' franchise next to the Virtual Boy installment of ''VideoGame/MarioTennis''.[[note]]Ironically, the original ''Bowser's Inside Story'' was the best-selling of any ''Mario'' [=RPG=] spin-off at the time.[[/note]] [=AlphaDream=] would sink into the abyss of bankruptcy and close its doors a few months later in October 2019, effectively leaving the ''Mario & Luigi'' series in limbo in the process as well.
* While producing a glut of bad licensed games in the early [=2000s=] no doubt contributed to the demise of [[Creator/ArgonautSoftware Argonaut Games]] (yes, the same company that made ''VideoGame/StarFox'' for the SNES), as did the expenses incurred during the long and TroubledProduction of ''VideoGame/{{Malice}}'', the finishing blow came with the notoriously poor ''VideoGame/Catwoman2004''. It ultimately proved to be the final product developed under the Argonaut name, with the company going bankrupt a few months after it was released.

* The UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} [=CD32=] was planned for American release by Commodore, but a patent dispute got in the way, and the company eventually filed for bankruptcy several months later, in part due to the lost (by law) sales.

* Developer [=FireForge=] Games, already dealing with outstanding debts to its partial owner Tencent and a lawsuit filed by Razer alleging money paid to them to create a MOBA was funneled into making a different MOBA for Tencent, ended up filing for bankruptcy only three days after the release of their critically panned tie-in video game for the 2016 ''[[Film/Ghostbusters2016 Ghostbusters]]'' reboot.

* The critical and commercial failure that was the ''Film/TheCrowCityOfAngels'' video game adaptation was what killed Gray Matter Inc. The Canadian video game developer folded the same year, after funding issues were a problem, canceling a game that was in development.

* ''VideoGame/TheQuietMan'' became the undoing of Human Head Studios. Madison, Wisconsin-based Human Head Studios built its reputation with games like ''VideoGame/{{Rune}}'' and ''VideoGame/Prey2006'', but the 2010s proved to be difficult for the studio due to their relationship with Creator/{{Bethesda}}, who allegedly wished to force the studio into a position where they'd be forced to be bought out. In response, Human Head stalled for time over their ''Prey 2'' contract, in hopes that their co-collaborations on other developers' games like ''VideoGame/{{Brink}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Defiance}}'' would make up for any loses. They didn't. After getting out from under Bethesda, the studio tried to shake things up by collaborating with Kensei Fujinaga from Creator/SquareEnix to create an ambitious beat-em-up/FMV combination that would not be reliant on sound. Unfortunately for Human Head Studios, what resulted was an ObviousBeta that ended up as one of the worst-reviewed games of 2018. The studio attempted to go back to basics with a sequel to ''Rune'', but its TroubledProduction mixed with ''The Quiet Man'''s critical and financial failure compared to how little they've released in the 2010s (''The Quiet Man'' was the studio's first game they'd developed mostly by themselves since ''Prey'', over twelve years prior) led to the studio's closure. However, no one lost their jobs: Bethesda [[https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/new-bethesda-studio-formed-as-human-head-studios-closes/ created a new studio in Madison and gave everyone at Human Head a position there.]]

* ''Doctor Who and the Mines of Terror'' was the last game released by Micro Power. The expense of developing a game bigger than any of Micro Power's previous titles across four platforms (including the never-finished UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum version), combined with the costs of licensing ''Series/DoctorWho'' and producing the special memory cartridge required by the UsefulNotes/BBCMicro version surely contributed to the company's demise.

* [[NotQuiteDead Though not dead, technically speaking,]] Creator/{{Rare}} is a mere shadow of its former self. Ever since its acquisition by Microsoft in 2002, Rare's games suffered a drop in quality and it all came to a head with the highly awaited third game in the VideoGame/BanjoKazooie franchise, VideoGame/BanjoKazooieNutsAndBolts which was recieved poorly by fans and had mediocre sales. The commercial failure of Nuts and Bolts made Microsoft lay off some staff and restructure them as a developer for Kinect games, effectively ending the Rare we all grew to love for a decade until the release of VideoGame/SeaOfThieves in 2018.

