History ExecutiveMeddling / VideoGames

** ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' received a [[{{Bowdlerise}} neutering from Nintendo of America]]. The SNES version of ''Mortal Kombat'' had the blood changed to sweat, and the fatalities were severely weakened.[[note]] For example, Johnny Cage punches his opponent's head off in the original version; in the SNES version, he delivers a hefty kick to the chest.[[/note]] The UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis port was technically inferior, but ended up being the most popular because it contained all the gore that made the game popular in the first place. Realizing this, Nintendo of America released ''VideoGame/MortalKombatII'' on the SNES in all its gory glory.

* According to [[https://www.videogameschronicle.com/features/interviews/paper-mario-origami-king/ an interview]] with director Masahiko Nagaya released the day before the ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'' came out, as well as various other interviews, from ''Sticker Star'' on, Creator/IntelligentSystems was no longer allowed to "modify Mario characters or to create original characters that touch on the Mario universe". This means they could no longer make Toads/Goombas/Bob-ombs with alternate proportions like most characters in the first two games (though mainline species “characters” can still wear outfits). There is also no exceptions for classic ''Paper Mario'' characters of mainline species created prior to ''Sticker Star'', so characters like Kammy and Goombario cannot return as long as the mandates are in place.

** The series had some meddling in its early life. After the huge success of the first ''VideoGame/TombRaider'' game, producers wanted to make Lara Croft [[MostGamersAreMale more appealing to the male demographic]] and they also allowed many magazines to publish issues with the Lara Croft character in provocative poses while advertisements for products with Lara endorsing them followed a similar suit. Toby Gard, the game and character's creator, hated the idea of changing Lara just to [[PanderingToTheBase appeal to the fans]] and he felt like he had less control over his creative ideas. His only other option Eidos Interactive gave him was to port the original ''Tomb Raider'' to the Nintendo 64, which Gard did not agree with either. He wound up leaving Core Design in disgust. He would later return to aid in the development of ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderLegend Legend]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderAnniversary Anniversary]]'', both of which saw drastic modification in Lara's character from the previous games. What made the whole thing ironic is Eidos decided to have more control over the use of the Lara character in various media and were very selective on what products she could be plastered onto in order to preserve the character. They outright objected to the idea of having Lara in underwear and they also issued a cease and desist on a magazine that published images of Lara in the nude.

** The entire franchise under Eidos's control was completely rife with meddling from them. Ever since the first game became a huge hit, Eidos demanded that a new game had to be made every year, which gave the team ''very'' little time to rest since they had to spend the majority of the year to produce just one game. While most of the games in the classic timeline were considered good, the rush jobs became more apparent with each game released; common criticisms were dated game mechanics, nothing new being added to the gameplay, and the stories become more ridiculous. ''Chronicles'' was considered to be the weakest game in the series due to a nonsensical story and the game feeling more like a cheap expansion pack instead of a sequel. ''VideoGame/TombRaiderAngelOfDarkness'' was delayed due to massive problems with the game and then Eidos had the game ChristmasRushed with the threat of firing Core Design if they missed the release window again. The game was released with bugs and glitches up the wazoo, and [[ShootTheShaggyDog Core Design was fired anyway.]]

** The developers of the GBA version of ''Sonic 1'' were disallowed from using the original game's source code, and had to work with an earlier Java Mobile port. This turned out to be a very bad idea, as the final product ended up being a PortingDisaster.

** A main reason why many high-quality Japanese Saturn games [[NoExportForYou never saw release in the U.S.]] and why many American third-party developers avoided the system like the plague was specifically because [[PointyHairedBoss Bernie Stolar]], then newly-installed CEO of Sega of America, [[ItsAllAboutMe blocked any game he personally did not want on the system]] with his "five-star game" policies. This blacklisted most 2D games, despite them consisting of 90% of [[PolygonCeiling what was worth playing on the Saturn]], Japanese [=RPGs=] at a time when they were starting to break out of their niche, and miscellaneous third-party titles from appearing in the console's lineup, in favor of first-party and sports titles. A ''very'' odd CEO choice considering that he just got fired from Sony over similar circumstances. To this day, Stolar is still largely derided by Sega fans for almost single-handedly screwing the console over in North America by himself.

* As mentioned in the Activision folder, EA acquired the rights to ''Brütal Legend'' after Activision dropped the title. EA didn't meddle with the game development like Activision did, but they only advertised the game's action elements, completely obscuring the RTS elements that make up the core of the game's mechanics, leading to the game receiving some undeserved criticism. Then came the patch Double Fine was going to release for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 version, which would fix the muffled sound effects and the 99% completion glitch, but because EA only likes to support games that sold well, they would not let DF release the patch whatsoever, even though the patch was ''finished''.\\

** The ''[[VideoGame/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance game was hit hard by this. EA didn't trust the GBC team at Griptonite Games to create quality GBA art, and ended up forcing them to completely change the art style halfway through development. With only half the time to complete the game, the developers had to cut many features and work crunch mode for the rest of development, including weekends and holidays.

