History Trivia / DefJamSeries

** Good luck having either game being re-released due to not only EA having to contract Def Jam and [[Creator/UniversalMusicGroup its parent company]] to use the name, but the sheer number of celebrity likenesses, licensed music, and royalties to spend under license from so many different companies and estates of the rappers or celebrities just to have them on both games isn't worth EA's time and money, especially with the company's modern day thinking of releasing games.

* CreatorKiller: Happened twice, killing off ''two'' developers and multiple other games on the way. ''Icon'' was poorly received due to its gameplay shift and it failed to sell nearly as well as the previous games, resulting in the death of EA Chicago and the cancellation of ''Def Jam Icon 2'' and a [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]] [[http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/3/5/4037436/ea-marvel-comics-fighter themed spiritual successor to the Def Jam games.]] Def Jam then re-sold the series' rights to Creator/{{Konami}} and Autumn Games, who created ''Def Jam Rapstar''. Due to ''Rapstar'''s failure to sell and [[https://www.engadget.com/2012-03-31-emi-sues-def-jam-rapstar-creators.html the legal shitstorm]] [[https://www.engadget.com/2012-05-24-konami-and-autumn-games-sued-for-fraud-over-15-million-def-jam.html that resulted from it]], [[https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-05-15-4mm-games-from-start-up-to-shut-down 4mm Games]] died. Furthermore, the ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'' development team was laid off by Autumn Games, which forced them [[https://www.polygon.com/2012/11/20/3672526/skullgirls-team-laid-off-form-lab-zero-games-offer-update-on-pc to create]] Creator/LabZeroGames and [[https://www.polygon.com/2013/3/13/4101572/skullgirls-fundraising-drive-tops-375000-will-add-big-band-to-roster the entire fundraising campaign for the game]].

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It should go without saying that these games were a product of their time. The rap game has changed exponentially since the 2000s, and the vast majority of rappers that were signed with Def Jam or another label at the time are no longer under them. It doesn't help that many of the rappers and celebrities are either [[OneHitWonder one-hit wonders]] or once-famous people who have since disappeared. Joe Budden also retired from rapping in 2018 to further pursue his broadcasting career after a brief but successful stint with ''Everyday Struggle'' (with his last album, ''Rage & The Machine'', having been released in October 2016), while Prodigy (one half of Mobb Deep), Baby Chris, and Music/{{DMX}} are deceased.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It should go without saying that these games were a product of their time. The rap game has changed exponentially since the 2000s, and the vast majority of rappers that were signed with Def Jam or another label at the time are no longer under them. It doesn't help that many of the rappers and celebrities are either [[OneHitWonder one-hit wonders]] or once-famous people who have since disappeared. Joe Budden also retired from rapping in 2018 to further pursue his broadcasting career after a brief but successful stint with ''Everyday Struggle'' (with his last album, ''Rage & The Machine'', having been released in October 2016), while Prodigy (one half of Mobb Deep) and Baby Chris [[AuthorExistenceFailure died in]] UsefulNotes/TheNewTens.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It should go without saying that these games were a product of their time. The rap game has changed exponentially since the 2000s, and the vast majority of rappers that were signed with Def Jam or another label at the time are no longer under them. It doesn't help that many of the rappers and celebrities are either [[OneHitWonder one-hit wonders]] or once-famous people who have since disappeared. Joe Budden also retired from rapping in 2018 to further pursue his broadcasting career after a brief but successful stint with ''WebVideo/EverydayStruggle'' (with his last album, ''Rage & The Machine'', having been released in October 2016), while Prodigy (one half of Mobb Deep) and Baby Chris [[AuthorExistenceFailure died in]] UsefulNotes/TheNewTens.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It should go without saying that these games were a product of their time. The rap game has changed exponentially since the 2000s, and the vast majority of rappers that were signed with Def Jam or another label at the time are no longer under them. It didn't help that many of the rappers and celebrities on the game are either [[OneHitWonder one-hit wonders]] or once-famous people who have since disappeared. Joe Budden also retired from rapping in 2018 to further pursue his broadcasting career after a brief but successful stint with ''WebVideo/EverydayStruggle'' (with his last album, ''Rage & The Machine'', having been released in October 2016), while Prodigy (one half of Mobb Deep) and Baby Chris [[AuthorExistenceFailure died in]] UsefulNotes/TheNewTens.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It should go without saying that these games were a product of their time. The rap game has changed exponentially since the 2000s, and the vast majority of rappers that were signed with Def Jam or another label at the time are no longer under them. It didn't help that many of the rappers or celebrities on the game are either one-hit wonders or once famous people who had fallen off the face of the earth. Joe Budden also retired from rapping in 2018 in order to be a host on the Complex Media show ''Everyday Struggle (with his last album, ''Rage & The Machine'', having been released in October 2016), while Prodigy (one half of Mobb Deep) and Baby Chris [[AuthorExistenceFailure died in]] UsefulNotes/TheNewTens.

