10 Beloved Video Game Studios That Publishers RUINED
"That beloved project that you've been working on? Just do Call of Duty instead."
As with any other medium, those who love and consume video games tend to follow specific creators wherever they go. The likes of Rockstar, Naughty Dog and Insomniac Games have all developed reputations for putting out consistent, high quality work, and all enjoy the advantageous position of being supported by strong parent companies; none of the previous three have ever had to worry about being yanked off their next title to support a different series, or have their offices gutted thanks to some restructuring.
However, not every studio is as fortunate. Sadly, for the last few decades, numerous studios have fallen to the wayside thanks to mismanagement from various video game publishers. Some were responsible for some of the best loved games of the last couple of console generations, but today, they're either dead, or have long since transformed into something unrecognisable.
It's a sad reality of the industry today that video game development is fraught and occasionally torturous, but it can be made so much worse given just the wrong push from a given publisher.
The following studios were given that exact push, whether by being forced to adopt a specific engine, shift development to support a different title or just by being liquidated entirely.
One thing's for certain though: No matter their fate, they're definitely not what they used to be.