** Silicon Knights' collapse in 2014 would also prove a CreatorKiller for Denis Dyack, as his next studios, Precursor Games & Quantum Entanglement Entertainment, would attempt and ultimately fail to crowdfund a CreatorDrivenSuccessor to ''Eternal Darkness'' titled ''Shadow of the Eternals'': [[https://www.gamesindustry.biz/shadow-of-the-eternals-kickstarter-cancelled the first campaign was cut short]], whilst [[https://www.gamespot.com/articles/shadow-of-the-eternals-kickstarter-fails/1100-6413622/ the second failed to reach its $750,000 goal]], leading to [[https://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/09/29/precursor-games-halts-shadow-of-the-eternals-development.aspx development being shut down]] and [[https://www.eurogamer.net/shadow-of-the-eternals-dev-precursor-games-disbands both studios disbanding,]] with Dyack [[https://www.nintendo-insider.com/shadow-of-the-eternals-kickstarter-failure-blamed-on-extremely-unethical-press/ blaming the press for the game's failure.]] His current studio, Apocalypse Games, is trapped in DevelopmentHell trying to produce an ActionRPG called ''Deadhaus Sonata''.

* [=VectorCell=], a development company created by ''VideoGame/{{Flashback}}'' designer Paul Cuisset, only lasted about a year before going bankrupt. Its only two known projects, ''VideoGame/{{AMY|2012}}'' and an HD remake of ''Flashback'', were both critical and commercial disasters.

* ''VideoGame/{{Forspoken}}'' received mixed-to-negative reviews for its [[ClicheStorm bland game design]], empty open world, [[{{narm}} poor writing, annoying protagonist]] and [[ItsShortSoItSucks small amount of content]] for a $70 [[Platform/PlayStation5 PS5]] exclusive, and ended up tanking financially, losing out to Xbox’s much cheaper and more acclaimed ''VideoGame/HiFiRush'' despite that game having zero marketing prior to release. Creator/SquareEnix dissolved the developer, Luminous Productions, less than two months after the game's release.
* ''VideoGame/ScourgeOutbreak'' had the highest budget of all games developed by the Spanish indie company Tragnarion Studios, who previously made low-budget games like ''Doodle Hex'' and ''Map My Mind'' for the DS). Due to the game tanking and an overwhelmingly negative reception, Tragnarion would later close down in 2014, roughly a year after.

* The critical and commercial disappointment of ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2022'' ended up killing longtime developer Creator/{{Volition}}, with Embracer Group closing the studio in August 2023 after transferring its staff to Creator/GearboxSoftware, just a year after the game's launch. The ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' series had long been caught between two identities as a gritty street crime drama and a much more irreverent and referential sandbox game. A decade after ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' was laser-focused on the latter side of the formula, the 2022 game was broadly criticised for being an indecisive attempt to return to its roots, completely alienating the hardcore series fans who near-universally wanted another gangster story. While it's likely that Embracer's broader financial troubles were what led to both the closure and layoffs at other studios they own, the negative reception to the game was likely what led to Volition being first to the chopping block.
* Synydyne, a group of ARG creators who are famous for their involved but tragically CutShort series "This Is Milwaukee", made a big, thriving return with the advent of an ARG between the Pronunciation Guide [=YouTube=] channel and the @horse_ebooks Twitter account. The end result was ''VideoGame/BearStearnsBravo'', a retro cyberpunk dramady about... the 2007-2008 financial crisis and the ''actual, real-life bank that caused it'', not even five years after the events happened. Between the [[AudienceAlienatingPremise incredibly chilly reception]] and the fact that the second chapter cost $7 to play, the third chapter was never completed and Synydyne has never been heard from since.

* [[NotQuiteDead Though not dead, technically speaking,]] Creator/Rare is a mere shadow of its former self. Ever since its acquisition by Microsoft in 2002, Rare's games suffered a drop in quality and it all came to a head with the highly awaited third game in the VideoGame/BanjoKazooie franchise, VideoGame/BanjoKazooieNutsAndBolts which was recieved poorly by fans and had mediocre sales. The commercial failure of Nuts and Bolts made Microsoft lay off some staff and restructure them as a developer for Kinect games, effectively ending the Rare we all grew to love for a decade until the release of VideoGame/SeaOfThieves in 2018.