* CreatorKiller: Happened twice, killing off ''two '' developers and multiple other games on the way. ''Icon'' was poorly received due to its gameplay shift and it failed to sell nearly as well as the previous games, resulting in the death of EA Chicago and the cancellation of ''Def Jam Icon 2'' and a [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]] [[http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/3/5/4037436/ea-marvel-comics-fighter themed spiritual successor to the Def Jam games.]] Def Jam then re-sold the series' rights to Creator/{{Konami}} and Autumn Games, who created ''Def Jam Rapstar''. Due to ''Rapstar'''s failure to sell and [[https://www.engadget.com/2012-03-31-emi-sues-def-jam-rapstar-creators.html the legal shitstorm]] [[https://www.engadget.com/2012-05-24-konami-and-autumn-games-sued-for-fraud-over-15-million-def-jam.html that resulted from it]], [[https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-05-15-4mm-games-from-start-up-to-shut-down 4mm Games]] died. Furthermore, the ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'' development team was laid off by Autumn Games, which forced them [[https://www.polygon.com/2012/11/20/3672526/skullgirls-team-laid-off-form-lab-zero-games-offer-update-on-pc to create]] Creator/LabZeroGames and [[https://www.polygon.com/2013/3/13/4101572/skullgirls-fundraising-drive-tops-375000-will-add-big-band-to-roster the entire fundraising campaign for the game]].

* CreatorKiller: Happened twice, killing off ''two '' developers and multiple other games on the way. ''Icon'' was poorly received due to its gameplay shift and it failed to sell nearly as well as the previous games, resulting in the death of EA Chicago and the cancellation of ''Def Jam Icon 2'' and a [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]] [[http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/3/5/4037436/ea-marvel-comics-fighter themed spiritual successor to the Def Jam games.]] Def Jam then re-sold the series' rights to Creator/{{Konami}} and Autumn Games, who created ''Def Jam Rapstar''. Due to ''Rapstar'''s failure to sell and [[https://www.engadget.com/2012-03-31-emi-sues-def-jam-rapstar-creators.html the legal shitstorm]] [[https://www.engadget.com/2012-05-24-konami-and-autumn-games-sued-for-fraud-over-15-million-def-jam.html that resulted from it]], [[https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-05-15-4mm-games-from-start-up-to-shut-down 4mm Games]] died. Furthermore, Autumn Games laid off the ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'' development team, which forced them [[https://www.polygon.com/2012/11/20/3672526/skullgirls-team-laid-off-form-lab-zero-games-offer-update-on-pc to create]] Creator/LabZeroGames and [[https://www.polygon.com/2013/3/13/4101572/skullgirls-fundraising-drive-tops-375000-will-add-big-band-to-roster the entire fundraising campaign for the game]].

