Top 5 Game Studios Killed by EA

EA has a history of killing studios. Of all its victims, these five are the most tragic. Let's reminisce about those developers left behind in the wake of the terrifying murder known as Electronic Arts (just in time for Halloween)!

[UCForce]

I never forget what EA did. They are just worst as Activision.

[KomaRising]

I would personally say Activision is just slightly worse but they both make some of the shitiest decisions in the industry.

[Forbidden_Darkness]

It's pretty sad when a company can have a top 5 for studios they've killed off.

[darthv72]

Pandemic and Bullfrog were very sad closures. Origin sort of was a given after the last wing commander game (and the bad movie didnt help things).

[Lighter9]

RIP Bullfrog. Dungeon Keeper 3 would've been epic.

[Fist4achin]

The sabateur and mercenaries were two great games that would have been badass to have been released or evolved for this generation.

[Relientk77]

Westwood Studios also made a Diablo clone called Nox. It's still one of the best PC games I've ever played, absolutely love it. If you like Diablo I highly recommend it.

[Reibooi]

The loss of Westwood was hard to swallow when it happened. I know alot of folks jump to Command and Conquer but for me I fell in love with the Lands of Lore series. It makes me sad that EA has hold of the IP and will in all likelihood never touch it. Not that I blame them as it was a niche series but I wish when a company knows that they will never use a IP again they would just sell it. For example nice that IO could keep Hitman as SE would have never done anything with it.

[BlackTar187]

EA is awful.

[slappy508]

I miss Bullfrog and Westwood !

[Gamist2dot0]

Not only killed off studios, but also ruin studios and games.

[SegaGamer]

Couldn't agree more. So many franchises taken over by EA that have become worse or completely vanished.

[Eonjay]

Your username just reminded me of Peter Moore. He went from President of Sega America to Executive VP of gaming at Microsoft (which then became Don Mattrick's and most recently Phil Spencer's current job) to the head of EA's sports unit. I am not saying he is unlucky but the man doesn't exactly have positive stories in his wake.

[PapaBop]

Is there a studio they bought that they haven't ruined? Only two left even worth mentioning that I can think of is DICE and Bioware. The former seems to be a far cry away from their Battlefield days and the latter hasn't really made anything to the same standard before EA bought them.

[Gamist2dot0]

I think DICE is the only studio they haven't ruined yet. They ruined Bioware with the animation issue for ME: Andromeda.
Was going to add Respawn to the list but they got screwed on Titan Fall 2 launch.

[Artemidorus]

That company has destoryed talent and opportunities from growing.

It's a pure corporate shite from the highest order, even winning awards for being the worst gaming company.

Wish people would wake up and stop supporting this company.

[Sirk7x]

I think it might have been worst company, period, if I remember correctly xD

[CrimsonWing69]

Thanks EA for taking a diarrhea dump all over a game and studio I really liked.

Best publisher in the world, let me tell you.

[PlayableGamez-]

Bioware is next.

[Yohshida]

they are already done

[TheColbertinator]

RIP Pandemic.

Next up is Bioware.

[Yohshida]

and respawn

[Razzer]

Respawn is privately owned. They can find another publisher

[theshredded]

F*k EA and also the morons that keep buying their crappy yearly releases.

[moomoo319]

Love the story about them trying to steal BlackBox's need for speed tech after cancelling NFS Drift 3 and a random clause in the contract was the only thing that saved them from being pillaged by EA

[CurbStompin]

No Maxis? No Visceral?... they were definitely top 5.

*EDIT* I just realized we not only lost Dead Space, but we lost Army of Two also....

Now im sad again.

[andrewsquall]

I think they made the 3rd Army of Two game but it wasn't their nurtured baby like Dead Space was on its proprietary game engine that Visceral made. Army of Two III was the start of the Frostbite renaissance at EA where every single damn game going forward was working towards being made on that engine.

DO say a prayer for Dante's Inferno though, that was Visceral's game and there was even a great tease for Dante's Purgatory that possibly would have been the next game.

[Nivekki]

EA are a cancer for gaming. They take everything and squeeze it until all that's left is shit.

[quenomamen]

Bet most of the people who get into business with EA or Activision have back up plans, maybe their own studio, or original IP they keep on the back burners just in case. I would.

[FlameWater]

Strategy is quite clear, buy out the competition so you can sell inferior quality

[Fearmonkey]

Patrick Soderlund, the guy behind Visceral's closure, tried to do the same to the guys who made Project Cars per the owner on a podcast interview, when they worked for them. Now he does this to Visceral, and I had read it was his idea that everyone must use Frostbyte which impacted Mass Effect:Andromeda. Outside of a new Dragon Age, I cannot think of anything EA is making thats exciting to me now that they are killing what the Visceral game was going to be. They have all these great IP and they do nothing with it.

[Scatpants]

Microsoft should hire all the people from the studios EA ruins so that they can make some exclusives again.

[Chevalier]

Except that would require some kind of foresight and MS lacks that completely.

[Scatpants]

Right, Their main job is to make operating systems and they can't seem to get that right at all. I feel like I could have designed an OS myself that would have been better than Windows 8. Like do they even have people to test things or are there just yes men telling them it's great? Because 5 minutes with Windows 8 should have sent them back to the drawing board.

[Knightofelemia]

I loved Bullfrog I use to play Theme Hospital all the time on the PS1 all the time. I wanted a Theme Hospital sequel but the evil shadow of EA quickly killed that idea I wonder how long before Bioware joins that list.

[Tankbusta40]

R. I. P. WESTWOOD and Command and Conquer

[Lord_Sloth]

Usually a defender of EA, but I don't know if I can forgive them closing the team behind Dead Space.....

[Jayszen]

EA is a blight on the game industry. I have been avoiding EA games after they destroyed Command & Conquer, an IP that once was at the top of strategy gaming and should have lasted well into the 21st century. I also blame some of the devs who allowed themselves to be bought by EA despite having seen what the company has done to other great studios in the past.

Westwood, Bullfrog, Visceral, Pandemic, sigh....the list goes on. When I look at the original game boxes of so many games I always start getting angry at how much gaming has changed once the game designers allowed certain corporations to take over. As for EA, one just wonders where they get their decision-makers from? I honestly believe that with many of these studios had they been left to do what they do best, the financial benefits would have been huge and gamers would have had wonderful games to enjoy. One only has to look at Naughty Dog, Guerilla and even Sucker Punch and it is clear that Sony appear to realize that what is the point of buying a studio if the developer isn't allowed to do continue doing what the studio is good at and the reason why it was purchased in the first place.

I also think some gamers are also to blame - look at the apologists for games like Shadow of Morodor and Forza 7 who continue to shout that if we do not like loot boxes and micro-transactions, we don't have to buy the game without realizing it is a slippery slope and that if we didn't buy such games, the practice would soon stop and we could get back to having games that delivered the content we expect for, say, $75 and maybe a little bit more for a genuine extension or two. I would rather pay a bit more or have a smaller game and a better experience than be told that game development costs a lot more money than it used to and MTs and Loot boxes are the only ways devs can 'eat'.

[tdogg]

And I was hoping we get a Dantes inferno sequel one day

[KillBill]

Really... they had to put that on multiple pages? Damn clickbait websites need to be banned.

[cfc83]

I don't like EA, and it's not just studios they destroy, it's games such as pga golf that their own studios make. To their credit though, at least they invest in ambitious projects.

[Oninioh]

U know who should be chastised too? The morons that buy EA games. Stop buying their games people. Vote with your wallet. Because your mouth doesn't amount to anything I'm afraid.