The top 5 most expensive video game failures

The video game industry shows no signs of slowing down, especially after raking in US$66 billion with the recent release of the latest consoles being the Playstation 4 and XBox One. But just because it's a growing industry, it doesn't mean that game developers have it easy especially when hardcore gaming fans take each and every game release seriously. If you don't please the gamers, you can expect the game to end up in the landfills where they will remain. Here are the five expensive video game failures that ended up just like that.

1) E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982)
Developer: Atari
Result: Bankruptcy of Atari in 1983

E.T. the Extra Terrestrial

1982′s E.T. the Extra Terrestrial will forever be known as the game that was so bad, it murdered Atari. In an effort to capitalise off the popularity of Stephen Spielberg’s 1982 summer blockbuster of the same name, Atari paid a whopping USD25 million in licensing rights to produce the game.
Subsequently, Atari insisted that the game be completed for a Christmas release of the same year, leading to a rushed development of only 5 months. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so suffice to say, the same concept probably applies to video games as well. Reception for the game was overwhelmingly negative with players blaming the poorly constructed levels and patchy graphics among others.
Anticipating another mega hit, Atari had decided to ship over 5 million units of the game to satisfy demand. The subsequent negative reaction led to poor sales and returns, resulting in Atari allegedly dumping millions of unsold game cartridges in a New Mexico landfill, though this urban legend remains unverified (unless you want to grab shovel and check). The failure of the game ultimately cost the company millions and contributed greatly towards the downfall of Atari in 1983.
2) PAC-MAN (1982)
Developer: Atari
Result: Bankruptcy of Atari in 1983

Pac-Man

Unless you’ve been living in North Korea your entire life, you’ve probably heard about PAC-MAN. PAC-MAN was released in arcades by developer NAMCO back in 1980, growing into a global smash hit soon after. Thousands of kids from around the world stuffed their pockets full of quarters and lined up at arcades just to get a go at PAC-MAN.
Hoping to turn a profit off the success of the arcade version of PAC-MAN, Atari attempted to port the game into the Atari 2600 home game console. The porting of an already successful game seemed like a sure-win recipe for Atari so the company ordered over 10 million units of the game produced to cater demand. Unfortunately, technical difficulties resulted due to the significantly lower memory space of the Atari 2600 leading to developers having to alter both graphics and game-play in a desperate attempt to meet the tight deadline.
As expected, the changes did not bode well with many of PAC-MAN ‘s hardcore fans expressing sheer disappointment towards the “abomination” created. In the ensuing chaos, Atari ended up with millions of unsold cartridges sitting in their warehouse. The failure of the game coupled with the disaster of the aforementioned E.T. game hammered the final nail in the coffin of Atari. Reporting a loss of over USD500 million in 1983, Atari was effectively finished.

3) Duke Nukem Forever (2011)
Developer: 3D Realms/Gearbox Studios
Result: 3D Realms losing an estimate USD20 million

Duke Nukem Forever

The game follows the adventures of Duke Nukem, a self-absorbed macho anti-hero with a loud mouth and a really, really big gun. The game pans out like your stereotypical gun slinging shooting game, as players guide Duke through the ruins of post-apocalyptic Earth, blasting aliens and mouthing them off. Being the fourth game in the “Duke Nukem” series following the highly successful and critically acclaimed Duke Nukem 3D, anticipation for the game was at an all-time high.
Duke Nukem Forever first entered development back in 1996 and in touch of cruel irony, pretty much took “forever” to get released. Duke Nukem Forever’s time in “development hell” was largely due to disagreements by management over the game’s platform engine, which changed multiple times over the course of development. Programmers had to constantly restart work from scratch every time management decided to change platform engines, leading to a severe backlog in progress. The slowdown eventually lead to the game being picked up by Gearbox Studios after the original creators, 3D Realms, fell into financial disarray.
While the game was eventually released after 15 years in development, reviews were lackluster with many fans lampooning the poorly constructed game-play. The lengthy delay is estimated to have cost 3D Realms at least USD20 million over 15 years.

4) Daikatana (2000)
Developer: Ion Storm
Result: Bankruptcy and Subsequent Closure of Ion Storm

Daikatana

Daikatana, a Japanese term, literally translates into “Big Sword”. As you’ve probably guessed, the game involves controlling a samurai master on a vendetta as he brings his really sharp sword around town slicing through everything from ninjas to tomatoes. The game was the brainchild of John Romero, a famous video game developer known for creating several popular game titles in the mid-90s.
Due to John Romero’s involvement, the game was heavily hyped by development company Ion Storm. The massive advertising campaign carried out by the company drew heavy criticism due to the use of highly offensive tag lines such as “John Romero’s about to make you his bitch”. As a result of the expensive advertising costs plus significant delays in the market release of the game, Ion Storm is estimated to have blown at least USD44 million on production costs.
When Daikatana was finally released in 2000, the game was widely panned by critics for its poor graphics and confusing game-play. Eventually, despite the hype, Daikatana failed to deliver and only sold approximately 200,000 units. The poor sales of Daikatana eventually led to the closure of Ion Storm and a very public apology from John Romero.

5) The Last Express (1997)
Developer: Smoking Car Productions/Brøderbund
Result: Closure of Smoking Car Productions and Sale of Brøderbund due to financial difficulties

The Last Express

1997′s the Last Express sets itself apart from other games on this list as the only game to get rave reviews from players yet lose money financially. The premise of the game takes place in the early 1900s before the outbreak of the First World War and plays out like a mystery novel with players taking control of Robert Cath, a passenger aboard the Oriental Express. The game featured multiple endings dependent on the player’s choices accompanied by cutting edge graphics for the time.
So if The Last Express was such an amazing game, why did it fail? Unlike Daikatana, which was plagued by too much advertising, The Last Express suffered from too little advertising. Brøderbund, the company charged with marketing the game, suffered a massive walkout a mere weeks before the scheduled release of the game. While the game was eventually released, no one knew about it due to the lack of advertising. This led to the Last Express selling a mere 100,000 copies, far below the minimum amount required for the company to break even.
The failure of the Last Express led to the closure of the game’s developer, Smoking Car Productions and subsequent sale of Brøderbund due to financial difficulties. Months later, The Last Express was eventually yanked from shelves.
With the recent release of the new gaming consoles and new game releases being announced in the near future, would we be seeing more games that could possibly be in this list? Only time will tell.

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