* CreatorKiller: Happened twice, killing off ''three'' developers and multiple other games on the way. ''Icon'' was poorly received due to its gameplay shift and it failed to sell nearly as well as the previous games, resulting in the death of EA Chicago and the cancellation of ''Def Jam Icon 2'' and a [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]] [[http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/3/5/4037436/ea-marvel-comics-fighter themed spiritual successor to the Def Jam games.]] Def Jam then re-sold the series' rights to Creator/{{Konami}} and Autumn Games, who created ''Def Jam Rapstar''. Due to ''Rapstar'''s failure to sell and the legal shitstorm that resulted from it, both Autumn Games and 4mm Games died, which forced the creation of ''{{VideoGame/Skullgirls}}'' developers Lab Zero and the entire fundraising campaign for it.

** The developers behind ''Def Jam Rapstar'' were sued by Creator/{{EMI}} over allegedly using 54 unlicensed tracks that EMI values at $150,000 each without their permission, which resulted in such a legal shit storm that the game was pulled from circulation and killed both 4mm Games and Autumn Games in the process.
** Good luck having either game being re-released due to not only EA having to contract Def Jam and [[Creator/UniversalMusicGroup it's parent company]] to use the name, but the sheer number of celebrity likenesses, licensed music, and royalties to spend under license from so many different companies and estates of the rappers or celebrities just to have them on both games isn't worth EA's time and money, especially with the company's modern day thinking of releasing games.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It should go without saying that these games were a product of their time. The rap game has changed exponentially since the 2000s, and the vast majority of rappers that were signed with Def Jam or another label at the time are no longer under them. It didn't help that many of the rappers or celebrities on the game are either one-hit wonders or once famous people who had fallen off the face of the earth. Joe Budden also retired from rapping in 2018 in order to be a host on the Complex Media show ''Everyday Struggle (with his last album, ''Rage & The Machine'', having been released in October of 2016), and Prodigy (one half of Mobb Deep) and Baby Chris [[AuthorExistenceFailure kicked the bucket in]] UsefulNotes/TheNewTens.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It should go without saying that these games were a product of their time. The rap game has changed exponentially since the 2000s, and the vast majority of rappers that were signed with Def Jam are no longer under them. Joe Budden also retired from rapping in 2018 (with his last album, ''Rage & The Machine'', having been released in October of 2016), and Prodigy (one half of Mobb Deep) and Baby Chris [[AuthorExistenceFailure kicked the bucket in]] UsefulNotes/TheNewTens.

* TroubledProduction: Not with the series itself, but related to it. Konami and Autumn Games got hit with a lawsuit related to ''Def Jam Rapstar'', and it caused troubles for ''Skullgirls'', a game ''completely unrelated to the Def Jam label in any way''. For more details, check out [[Trivia/{{Skullgirls}} that game's Trivia page]].

* CreatorKiller: Happened twice, killing off ''three'' developers and multiple other games on the way. ''Icon'' was poorly received due to its gameplay shift and it failed to sell nearly as well as the previous games, resulting in the death of EA Chicago and the cancellation of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEAXmmuknC8 Def Jam Icon 2]]'' and a [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]] [[http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/3/5/4037436/ea-marvel-comics-fighter themed spiritual successor to the Def Jam games.]] Def Jam then re-sold the series' rights to Creator/{{Konami}} and Autumn Games, who created ''Def Jam Rapstar''. Due to ''Rapstar'''s failure to sell and the legal shitstorm that resulted from it, both Autumn Games and 4mm Games died, which forced the creation of ''{{VideoGame/Skullgirls}}'' developers Lab Zero and the entire fundraising campaign for it.

* CreatorKiller: Happened twice, killing off ''three'' developers and multiple other games on the way. ''Icon'' was poorly received due to its gameplay shift and it failed to sell nearly as well as the previous games, resulting in the death of EA Chicago and the cancellation of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEAXmmuknC8 Def Jam Icon 2]]'' and a [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]] [[http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/3/5/4037436/ea-marvel-comics-fighter themed spiritual successor to the Def Jam games.]] Def Jam then re-sold the series rights to Konami and Autumn Games, who created ''Def Jam Rapstar''. Due to ''Rapstar'''s failure to sell and the legal shitstorm that resulted from it, both Autumn Games and 4mm Games died (forcing the creation of ''{{VideoGame/Skullgirls}}'' developers Lab Zero and the entire fundraising campaign for it by the way). ''[[Main/EpicFail Holy shit!]]''
* DivorcedInstallment: ''[[VideoGame/DefJamSeries Def Jam Vendetta]]'' was originally planned to be a Wrestling/{{WCW}} game, tentatively called ''WCW 2000'' or ''WCW Mayhem 2'', depending on source, for the then-upcoming [=PlayStation 2=], but EA lost the WCW license after the latter company was acquired by the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]] in 2001.