** The developers were disallowed from inventing new dialogue for the characters, nor giving them original [[PaletteSwap alternate colors/costumes]] (developer at Ludosity Thaddeus "Repiteo" Crews specifically mentioned that they wanted to give [[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants SpongeBob]] palettes based on Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs), so the characters' spoken dialogue in the single-player mode's cutscenes consists of canned dialogue they once spoke in their source material while their palette swaps consist entirely of outfits or accessories they wore in their home series. (To drive home how far the developers had to reach because of these restrictions, [[WesternAnimation/HeyArnold Helga's]] first released alternate color was pulled from a miscoloration of her dress on a Nicktoons-themed commerative Christmas cup.) Ironically, a later crossover game, ''Nickelodeon Extreme Tennis'' for Apple Arcade, was released without any of these restrictions, something that did not go unnoticed by the playerbase nor the developers.

** ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriorsOnline'', after being in "NoExportForYou" mode, [[CultClassic not for bad reasons mind you]], for 5 years finally got translated to English but with undubbed voices, averting the issue with ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors''. However there still is an issue. For some reason the game is updated with all weapon in the original version, but what weapons are available for players is cut back, presumably to keep players hooked waiting for their wanted weapons like the Japanese gamers were. The original release had a very messed up schedule for weapons trying to balance "fixed releases" with "giving players verity", quite a few solutions passing through. Eventually they settled on releasing one new weapon every so often after the players got about half, [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters which is still plenty mind you]], of the weapons released. The English version is still behind the original noticeably, though.

** Atlus stated that the main reason they didn't do a translation of ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration Super Robot Wars Original Generations]]'' was that Sony was demanding that all [=PS2=] games come with an English voice track, which they couldn't afford to do with [=OGs=]' LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

* Accounts from developers on the much-hyped ''VideoGame/NickelodeonAllStarBrawl'' following its release suggest that the developers and publisher were held on a very tight creative leash by Nickelodeon:
** Although the developers had few plans to integrate many live-action Nickelodeon properties in the game, wanting it to be more of a celebration of the Nicktoons, one character they ''did'' consider was [[Series/TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack Alex Mack]]. However, Nick said no. A reason was not given, but one theory is that it would have cost too much to pay royalties to Alex's actress Larisa Oleynik.

** The lead writer of the first two games in the series (Drew Karpyshyn) was reassigned to another [=BioWare=] project (''Videogame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic''), during development of the third game. This led to an original major plot point (about dark energy) being dropped and eventually replaced with the more controversial one.

** The infamous color palette and blue background of the Atari 2600 port was a result of them forcing all games that weren't set in space to ''not'' use black backgrounds in order to showcase the color capabilities of the system.

** Sony didn't want [[VideoGame/GodOfWar Kratos]] to look weak in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9''.[[note]]He's a {{guest fighter}} in the [=PlayStation=] versions of the game.[[/note]] As a result, he keeps his famous angry look on his face even when [[DefiantToTheEnd being at the receiving end of fatalities]]. It looks very cool.

* It is widely believed that Sony Computer Entertainment America had a policy of rejecting licenses for 2D-based titles on grounds of "low quality", as the head executive there wanted ''only'' 3D titles. This in fact ''was'' the case in the [=PS1=] era, due to the head at the time being the notorious Bernie Stolar (who refused to publish Japanese [=RPGs=] at all until ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' came out and made a lot of money; he was later fired, and took his brain-dead policies to Sega and onto the Sega Saturn when ''they'' hired him fresh from being fired from Sony - and we all know how well that went), and is part of the reason that Creator/{{Capcom}} made ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends''; Sony would only let them make the 2D ''Mega Man'' games they wanted if they made a 3D installment.

** This was the reason ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'' was made. The executives understood that Mario became one of the video game characters with which video games would become associated. In the hope of having their own Mario, Sega decided to hold an internal design contest to see if there was a character they could use as someone to compete with Mario. In the end, Naota Ohshima won the contest with his design of a hedgehog character named Mr. Needlemouse. After some minor changes were made, Sega turned to Yuji Naka, who was best known for working on ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' at the time. Along with Hirokazu Yasuhara, they begun developing the project into what later would become Sonic the Hedgehog as we know him now. This is also the reason why the franchise had so many characters. There were many mascots to choose from and Sega gave some of them appearances in the series because they thought they were too good to go to waste, but not good enough for their own game.

