9 Promising Video Games That Were Totally Ruined By Publisher Meddling

Constantly in flux, the video game industry is always on the verge of revolutionising the way players see games, with a steady creation of new technology allowing for unique experiences that weren't available as little as a few years ago.

However, just like every other medium, at the end of the day it's the people with the money who get to call the shots. Video games are a business, and it's often businessmen rather than creatives who decide what a game turns out like.

This relationship between publishers and developers doesn't have to be a negative thing though, and in some cases can actually lead to great, successful products that retain their creative integrity. In fact, the relationship between Naughty Dog and Sony, Rockstar and Take-Two, Bethesda and ZeniMax etc. are all shining examples of how this relationship can benefit games and the industry as a whole.

Publishers and developers don't always see eye to eye on projects though, and history has show that they can suffer as a result. Thinking only of trying to make as much money as possible, publishers have interfered in the development of exciting new games throughout the years a bit too often, either requesting small changes or complete overhauls that at the end of the day have ruined otherwise promising titles.

After successfully rebooting the long-dormant series with 2011's Human Revolution, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided hit shelves five years later. Despite waiting half a decade for a new instalment in the series though, what fans received was noticeably not that much different from the previous release.

Featuring a restricted open world version of Prague and a main narrative that ended just as it got going, the sequel lacked both the content and polish that most players expected after such a long wait.

The cause for the disappointment was seemingly revealed in this video however, which shed more light on the game's troubled development process. After working on the title for years, publisher Square Enix decided that the game was too ambitious, splitting it into two different projects that would offset the long wait between sequels.

Unfortunately that meant that Mankind Divided became very obviously half of a game, with the rest of the experience being held over for the next release. Sadly, with the disappointing sales of the first title and the developers being moved onto an unknown Marvel project, that other Deus Ex experience may never see the light of day.