Forgotten EA Franchises (original) (raw)

Key Takeaways

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-acclaimed Hi-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, like Electronic Arts. Whether they're acquired properties, ones that ran their course, or ones completely locked away in their vaults, these are some of EA's forgotten franchises.

7 Overlord

The Joy of Being Evil Runs Out

Forgotten EA Franchises- Overlord

Famous for making the Dizzy series, 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, and Overlord a series has been dormant since 2015’s Overlord: Fellowship of Evil. Originally made by Triumph Studios for Codemasters, the series was a twist on fantasy RPGs (particularly Fable) where players control the titular Overlord and his minions in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 with Fellowship of Evil's critical drubbing. As such, it's unlikely EA will resurrect the series anytime soon.

6 Operation Flashpoint

Gaining A Name, But Not the Game

Forgotten EA Franchises- Operation Flashpoint Cold War Crisis

Technically, EA acquired Operation Flashpoint via their acquisition of Codemasters. But the series’ developers, Bohemian Interactive, claimed Codemasters only owned the name Operation Flashpoint, not the actual contents of the games. Then, like how _Championship Manager_’s developers moved on to Football Manager, Bohemian Interactive re-released the first OF game as part of their new Arma series.

Fans of the tactical shooter just moved onto that series, which has kept them going right up to 2022’s Arma Reforger. Codemasters tried to keep the IP going by themselves with OF: Dragon Rising and OF: 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.

5 Theme Park

Funfair Sim and Its Developers Get EA'd Into Oblivion

Best Amiga Games- Theme Park

EA inherited Overlord and OF, 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, like Syndicate, or had a worse fate: becoming a freemium game like Dungeon Keeper Mobile.

But perhaps the most forgotten franchise was the Theme Park series. The original game was an amusement park sim with a dark sense of humor, which led to the equally anarchic Theme Hospital. If things remained well between Bullfrog and EA, it would've expanded to resorts, airports, and even Theme Prison. Instead, they were reduced to making safer, more basic Theme Park sequels that were outdone by rivals like Rollercoaster Tycoon.

4 DeathSpank

No More Bacon to Go Around

Forgotten EA Franchises- DeathSpank

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 (of Monkey Island fame) saw his action RPG title DeathSpank as 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.

3 Army of Two

Inventive Duo Shooter Loses What Made It Stand Out

army of two both characters back to back firing guns

Made by EA via their Montreal studio, Army of Two had 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 Day and The 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 like A Way Out and It Takes Two, it could be worth bringing Army of Two back.

2 Knockout Kings/Fight Night

Boxing Goes Down for the 10-Count

Forgotten EA Franchises- Knockout Kings Fight Night

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’s Madden, FIFA (now EA Sports FC), NHL, NBA, or EA 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 games via the Knockout Kings series.

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 renamed Fight Night. But it stopped after 2011’s Fight Night Champion. The game had great reviews, but it wasn’t enough to make the Nights last longer.

1 Jane’s Combat Simulations

Realistic Warfare In the Air and On the Sea

Forgotten EA Franchises- Jane's Combat Simulations

Running from 1994 to 2000, EA produced a range of different navy and flight combat sims based on Fred T. Jane’s military reference books. Jane’s Combat Simulations showed 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-titled Jane’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-produced Jane's games. Then their license for the books ran out right as Looking Glass Studios were in the middle of making Jane'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 with JASF: Jane’s Advanced Strike Fighters, but its more arcade-like and decidedly unrealistic flight combat bombed with both fans and critics.