** At one point, there were plans for a GaidenGame similar to ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', taking place in the same setting as ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' and reusing a lot of assets, but doing its own thing story-wise. However, Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto was enamored with the Wii Zapper at the time, and so [[TechDemoGame demanded that they focus the game on it instead]]. After he made them throw together an early prototype which the focus-testers seemed to like, Miyamoto took control of production; he vetoed the idea of any kind of story elements or longer stages, and was even against the game featuring ''boss fights''. The game was eventually released as ''VideoGame/LinksCrossbowTraining'', with almost none of the initial planned concepts making it in.

* The UsefulNotes/{{Xbox 360}} itself suffered meddling from Microsoft during the manufacturing period in late 2005. Microsoft pressured builders to cut corners and skimp on parts in order to rush the console onto the market in time for the Christmas season and to get ahead of Sony's plans to release the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 in 2006. This would bite Microsoft back ''hard'' a year or two later since the infamous [[FanNickname Red Ring of Death]] plagued around 20%-30% of people who owned the console. As a result of the aforementioned corner-cutting and Microsoft's focus on making the outer shell of the console slimmer than the famously bulky UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}}, the initial design of the 360 had a poorly made heatsink and its outer shell couldn't release heat quickly enough, which caused the CPU to quickly fry and cause 3 red rings to light up by the power button to signify there was a hardware error. This particular configuration of lights meant the console couldn't be turned on again without being repaired. Microsoft lost around a billion US dollars replacing all the fried consoles, giving consumers an extended warranty on their new consoles, and then having to manufacture a new design that fixed the issues. The final estimate of affected consoles came to around 50%, indicating that essentially half their first run of Xbox 360 consoles were unintentionally built to last little more than a year, if that. That number got pushed to 64% later on according to Microsoft, as apparently refurbished consoles would fail just as easily.

* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' spin-off games ''VideoGame/{{Judgment}}'' and ''VideoGame/LostJudgment'' will probably [[NoPortForYou not get a PC version]], due to ongoing disputes involving Sega and the talent agency that employed Takuya Kimura, the actor the main character uses [[InkSuitActor the likeliness of]]. Kimura's talent agency is extremely controlling in regards to how their media is distributed, especially online and overseas, going as far as having their talents' apperances censored outside of their own exclusive means of distribution. Because a PC version of the game would mean loosening their grip over their talents' images, they denied Sega from releasing the game outside of consoles. However, Sega's current business plan places importance on the PC market, and if they're forced to make the ''Judgment'' series console exclusive because of their lead actor's talent agency, they are seriously considering [[FranchiseKiller ending the series]] over it. Only time will tell if all of that above will actually happen.

** ''VideoGame/TombRaiderTheLastRevelation'' was supposed to be the final game in the series, signified by Lara's supposed death in the collapsing tomb at the end of the game. Core Design was done with the series, but Eidos still saw the series as a moneymaker and pushed Core to pump out another ''Tomb Raider'' game afterwards called ''VideoGame/TombRaiderChronicles''. This may explain why the appearance of [[ThoseTwoBadGuys Larson and Pierre]] and the time period they appeared in with Lara confused many fans on the continuity.

* At E3 1998, a game that would have been Sega's ''Franchise/StarFox'' called ''Geist Force'' was shown and was intended to be a launch title for the North American release of the Dreamcast. Unfortunately the game was canned with varied reasons claimed [[TroubledProduction including disagreements among employees, failing to meet deadlines, and lack of confidence of the game.]] However a [[https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/12/yuji-naka-killed-dreamcasts-star-fox-says-former-sega-producer recent interview]] by one of the game's producers Mark Subotnick, claims that it was Yuji Naka who had the project cancelled. Apparently he came to visit their office one day to look at their tools and engines, spoke in Japanese assuming that the developers didn't understand him but they did. Naka talked about what parts to take to use for the development of the new Sonic game and had every employee of Mark's fired except for one who knew how to develop for the system who would then be used to develop for Sonic. Because of how expensive ''Geist Force'' was and that it would take several months for Mark to rehire and ramp up production, his only other option was to consult with Visual Concepts which was the only other North American Studio who had experience with the Dreamcast. Unfortunately they were busy with their own launch titles ultimately leading to the game's cancellation.