* ''VideoGame/{{Haze}}'' was a high-profile Platform/PlayStation3 flop which bankrupted the original incarnation of its developer, Free Radical Design. The company managed to hold off a more permanent demise by selling themselves to Crytek and becoming Crytek UK. Crytek UK itself collapsed later in 2014 amid reports of employee backlash over Crytek not paying them adequately, as well as corporate restructuring that saw much of its staff being terminated and the ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'' series being sold to Deep Silver. This move may have also doomed a fourth ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters'' game. Deep Silver eventually founded a new incarnation of Free Radical in 2021, only for Deep Silver's parent company, the Embracer Group, to shutter them again just two years later.

* Atari struggled for years in the wake of UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983, which, along with an insider trading scandal and a general disrespect for programmers and driving them out of the firm, led to Warner Communications firing Atari boss Ray Kassar (who never worked in entertainment again before his 2017 death), and then selling the developer. Atari was also floundering by the release of the [[Platform/Atari5200 5200]] (which was one of the things that led to the crash). Their later console, the UsefulNotes/{{Atari 7800}}, was in fact a low-budget console that was profitable but distant from the mainstream console business. The final two consoles published by them, the UsefulNotes/AtariLynx and UsefulNotes/AtariJaguar, were originally not even made by them, but by British game developer Epyx, who spent years developing both and allowed Atari to release them to the mass market. This was a shortsighted attempt by Atari to return to the console business, as a combination of incredibly difficult-to-develop-for architecture, shoddy build quality, an archaic controller design, and the inertia enjoyed by Creator/{{Nintendo}} and Creator/{{Sega}}, doomed the Jaguar to ultimate failure, and it turned out to be the straw that finally broke Atari's back[[note]]The Lynx was regarded as a good handheld with a pretty bad game library (thanks to zero third party support), though as Sega found out with the UsefulNotes/GameGear even having a lot of good games wasn't enough to break the UsefulNotes/GameBoy's stranglehold on the handheld market[[/note]]. You may still see the Atari name today, but that's [[InNameOnly just for marketing purposes]] -- Atari Corporation died with the Jaguar, and the name was bought by French publisher Infogrames as part of a push into the worldwide market. Even classic gaming enthusiasts give Atari short shrift today, and the Crash is largely the reason.

* THQ's own fall into bankruptcy was cemented with the uDraw [=GameTablet=] accessory. The original version developed for the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} released in 2010 to great success, prompting the family games' division (despite other sections of THQ warning that it would be a bad idea) to not only fast-track development of "HD" versions for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/Xbox360 to release a year later, but producing more units of these versions for launch than the Wii version sold in a year. These versions, due to being released for consoles that have a ''far'' smaller children/family audience and having no new releases to speak of, were poorly received and saw abysmal sales caused the company's net income to plummet. This is on top of THQ already struggling with the decline in the LicensedGame market, as traditional licensed children's games for consoles (a major pillar of their business) were now being supplanted by cheaper mobile offerings. The decline continued with the ''UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship'' video game rights being sold to Creator/ElectronicArts and the Wrestling/{{WWE}} rights being sold to Creator/TakeTwoInteractive, and the final deathblow was the release of ''VideoGame/DarksidersII'', which sold only 1.5 million copies and failed to turn a profit for THQ. The company tried to stay afloat by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but THQ's restructuring plan was rejected by a bankruptcy court, effectively dissolving the publisher and causing its properties to be auctioned off. Nordic Games [[http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/12/5805074/thq-trademark-acquired-nordic-games would buy the THQ label]] in June 2014, allowing them to publish games with the THQ branding before renaming themselves to Creator/THQNordic, but the original company is long gone.

* The twin flops of ''BMX XXX'' and ''VideoGame/TurokEvolution'' killed Creator/{{Acclaim}} in 2004. The former not only garnered a lot of controversy due to its attempt at [[SexSells using sexual content to sell copies]] (the game allows the player to create female characters that are fully topless, and it also features unlockable live-action footage of real-life strippers courtesy of a New York-based stripclub), but it angered Dave Mirra enough to sue them because he didn't want his name associated with it (it was originally an installment in the ''VideoGame/DaveMirraFreestyleBMX'' series, and Acclaim continued using Mirra's name on advertisements even after he asked them not to). The latter suffered from [[PortingDisaster an awful port]] for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, poor design decisions, and an infamously boneheaded "Name Your Kid Turok" marketing campaign. The company was briefly revived two years later on a smaller scale and InNameOnly, to which their new online games received significant backlash for being bug-ridden. The retooled Acclaim was bought out by Playdom in May 2010, only to be acquired by Creator/{{Disney}} a few months later, effectively burying the Acclaim name a second time given Disney's aforementioned bad habit of shutting down newly acquired game studios. Ironically, Disney had published a ''Turok'' reboot from a different company, Touchstone Interactive, just a couple of years before, which released to middling reception. This proved to be the ''only'' game Touchstone Interactive ever published, giving ''Turok'' the dubious distinction of being a Creator Killer twice over.

