Summary
It’s rough when a company shuts down a beloved video game developer. The Embracer Group has become particularly notorious for shutting down Volition (Saints Row) and Free Radical Design (TimeSplitters). Then Microsoft got in the news for shutting down Tango Dreamworks after they made the critically-acclaimedHi-Fi Rush, alongside Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Studios, and Roundhouse Studios.
Not that this is anything new to the games industry, as there are plenty of companies that have shuttered studios and sat on their IPs for years if not decades. Some companies are more notorious for it than others, likeElectronic Arts. Whether they’re acquired properties, ones that ran their course, or ones completely locked away in their vaults, these are some ofEA’s forgotten franchises.
7Overlord
The Joy of Being Evil Runs Out
Famous for making theDizzyseries, the Game Genie, and a host of Simulator games, Codemasters became a part of the EA empire in 2021. Since then, the new overlord seems to be EA, andOverlorda series has been dormant since 2015’sOverlord: Fellowship of Evil. Originally made by Triumph Studios for Codemasters, the series was a twist on fantasy RPGs (particularlyFable) where players control the titular Overlord and his minions in order to reclaim the land from 7 corrupted heroes.
The Overlord himself plays like a third-person adventure title while controlling his minions is more like an RTS or regular RPG. It was fun and funny thanks to its different twists on fantasy tropes (“be evil, or really evil!"). Its expansions continued the fun, but its sequels and spin-offs got more mixed receptions, reaching a nadir withFellowship of Evil’s critical drubbing. As such, it’s unlikely EA will resurrect the series anytime soon.
6Operation Flashpoint
Gaining A Name, But Not the Game
Technically, EA acquiredOperation Flashpointvia their acquisition of Codemasters. But the series’ developers, Bohemian Interactive, claimed Codemasters only owned the nameOperation Flashpoint, not the actual contents of the games. Then, like howChampionship Manager’s developersmoved on toFootball Manager, Bohemian Interactive re-released the firstOFgame as part of their newArmaseries.
Fans of the tactical shooter just moved onto that series, which has kept them going right up to 2022’sArma Reforger. Codemasters tried to keep the IP going by themselves withOF: Dragon RisingandOF: Red River.Though without Bohemia’s touch, they came off as average at best. The name has been on ice since 2011, and will likely stay that way.
5Theme Park
Funfair Sim and Its Developers Get EA’d Into Oblivion
EA inheritedOverlordandOF, but they were on the first floor with Bullfrog Productions. They published the developer’s games from their first big success,Populous,in 1989, to 2001, when it was essentially merged with EA UK, which was then shuttered in 2011. Many of the company’s big games have since gone quiet, likeSyndicate, or had a worse fate: becoming a freemium game likeDungeon Keeper Mobile.
But perhaps the most forgotten franchise was theTheme Parkseries. The original game was an amusement park sim witha dark sense of humor, which led to the equally anarchicTheme Hospital. If things remained well between Bullfrog and EA, it would’ve expanded to resorts, airports, and evenTheme Prison. Instead, they were reduced to making safer, more basicTheme Parksequels that were outdone by rivals likeRollercoaster Tycoon.
4DeathSpank
No More Bacon to Go Around
Not every game series is meant to live forever. They catch on fire at the right time in the right place, then pass on into history. It’s arguably a better fate than bringing them back just to get drubbed for their archaic mechanics or outdated gags. For example, Ron Gilbert (ofMonkey Islandfame) saw his action RPG titleDeathSpankas a fun two-part ride where its titular hero seeks The Artifact to rid the land of evil.
The first game was considered “Act 1”, and its sequel,Thongs of Virtue, would’ve been “Acts 2 and 3” combined, as DeathSpank seeks the said enchanted undergarments. But they did well enough for it to receive a third entry,The Baconing, which pits DeathSpank against his dark nemesis, the AntiSpank. They’re still fun games to go back to, but making new entries today would require more than bacon memes.
3Army of Two
Inventive Duo Shooter Loses What Made It Stand Out
Made by EA via their Montreal studio,Army of Twohad an inventive approach to its shooter gameplay. Instead of being an ordinary blam-blam deal, players either had to work together as a duo to achieve their objectives, or rely on their Partner Artificial Intelligence (PAI) if they were on their own. The PAI wasn’t much of a step up from, say,Resident Evil 5’s similarly dippy CPU allies, but it played quite well as a two-player experience.
It certainly did well enough to get two sequels,The 40th DayandThe Devil’s Cartel. The latter improved the AI, only to remove the co-op elements that made the series stand out. Players were stuck with the new, more generic lead, Alpha, and his AI partner, Bravo, to go with the more generic gameplay. With EA finding critical success with duo-based games likeA Way OutandIt Takes Two, it could be worth bringingArmy of Twoback.
2Knockout Kings/Fight Night
Boxing Goes Down for the 10-Count
If EA had a big Scrooge McDuck-like money vault lying around, most of its coins would come from the EA Sports brand. Whether it’sMadden,FIFA(nowEA Sports FC),NHL,NBA,orEA Sports UFC, they’ve made large profits from these licensed games for years if not decades in some cases. But they’ve also let some sports fall by the wayside,like boxing gamesvia theKnockout Kingsseries.
Players could pick a boxer (licensed or otherwise), or make their own slugger, and take them to the top of their division. They included famous boxers like Muhammad Ali and Oscar De La Hoya among their ranks. The series had regular installments up to 2004 when it was renamedFight Night. But it stopped after 2011’sFight Night Champion. The game had great reviews, but it wasn’t enough to make theNightslast longer.
1Jane’s Combat Simulations
Realistic Warfare In the Air and On the Sea
Running from 1994 to 2000, EA produced a range of different navy andflight combat simsbased on Fred T. Jane’s military reference books.Jane’s Combat Simulationsshowed DOS and Windows users just what it was like flying WW2-era planes, controlling submarines, organizing naval fleets, and more. EA’s last entry in the series, 2000’s catchy-titledJane’s F/A-18, simulated flying the titular plane during a fictional Russian civil war over the Kola peninsula.
It was well-received, as were all the EA-producedJane’sgames. Then their license for the books ran out right as Looking Glass Studios were in the middle of makingJane’s Attack Squadron. It was eventually completed by Mad Doc Software (now Rockstar New England) for Xicat Interactive, but the results were as messy as the development. The series made one last run in 2011 withJASF: Jane’s Advanced Strike Fighters, but its more arcade-like and decidedly unrealistic flight combat bombed with both fans and critics.