** ''Peace Walker'' actually has actual executive meddling in-game (or rather: executive branch meddling). In both EVA's discussion tapes and Strangelove's memories, it delves quite a bit into the Mercury Project that The Boss participated in. For one thing: things were going smoothly for the project up until the Department of Defense, primarily out of fear and an extreme sense of competition against Soviet Russia due to recent intelligence suggesting that they actually will send a man into space, had the Mercury team install a window into the spacecraft that she was going to be launched in at the last moment (well, close to it anyway), using the whole "She's been irradiated once, and thus she will be immune to the radiation in space" to justify their decision, to which Strangelove never bought since she knew due to her rational and logical nature that her being irradiated once would actually achieve the exact opposite effect. Turns out that the entire thing ended in complete disaster. While The Boss did end up seeing the Earth and ultimately spawned her will, the spacecraft, due to their rushing the project to beat Yuri Gagarin into space, ended up crash-landing far beyond the recovery point, nearly causing her death, and frying her a lot in the process. She ended up in a coma for six whole months. Also, thanks to the DOD's failure, Yuri Gagarin was officially the first man in space, even though The Boss beat him by a few seconds, and as a result, the DOD and everyone else in the military brass/government started hating her [[NeverMyFault despite the fact that the whole failure]] was ''their'' fault.

* At E3 1998, a game considered to be Sega's ''Franchise/StarFox'' called ''Geist Force'' was shown and was intended to be a launch title for the North American release of the Dreamcast. Unfortunately the game was canned with reasons varied [[TroubledProduction including disagreements among employees, failing to meet deadlines, and lack of confidence of the game.]] However a [[https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/12/yuji-naka-killed-dreamcasts-star-fox-says-former-sega-producer recent interview]] by one of the game's producers Mark Subotnick, who claims that it was Yuji Naka who had the project cancelled. Apparently he came to visit their office one day to look at their tools and engines, spoke in Japanese assuming that the developers didn't understand him but they did. Naka talked about what parts to take to use for Sonic and had every employee of Mark's fired except for one who knew how to develop for the system who would then be used to develop for Sonic. Because of how expensive ''Geist Force'' and it would take several months for Mark to rehire and ramp up production, so his only other option was to consult with Visual Concepts which was the only other North American Studio who had experience with the Dreamcast. Unfortunately they were busy with their own launch titles ultimately leading to the game's cancellation.

* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' spin-off games 'VideoGame/{{Judgment}}'' and ''VideoGame/LostJudgment'' will probably [[NoPortForYou not get a PC version]], due to ongoing disputes involving Sega and the talent agency that employed Takuya Kimura, the actor the main character uses [[InkSuitActor the likeliness of]]. Kimura's talent agency is extremely controlling in regards to how their media is distributed, especially online and overseas, going as far as having their talents' apperances censored outside of their own exclusive means of distribution. Because a PC version of the game would mean loosening their grip over their talents' images, they denied Sega from releasing the game outside of consoles. However, Sega's current business plan places importance on the PC market, and if they're forced to make the ''Judgment'' series console exclusive because of their lead actor's talent agency, they are seriously considering [[FranchiseKiller ending the series]] over it. Only time will tell if all of that above will actually happen.

* ''VideoGame/LostJudgment'', the second entry in the ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' spin-off series, will probably [[NoPortForYou not get a PC version]], just like [[VideoGame/{{Judgment}} the first game]], due to ongoing disputes involving Sega and the talent agency that employed Takuya Kimura, the actor the main character uses [[InkSuitActor the likeliness of]]. Kimura's talent agency is extremely controlling in regards to how their media is distributed, especially online and overseas, going as far as having their talents' apperances censored outside of their own exclusive means of distribution. Because a PC version of the game would mean loosening their grip over their talents' images, they denied Sega from releasing the game outside of consoles. However, Sega's current business plan places importance on the PC market, and if they're forced to make the ''Judgment'' series console exclusive because of their lead actor's talent agency, they are seriously considering [[FranchiseKiller ending the series]] over it. Only time will tell if all of that above will actually happen.

*** Many companies were left out of the loop, and were unsurprisingly pissed off as a result. This included most (American based) third-party developers, who were still developing Saturn games at the time, intended to be released on the original release date; and large retailers such as Wal-Mart and KB Toys, who felt excluded by Sega from the launch of the console (four other major competing retailers had the console at launch). [[EnemyMine This caused developers and the aforementioned retailers to retaliate by supporting Sega's rivals as a result]].

* Creator/NaughtyDog cooperated with Sony of Japan in many areas when making early installments of the ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' series, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff which was incredibly popular in that region]]. A positive and negative example came during the production of the second game. The Japan unit objected to Tawna, Crash's girlfriend, not keen on having an oversexualized female as Crash's sidekick, requesting a more innocent alternative. The result was Tawna being "retired", though series regular Coco Bandicoot was created in her place.