* Creator/{{Cinemaware}} Corporation went bankrupt when ''VideoGame/ItCameFromTheDesert1992'' for the [[UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 TurboGrafx-CD]] went way over budget. While NEC's stake in the company helped ensure that the game was released, it would be many years before Cinemaware would be revived as an essentially new company.

* ''VideoGame/{{Haze}}'' was a high-profile UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 flop which bankrupted the original incarnation of its developer, Free Radical Design. The company managed to hold off a more permanent demise by selling themselves to Crytek and becoming Crytek UK. Crytek UK itself collapsed later in 2014 amid reports of employee backlash over Crytek not paying them adequately, as well as corporate restructuring that saw much of its staff being terminated and the ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'' series being sold to Deep Silver. This move may have also doomed a fourth ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters'' game. Deep Silver eventually founded a new incarnation of Free Radical in 2021, only for Deep Silver's parent company, the Embracer Group, to shutter them again just two years later.

* Gaslamp Games came out of nowhere in 2011 with ''VideoGame/DungeonsOfDredmor'', a roguelike that is also an AffectionateParody of the genre and of fantasy tropes. It was well received for being enjoyable by both casual and hardcore gamers and gained a few DLC and additional content, plus tons of mods by fans. Gaslamp's next game, ''Clockwork Empires'', an ambitious strategy game, was released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}'s Early Access in 2014, but something went wrong along the way. The game was finally released near the end of 2016, but in an ObviousBeta state and a while later it became clear that the developers abandoned the project and went silent on all media accounts. From what little transpired, it seems that some of them don't work at Gaslamp anymore and the company itself may now be just an empty shell.
* ''VideoGame/AdventRising'' was [[StillbornFranchise meant to be part of a multimedia franchise which would include a trilogy of games]] (including one on the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable PSP]]), but its mixed critical reaction and poor sales spelled a quick end for [=GlyphX=] Games, the game-making subsidiary of the graphic designer studio [=GlyphX=] Inc.

* Creator/HALLaboratory's run as an independent publisher was killed by ''Metal Slader Glory'', a 1991 visual novel that was the largest and most expensive [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]] game ever made up to that point. While it wasn't an outright ''failure'', it never made back its production costs, putting HAL in 1.5 billion yen of debt and nearly bankrupting them. As a result, Creator/{{Nintendo}} agreed to step in and save the company under the caveat that Creator/SatoruIwata become its new president; ever since, outside a handful of mobile games, the studio has had all its titles published by Nintendo.

* Once renowned for their work on ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid: [[VideoGameRemake The Twin Snakes]]'', a pair of {{cult classic}}s for the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube, Creator/SiliconKnights would be crippled by the one-two punch of ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' and finished off by a failed lawsuit after their split from Nintendo. Going into detail:

* The 2003 ''Franchise/RoboCop'' video game adaptation was what turned out to be the killer for Creator/TitusSoftware. It was panned for poor controls, graphics, sound processing and gameplay. They did develop one more game, a ''Top Gun'' game for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, but it was too little, too late, as they folded in 2005.

* ''VideoGame/{{Forspoken}}'' received mixed-to-negative reviews for its [[ClicheStorm bland game design]], empty open world, [[{{narm}} poor writing, annoying protagonist]] and [[ItsShortSoItSucks small amount of content]] for a $70 [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation5 PS5]] exclusive, and ended up tanking financially, losing out to Xbox’s much cheaper and more acclaimed ''VideoGame/HiFiRush'' despite that game having zero marketing prior to release. Creator/SquareEnix dissolved the developer, Luminous Productions, less than two months after the game's release.

