Video Game Flops That Bankrupted Studios

If there's one thing that gaming fans have learned over the years, it's that it can sometimes be impossible to determine what will and won't be successful. Sometimes expected flops turn out to be huge hits. Other times, it seems like nothing could have saved a particular game or console from crashing hard. But for every overlooked gem or overrated hit, there's a game out there that just didn't sell enough to meet expectations. And unfortunately, in those instances, someone pays the price.

It can be especially difficult for a developer to recover after a game underperforms. The failure of one game can lead to a lack of funding or enthusiasm for the project that is meant to follow. There have even been times when a game has flopped so spectacularly that it's spelled the end of the development house that made it. Here are a few examples of video game flops that bankrupted studios.

"The Last Express" was an interesting game. Created by "Prince of Persia" mastermind Jordan Mechner, "The Last Express" featured an interesting rotoscoped style of animation and told the story of a murder mystery on the Orient Express. This production from Brøderbund Software and Smoking Car Productions had such a classically intriguing concept that it's hard to believe it failed as badly as it did.

Sadly, this is due to the fact that Brøderbund's marketing staff left the company mere weeks before the game was released. This resulted in a non-existent marketing campaign, meaning that nobody knew this game that had taken four long years to make was even out. The game sold so poorly that Brøderbund was forced to sell its assets to The Learning Company, which allowed the game to fall out of print. "The Last Express" ended up being the only game produced by Smoking Car Productions, which folded after this game's failure. 

Although the game was briefly rereleased by Interplay a few years later, that version also quickly went out of print.

Set during a violent revolution in South America, Tale of Tales' "Sunset" was an interesting take on the adventure game genre. It was also the beneficiary of a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign. Sadly, the general public did not seem to have the same passion or interest in Sunset as the folks who donated to the Kickstarter did. The game ended up receiving mixed reviews and only sold around 4,000 units total — a number that included the copies given to Kickstarter backers.

Having spent more money on the game than it had raised and being unable to recoup those costs through sales, Tale of Tales had to close shop. For what it's worth, the game's creators did their best to maintain positive and hopeful attitude following the closure of their studio. In a blog post detailing the end of Tale of Tales, studio founders Michaël Samyn and Auriea Harvey expressed a willingness to move forward, albeit outside of the gaming industry.

They wrote, "Creativity still burns wildly in our hearts but we don't think we will be making videogames after this. And if we do, definitely not commercial ones."

Developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Activision, "Blur" was a racing game with realistic graphics and arcade-style gameplay. It played like the bonkers love child of "Forza" and "Mario Kart," so it seemed like a sure-fire hit.

"Blur" received pretty decent reviews, but saw sales that fell well below what Activision had hoped. Following the game's disappointing retail numbers, Activision put Bizarre Creations' staff on temporary leave while the publisher reportedly tried to find a buyer for the developer. Unfortunately, the studio was ultimately closed. The closure of Bizarre Creations also led to the cancellation of a pretty great-looking "Blur" sequel, which would have incorporated new weather mechanics and power-ups.

A few months after the closure of Bizarre Creations, some of the former studio heads were very candid about their disputes with Activision. In a piece published in Edge (via GamesRadar), it was revealed the publisher interfered with just about every aspect of production. Former Bizarre Creations Managing Director Martyn Crudely said that this partnership with Activision negatively affected the team's morale, which in turn led to a compromised final product.

It cannot be overstated just how much of a flop "APB: All Points Bulletin" was. "APB" was an ambitious "GTA"-style MMO that predated "Grand Theft Auto Online." The game was in production for about five years and reportedly cost over $100 million to produce. In other words, it had to be huge or developer Realtime Worlds was in big trouble. 

Following a series of delays, the game was released to mediocre reviews. However, "APB" was also subject to a controversy over the review embargo enforced by Realtime Worlds. In a move that was heavily criticized at a time, Realtime asked that critics wait until a week after the game's release to publish their reviews.

In the end, it just didn't sell well enough to recoup the money put into it. Less than six weeks after the game's release, the developer filed for bankruptcy and let go of most of its employees. Less than three months after the release of "All Points Bulletin," Realtime Worlds announced that the game's servers would be shut down and that it would be discontinuing support for the game. Luckily for fans, the game was eventually rescued and relaunched by GamersFirst as "APB: Reloaded."

"Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines" deserved better, as did the developer that made it, Troika Games. "Bloodlines" was an ambitious game, but it was unfortunately released in an incomplete form. Even worse, due to cutbacks at Troika, the remaining staff were unable to patch all of the game's problems. Also, to add insult to injury, "Bloodlines" came out on the exact same day as "Half-Life 2," with little in the way of marketing.

As "Bloodlines" lead writer Brian Mitsoda described to Eurogamer, "It was dumped on the market at the worst possible time — most people didn't even know we were out. Both fans and the Troika devs are always going to wonder what the game could have been like with another six months [of work]."

Following the colossal failure of "Bloodlines," Troika Games couldn't secure funding for any further projects. The developer closed its doors for good very soon after the game's release. However, the game became regarded as a cult classic. The fledgling vampire franchise is supposedly due to rise from the dead in the form of an upcoming sequel, which appears to be stuck in development hell.