* TroubledProduction: Not with the series itself, but related to it. Konami and Autumn Games got hit with a lawsuit related to ''Def Jam Rapstar'', and it caused troubles for ''{{VideoGame/Skullgirls}}'', a game ''completely unrelated to the Def Jam label in any way''. More details on [[Trivia/{{Skullgirls}} that game's Trivia page]].

* HeyItsThatVoice: Pretty much everyone besides many of the original characters. Also, depending on which voice the player chooses in ''Fight for NY'', the player created character could be sound like [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Kira Yamato]], [[Manga/{{InuYasha}} Kouga]], [[WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy Ed]], and [[WesternAnimation/ClassOfTheTitans Odie]].

* CreatorKiller: Happened twice, killing off ''three'' developers and multiple other games on the way. ''Icon'' was poorly received due to its gameplay shift and it failed to sell nearly as well as the previous games, resulting in the death of EA Chicago and the cancellation of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEAXmmuknC8 Def Jam Icon 2]] and a [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]] [[http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/3/5/4037436/ea-marvel-comics-fighter themed spiritual successor to the Def Jam games.]] Def Jam then re-sold the series rights to Konami and Autumn Games, who created Def Jam Rapstar. Due to Rapstar's failure to sell and the legal shitstorm that resulted from it, both Autumn Games and 4mm Games died (forcing the creation of ''{{VideoGame/Skullgirls}}'' developers Lab Zero and the entire fundraising campaign for it by the way). ''[[Main/EpicFail Holy shit!]]''

* CreatorKiller: Happened twice, killing off ''three'' developers and multiple other games on the way. ''Icon'' was poorly received due to its gameplay shift and it failed to sell nearly as well as the previous games, resulting in the death of EA Chicago and the cancellation of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEAXmmuknC8 Def Jam Icon 2]] and a [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]] [[http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/3/5/4037436/ea-marvel-comics-fighter themed spiritual successor to the Def Jam games.]] Def Jam then re-sold the series rights to Konami and Autumn Games, who created Def Jam Rapstar. Due to Rapstar's failure to sell and the legal shitstorm that resulted from it, both Autumn Games and 4mm Games died (forcing the creation of ''{{VideoGame/Skullgirls}}'' developers Lab Zero and the entire fundraising campaign for it by the way). '''[[Main/EpicFail Holy shit!]]'''

* TroubledProduction: Not with the series itself, but related to it. Konami and Autumn Games got hit with a lawsuit related to ''Def Jam Rapstar'', and it caused troubles for ''{{VideoGame/Skullgirls}}'', a game ''completely unrelated to the Def Jam label in any way''. More details on that game's Trivia page.

* TroubledProduction: Not with the series itself, but related to it. Konami and Autumn Games got hit with a lawsuit related to ''Def Jam Rapstar'', and it caused troubles for ''{{VideoGame/Skullgirls}}'', a game ''completely unrelated to the Def Jam label in any way''.

* TroubledProduction: Not with the series itself, but related to it. Konami got hit with a lawsuit related to ''Def Jam Rapstar'', and it caused troubles for ''{{VideoGame/Skullgirls}}'', a game ''completely unrelated to the Def Jam label in any way''.

* TroubledProduction: Not with the series itself, but related to it. Konami got hit with a lawsuit related to ''Def Jam Rapstar'', and it caused troubles for ''VideoGame/Skullgirls'', a game ''completely unrelated to the Def Jam label in any way''.

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: An odd example where the legal drama screwed over ''another'' game. ''Rapstar'' is what caused the TroubledProduction of the game ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}''.