* The crowdfunding campaign for the Retro VGS/Coleco Chameleon (an ambitious attempt at creating a "retro", cartridge-enabled game console in the modern video game market) ended up being one for Mike Kennedy, an obscure but then somewhat respected entrepreneur in the retro game community and the editor of ''RETRO Magazine''. Although the first attempt at crowdfunding under the ''Retro VGS'' name had its detractors, public opinion didn't turn against Kennedy himself until the system's showing at the 2016 American International Toy Fair, when users of the Creator/{{Atari}} Age forum made a very convincing case that Kennedy didn't have a working prototype of the Coleco Chameleon as he claimed, and that he had simply put the internals of a SNES Jr. inside an UsefulNotes/AtariJaguar case. Attempts at damage control [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chameleon_(video_game_console)#Second_Chameleon_prototype.2C_questioning_and_end_of_project were catastrophic]] and further doomed the project: the owners of the Coleco trademark cut their ties to the console when Kennedy failed to show them a working prototype, two staff members of ''RETRO Magazine'' resigned (both essentially saying that, while Kennedy did not wrong them personally, his name became too toxic to associate with), and Kennedy's reputation was ruined.

* It is [[CommonKnowledge frequently stated]] that the UsefulNotes/VirtualBoy's failure caused Creator/GunpeiYokoi's departure from Creator/{{Nintendo}}, although [[http://tinycartridge.com/post/862046655/virtual-boy-wasnt-gunpei-yokois-downfall business partner Yoshihiro Taki]] denies this, stating that Yokoi had planned to retire long before the Virtual Boy's release. The console was supposed to be a parting gift of sorts, and upon its failure, Yokoi stayed with Nintendo a little while longer to create the Game Boy Pocket. By which time he probably decided against retiring just yet, as he also went on to create the UsefulNotes/WonderSwan after leaving Nintendo. However, this doesn't stop the Virtual Boy from being seen as the catalyst for Yokoi's ''actual'' death: a 2003 [=GameSpy=] article listing the 25 dumbest moments in gaming history [[http://web.archive.org/web/20100812045100/http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/june03/dumbestmoments/index15.shtml mentions the Virtual Boy at the number 10 spot]], and at least one of the writers is of the impression [[PointOfDivergence that had it not flopped, Yokoi likely would have still been alive at the time the article was posted]] (rather than having passed away in a fatal 1997 car accident).
--> "So, the Virtual Boy is not only a misbegotten mess of a game machine, it's [[ArtifactOfDeath a vicious and diabolical little thing]] that helped rob the world of the creator of ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' and ''VideoGame/KidIcarus''. I mean, [[UsefulNotes/AtariJaguar Jaguar]] sucked, but at least it didn't kill people."

* Atari struggled for years in the wake of UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983, which, along with an insider trading scandal and a general disrespect for programmers and driving them out of the firm, led to Warner Communications firing Atari boss Ray Kassar (who never worked in entertainment again before his 2017 death), and then selling the developer. Atari was also floundering by the release of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Atari 5200}} 5200]] (which was one of the things that led to the crash). Their later console, the UsefulNotes/{{Atari 7800}}, was in fact a low-budget console that was profitable but distant from the mainstream console business. The final two consoles published by them, the UsefulNotes/AtariLynx and UsefulNotes/AtariJaguar, were originally not even made by them, but by British game developer Epyx, who spent years developing both and allowed Atari to release them to the mass market. This was a shortsighted attempt by Atari to return to the console business, as a combination of incredibly difficult-to-develop-for architecture, shoddy build quality, an archaic controller design, and the inertia enjoyed by Creator/{{Nintendo}} and Creator/{{Sega}}, doomed the Jaguar to ultimate failure, and it turned out to be the straw that finally broke Atari's back[[note]]The Lynx was regarded as a good handheld with a pretty bad game library (thanks to zero third party support), though as Sega found out with the UsefulNotes/GameGear even having a lot of good games wasn't enough to break the UsefulNotes/GameBoy's stranglehold on the handheld market[[/note]]. You may still see the Atari name today, but that's [[InNameOnly just for marketing purposes]] -- Atari Corporation died with the Jaguar, and the name was bought by French publisher Infogrames as part of a push into the worldwide market. Even classic gaming enthusiasts give Atari short shrift today, and the Crash is largely the reason.