Video game tie-ins for popular movie releases used to be a common sight in the video game industry, with everything from "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" to "Wayne's World" getting video games to try and capitalize on their popularity. While some tie-in titles are truly great, many have turned out to be cheap cash-ins, and the practice of giving everything a tie-in isn't as popular as it once was. This made the release of the tie-in game for 2016's "Ghostbusters" film all the more surprising. Unfortunately, the game's release also ended up providing a great reminder for why this practice has largely been left behind. 

Developed by FireForge Games, "Ghostbusters (2016)" is a top-down co-op game that replaces the movie's protagonists with mostly new characters (a weird move for a movie tie-in). The game has been considered to be the worst game released under the "Ghostbusters" name, due to its uninspired gameplay, dull bosses, and a complete lack of the humor that the franchise is known for. It went on to be dubbed as the worst game of 2016 by Metacritic. Less than a week after its release, FireForge Games declared bankruptcy.

"SimCity" is a classic franchise that allows players to build a town of their own, then slowly expand and improve upon it until it becomes a sprawling metropolis. The series began in 1989 and enjoyed multiple sequels, then finally a full-on reboot in 2013. Developed by Maxis Emeryville, the primary studio belonging to the original creators of the series, the reboot aimed to provide better visuals than the series had previous attempted, all while making the game more accessible to newcomers and adding more options for experienced fans. 

Despite being primarily a solo gaming experience, EA insisted that the developers program the game to require players to always be online while playing "SimCity." The decision angered some fans, but the problem was greatly exacerbated when the game launched and was plagued by server issues. Because of this, it was difficult for players to get into the game at all. When they did, they were frequently disconnected. Players eventually abandoned the game in droves.

The disastrous launch proved fatal for the game, not to mention Maxis Emeryville as a whole. In early 2015, EA revealed to Polygon that it had closed the studio, relocating its employees to other positions within the company.

It is difficult to overstate just how massive an impact "Tomb Raider" had on the video game industry. The first title was a rousing success and guaranteed that the studio behind it, Core Design, would have plenty of sequels to work on. Publisher Eidos Interactive eventually wanted the developers to make the game an annual franchise. To make this a reality, Core Design split its developers in two groups, with one team constantly working on new "Tomb Raider" games.

This road eventually led Core Design to developing "Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness," which would be the end of the studio entirely. Released in 2003, the game was an almost universal critical failure. It was panned for its increased emphasis on stealth gameplay, poorly implemented controls, frequent frame dips, and poor AI. The negatives proved enough to overshadow its more positively received elements, such as its darker story and a more character-driven narrative delivered by a solid new cast of voice actors.

The failure of the game — which Core chalked up to Eidos forcing the team to put out an unfinished game on a tight schedule — led to Eidos Interactive taking the IP away from Core Design and giving it to Crystal Dynamics. Members of the Core team left shortly thereafter to create their own studio. Meanwhile, the rest of the company's assets were absorbed by another publisher, effectively ending Core Design as it gamers knew it. It was a sad end for a studio behind one of the most influential video game franchises ever, but the series went on to find further success at its new home.

Believe it or not, putting Mario in a video game is not always a surefire route to success. A few of the lovable plumber's games have been outright flops, with weird outings on the Philips CD-i and the 64DD being a few notable examples of "Mario" titles that just didn't catch on. "Bowser's Inside Story" for the 3DS was one such flop, and it almost singlehandedly ended the studio that made it.

Alpha Dream is a name that Nintendo fans probably recognize, as the studio developed the "Mario & Luigi" spin-off series, as well as a handful of excruciatingly adorable "Hamtaro" games. Kicking off with "Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga," this sub-franchise followed the titular brothers through colorful RPG adventures, offering a refreshing break from the core series' gameplay. "Superstar Saga" was a smash hit, but a later installment in this same series was the breaking point for Alpha Dream.

"Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story" is often pointed to as the best game in the "Mario & Luigi" series, so Nintendo decided to celebrate the title's tenth anniversary by commissioning a remake. Unfortunately, the resulting game, "Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey" was released on the Nintendo 3DS handheld — nearly two years into the Nintendo Switch's life cycle.

Though generally liked by critics, the remake of "Bowser's Inside Story" ended up being one of the worst-selling entries in the entire "Mario" franchise. Alpha Dream limped along for another year before going out of business, its last title being "Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020."

"E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" for the Atari 2600 is one of the most infamous video games of all time, a title that is nearly synonymous with the word "flop." Developed in less than two months in order to capitalize on the success of Steven Spielberg's landmark film, "E.T." Is also often cited as one of the worst games ever made. In late 1982, however, Atari was so sure that brand recognition would carry the game to sales success that the company produced way too many "E.T." cartridges.

The game was a massive flop, to the point where Atari ended up disposing of hundreds of thousands of cartridges in a Texas landfill. Though the company would eventually recover from this debacle, Atari never again held the same dominion over the gaming industry that it enjoyed in the 1980s. The failure of "E.T." put a significant financial strain on Atari, and is seen by many as one of the events that precipitated the video game market crash of 1983. In the words of E.T. himself, "Ouch."