10 Video Games That Were Killed By Executive Meddling
2. Hitman (2016)
Whilst the episodic nature of the game wasn't exactly a bad thing on paper, with most of the levels actually benefiting from this structure, the marketing of the game and explanation of how it worked was pitifully poor.
People were scared off by the episodic nature of the game as Hitman: Absolution was hardly noteworthy for its excessive replayability. So, paying a hefty sum for a single Hitman level was pretty daunting. It was just a poor implementation and poor marketing of a decent idea.
Not to mention the way in which the levels were divvied up was done purely for monetary gain. Originally packaged in two segments, the game was then split in three, ruining the flow of the gameplay and making it an even more confusing mess for fans to buy into.
If you need further convincing, IO Interactive ditched Square Enix as a publisher for the upcoming sequel. If that doesn't speak to the state of background meddling in the first game, then nothing will.