* Creator/DaedalicEntertainment shut down their internal game studio and laid off their development staff a little over the month after the launch of ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsGollum'', which launched in [[ObviousBeta a very buggy state]] and quickly became one of the worst-reviewed games of 2023. They would continue to be a publisher, however, so they weren't completely killed off by ''Gollum's'' failure.

* Creator/HALLaboratory's run as an independent developer was killed by ''Metal Slader Glory'', a 1991 visual novel that was the largest and most expensive [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]] game ever made up to that point. While it wasn't an outright ''failure'', it never made back its production costs, putting HAL in 1.5 billion yen of debt and nearly bankrupting them. As a result, Creator/{{Nintendo}} stepped in and completely restructured the company into its current form as a Nintendo affiliate.

* [[DeathByAThousandCuts It wasn't just one game]] that ended up bringing down Creator/TelltaleGames, as ''every one of their games'' post-2012 -- with the exception of ''[[VideoGame/TheWalkingDead The Walking Dead: Season One]]'', their BreakoutHit, and ''VideoGame/MinecraftStoryMode'' -- lost them money. Because most of their output was {{Licensed Game}}s, Telltale made very small profit margins on them, requiring them to sell lots of copies in order to turn a profit. Their method of counteracting this -- producing lots and lots of games as quickly as possible -- also backfired on them, as it burnt out their staff and prevented Telltale from innovating, improving or experimenting with their games, leading to diminishing returns in both sales and reception due to [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks repetition]]. It was [[EnforcedTrope company policy]] for their games to be StrictlyFormula: Telltale's head at the time believed, essentially, that all they had to do was use their money from ''The Walking Dead'' to make a dozen or so more games just like it to make back a dozen times their money. In a weird way, their breakout hit ended up being their killer, by moving them away from their profitable budget games like ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'', ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland'', or ''VideoGame/StrongBadsCoolGameForAttractivePeople''; instead [[AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted using their new funds]] in endless attempts to recapture lightning in a bottle, with [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny increasingly outdated and unimpressive results]]. Following the closure in 2018, the name and some of its assets were bought up by LCG Entertainment, forming a new Telltale company that has only the license to publish and sell games on Warner Bros. properties, and its own few original [=IPs=]. As for new games, the revived company has opted to develop only two so far, while collaborating with other studios, using an industry standard engine instead of its own, and choosing to complete all the title's episodes before release.

* The critical and commercial disappointment of ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2022'' ended up killing longtime developer Creator/{{Volition}}, with Embracer Group closing the studio in August 2023 after transferring its staff to Creator/GearboxSoftware, just a year after the game's launch. The ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' series had long been caught between two identities as a gritty street crime drama and a much more irreverent and referential sandbox game. A decade after ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' was laser-focused on the latter side of the formula, the 2022 game was broadly criticised for being an indecisive attempt to return to its roots, completely alienating the hardcore series fans who near-universally wanted another gangster story.

* ''VideoGame/{{Tomba}}''[[note]]or ''[[MarketBasedTitle Tombi!]]'' depending on your location[[/note]] quickly developed into a cult classic for the original [=PlayStation=] and put developer Whoopee Camp on the map. It was popular enough to warrant a much-publicized sequel, ''Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return'', which executed its VideoGame3DLeap so poorly that it knocked Whoopee Camp right out of business just as quickly as it came. That said, it was eventually VindicatedByHistory, and is now just as much of a cult classic as the original. Though it's still generally agreed that [[FirstInstallmentWins the original is better]].

* ''VideoGame/ScourgeOutbreak'' is, at it's time of release, the highest-budgeted game of Spanish indie company Tragnarion Studios (who previously made low-budget games like ''Doodle Hex'' and ''Map My Mind'' for the DS). Due to the game tanking and an overwhelmingly negative reception, Tragnarion would later close down in 2014, roughly a year after.

* ''VideoGame/{{Haze}}'' was a high-profile UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 flop which bankrupted the original incarnation of its developer, Free Radical Design. The company managed to hold off a more permanent demise by selling themselves to Crytek and becoming Crytek UK. Crytek UK itself collapsed later in 2014 amid reports of employee backlash over Crytek not paying them adequately, as well as corporate restructuring that saw much of its staff being terminated and the ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'' series being sold to Deep Silver. This move may have also doomed a fourth ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters'' game. Deep Silver eventually founded a new incarnation of Free Radical in 2021.