Summary
As amazing as video games are, they are not exactly easy to make. EspeciallyAAA titleswith big scopes and huge budgets. So, it may be easy to forget about the developers and studios that are responsible for creating some of the best experiences in the industry.
But the truth is that gaming is also a business. And sometimes, no matter how good a studio’s repertoire is, they are inevitably closed down for one reason or another. The saddest part is that a lot of studios that were behind some of the best AAA games are no longer around, and many players are not even aware of their closure.
1Clover Studio
Closed In 2007
During the early 2000s,Clover Studiowas one ofCapcom’smost renowned subsidiaries, as they were responsible for creating some ofthe company’s most creative video games, likeViewtiful Joe,God Hand,and the critically acclaimedOkami.
But despite their critical success, most of Clover Studio’s titles failed to meet their superior’s expectations. Besides, the developers were dissatisfied with Capcom since they felt that they were always opposed to their risky new ideas. Even though Clover Studio was shut down in 2007, most of its members went on to foundPlatinumGamesthat very same year.
2Midway Games
Closed in 2010
Back when Arcades were more common,Midway Gameswas a key figure in the industry, seeing as they were behind iconic franchises that are popular even to this day, likeRampage,NBA Jam,and, of course, the revolutionaryMortal Kombatseries. They were one of the biggest game developers from the US back in the day.
However, the evolution of the gaming industry was not kind to Midway Games. As Arcades slowly faded out in favor of home consoles, they continued to develop and publish their own games. But they kept losing more & more revenue and eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Most of their assets would later be acquired byWarner Bros. Interactive.
Sonyentered the console war in 1994 with the PlayStation, which was relatively late to their Japanese contemporaries. Most of their early success wasmainly due to the studios that believed in their new device, and one of the most important ones wasPsygnosis, which was later renamedStudio Liverpool.
They were the kings of the racing genre for a while, being responsible for the underratedWipeoutfranchise and having worked on a lot of qualityFormula Onegames. Not to mention, they developed most of theLemmingsgames. In 2012, Sony closed it down for no major reason after an assessment of all their European studios.
As one ofActivision’s many subsidiaries,Neversoft Entertainment,Inc. worked on all types of game genres and franchises,fromTony HawktoSpider-Man. They also held the keys to theGuitar Herofranchise after it was acquired by Activision and even developed some of the laterCall of Dutytitles.
Neversoft was one of many victims of Activision’s logistical restructurings. As the Guitar Hero games were making less & less money, many employees were laid off, and the rest were sent toInfinity Wardas part of a merger. After that, the studio was officially shut down.
Closed In 2016
Fableused to be one of Xbox’s most prolific IPs.Peter Molyneux’sambitious RPG franchisewas a major hit for the company, and its developer,Lionhead Studios, was a key player for the Xbox brand. On top of that, they also developed theBlack & Whitegames.
The fall of Lionhead Studios was seemingly caused byFable Legends,a multiplayer entry in their iconic franchise that was canceled by Microsoft, who would later shut them down. Apparently, Lionhead Studios were not able to meet their own studios and their closure was blamed on “a string of bad decisions and mismanagement”.
6Visceral Games
Closed In 2017
Electronic Artsis infamous for shutting down many of its subsidiaries, even more so than Activision. It’s hard to believe that they would close a studio responsible for a franchise as successful and influential asDead Space, but that was the case with its creator,Visceral Games.
They also developed the underratedDante’s Infernoand were working on an untitledStar Warsgame. What happened? EA stated that they closed down Visceral Games because they were following marketplace trends, but many fans believe it was because they were not interested in making single-player experiences anymore.
7AlphaDream
Closed In 2019
AlphaDreamwas one of Nintendo’s most popular partners, as they were responsible for theMario & Luigiseries of RPGs. The fact that they worked on games in the iconicMariofranchise was an honor in and of itself, but sadly, it wasn’t enough to save the company.
In late 2019, AlphaDream declared bankruptcy, claiming that their slow revenues and high development costs didn’t let them keep up with their ever-growing debt. Many fans blame Nintendo for their demise since they were forced todevelop new games for theNintendo 3DSmore than 2 years into theSwitch’s life.
8Japan Studio
Closed In 2021
A lot of Sony’s best first-party titles were created byJapan Studio. They did it all:Ape Escape,LocoRoco,Gravity Rush,Ico, and evenShadow of the Colossus, which is still consideredone of the best video games of all time. They also helped co-develop other hit games, like FromSoftware’sBloodborneand Sucker Punch Productions’Ghost of Tsushima.
The PlayStation brand wouldn’t be what it is today if it wasn’t for Japan Studio, which is why the news of several departures from the company between 2020 and 2021 was a major letdown for fans. Japan Studio was eventually merged withTeam Asobi, and the remaining staff were sent over there.
9Free Radical Design
Closed In 2009 and 2023
Free Radical Design’s story was truly inspiring: A brand-new studio built by ex-employees fromRarewho worked onGoldenEye 64andPerfect Darkwent against their publisherEidos Interactivein order to create an amazing first-person shooter series known asTimeSplitters.
After three hugely successfulTimeSplittersgames, everything went wrong for them.Star Wars Battlefront 3was canceled after more than 2 years of development. And their infamous “Halo Killer,”Haze, was such a commercial and critical failure that it led to their bankruptcy. They would later be purchased byCrytekand turned into Crytek UK.
Things looked better forTimeSplittersfans whenEmbracer Groupannounced that they were reforming Free Radical Design in 2021 to make a new entry in their beloved franchise. However,they were disappointingly shut down once again in December 2023after a major restructuring.
