Sony had an exclusive FPS and they killed it.
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00:00If an online brand has its servers pulled or is discontinued from digital stores, it
00:04could be done forever.
00:05Although certain shooters, roleplayers or battle royales might still function offline,
00:09it's a real kick in the teeth when the servers close shop, especially if the property had
00:13a passionate online community.
00:15Sytrees on this list may have been popular in their day and developed a devoted fanbase,
00:19but that didn't stop Sony from shutting them down for good.
00:22I'm Sy, this is WhatCulture and these are 10 PlayStation Games Sony Killed.
00:2810. SOCOM Confrontation
00:30A development team should be really confident in a recognised IP before deciding to switch
00:35things up and turn a mainstream entry into an online multiplayer focused game.
00:40And since SOCOM Confrontation was the first instalment in the military series that wouldn't contain
00:44a single player campaign, this decision was risky.
00:48Having said that, Slant6 Games' franchise was impressively consistent to this point so
00:52this new direction had potential, but due to technical issues, constant lag and game
00:57crashing bugs, this PS3 tactical shooter was a major misfire.
01:01Also, SOCOM Confrontation is an awkward name to say out loud, so it probably didn't help.
01:06Tied to the side, many actual gameplay issues were resolved over time, but Confrontation never
01:10redeemed itself due to lack of maps, graphical limitations and unambitious gameplay.
01:15Sitting with a score of 63% on Metacritic, the underwhelming multiplayer title is the
01:20lowest rated SOCOM of them all.
01:22A mere three years after launch, Confrontation's servers were put to rest.
01:26The online services for the follow up SOCOM 4 came to a close on the same day.
01:31The reason why Confrontation ranks so low on this list is because it's technically still
01:35possible to play it.
01:36In 2001, die-hard fans reverse engineered the servers for the defunct online game and using
01:41a private connection, Confrontation found a way to live on, no thanks to Sony.
01:46That said, the aforementioned SOCOM 4 from 2011, which fared really no better, remains
01:51the last game in this now buried franchise.
01:549. The Legend of Korra
01:56After the success of Avatar The Last Airbender, a sequel was commissioned by Nickelodeon called
02:01The Legend of Korra.
02:02When this follow up was a smash hit, Activision published a beat em up based on the beloved
02:06cartoon, with Platinum Games serving as the lead development team.
02:10Since the studio had worked on innovative combat games like the Bayonetta series and Metal
02:13Gear Rising Revengeance, the cel-shaded fighting property appeared to be in safe hands.
02:18But due to uninspired combat, empty levels and a lack of enemy variety, especially in the bosses,
02:24Legend of Korra felt like the laziest of lazy tie-ins.
02:28With the rampant bugs, this train wreck could easily be mistaken as a barely functioning beta,
02:33and after how awful M. Night Shyamalan's last Airbender film adaptation turned out,
02:37you'd think that the fanbase had suffered enough.
02:39Thanks to the abysmal reviews, the digital-only title sold extremely poorly,
02:43and since it failed to make much money, Activision weren't keen on continuing to pay the licensing
02:48fees.
02:49As a result, Legend of Korra became digitally unavailable three years after release.
02:53Since it never received a physical release, it's been impossible to buy since.
02:58Considering how adored the animated series is, it doesn't really matter that the game's bad,
03:02there are people out there that want to own a copy, and that's just not possible anymore.
03:078. Swords of Gargantua
03:09On paper, virtual reality should work well with a game like Swords of Gargantua. The self-proclaimed
03:14Sword Combat Simulator has the hero using their oversized blade to slash enemies and deflect attacks.
03:19If the slicing and dicing mechanics were executed correctly, Third Wave's Sword Fighter could have
03:24been a phenomenon. Too bad, then, that this PSVR title is a steaming pile of doo-doo.
03:29No matter how skilled a player is, there's nothing you can do to combat the clunky controls and
03:33inconsistent movement. Since the gameplay doesn't always register a parry or a jab, the player's best bet is to
03:38flail around aimlessly hoping to hit something in the game, not in your front room. Sadly,
03:44there's no hope of these issues being patched as the PS4 version was delisted after a two-year run.
03:49Three months later, the servers went kaput. Since the multiplayer and single player require internet
03:54access, this decision rendered the Sony port of Swords unplayable. Yes, it's still available on Steam,
04:00but the PS4 version has gone the way of the dodo, which is appropriate because as I said it was doo-doo.
04:05No official reason was given behind this sudden decision, but it doesn't seem likely that Swords
04:09of Gargantua will be available on a Sony system any time soon.
04:137. Nobi Nobi Boy
04:15After the success of the Katamari series,
04:17Kaya to Takahashi released a similarly whimsical game called Nobi Nobi Boy in 2009.
04:22In each level, an elastic worm creature called Boy must twirl its body at certain angles to stretch
04:27out as much as possible. And though Kratos didn't name the character, it's genuinely called Boy,
04:32and the more Boy expands, the more points he's awarded, allowing him to unlock new areas.
04:37Much like Katamari, the PS3 title is incredibly addictive despite its simplistic and pretty
04:42silly premise. Although there's no real goal, finding elaborate ways to make the wiggly hero
04:47expand is deeply satisfying. Even though modern gamers would have a blast with Nobi Nobi Boy today,
04:52and I mean just look at it, it's absurd, it would just blow up on social media, obtaining this gem
04:57nowadays is a bit problematic since it was taken off the PlayStation Store in 2018, meaning you
05:03can't get your hands on Nobi Nobi Boy unless you already purchased it. Look, playing devil's advocate
05:08here, it's understandable when companies like Sony shut down the servers of lesser known IP that came
05:13out over a decade ago. But Nobi Nobi Boy comes from a fairly prominent and respected developer,
05:18and you can't help but think that it had its legs, not that worms have legs, cut out from underneath it.
05:236. Gran Turismo HD Concept As the title suggests, Gran Turismo
05:28HD Concept served as a sneak preview for the upcoming PS3 racing simulator, Gran Turismo HD.
05:34Despite minimal content, Polyphony Digital's free advertisers showcased enough material to
05:38build anticipation for the real deal. Less than a year after Concept's release,
05:42head director Kazanuri Yamo, she decided to go in a different direction, which led to the creation
05:46of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, a demo for a new sequel called, surprise surprise, Gran Turismo 5.
05:53Though GT HD Concept only contained 1 track and 10 playable vehicles,
05:58GT5 Prologue boasted 70 cars, 6 tracks and 50 events. Since Prologue offered smoother gameplay
06:04and better physics, it was clearly the superior of the two. And so for this reason, it wasn't long
06:09before GT HD Concept was purged from the PlayStation Store, effectively replaced by GT5 Prologue.
06:15Even though it was a shame the original version never came to be, it was the right decision. After
06:19all, many ideas planned for Gran Turismo HD, including noticeable car damage and online racing,
06:25were incorporated into Gran Turismo 5. Nevertheless, it would have been nicer if Gran Turismo HD
06:30Concept was still downloadable purely for the sake of nostalgia, and as an artefact of Gran Turismo's
06:36history. 5. Dust514
06:39It's hard to comprehend how awe-inspiring EVE Online was when it debuted back in 2003. The persistent world
06:45MMORPG is renowned for its complexity, range of gameplay and player interaction, as well as its
06:50gargantuan scale. After all, the spacefaring roleplayer contained nearly 8000 star systems.
06:56Just when it looked like CCP Games couldn't get more ambitious with it, they created a multiplayer
07:01spin-off called Dust514, which tied to EVE Online in a unique way. Rather than existing separately,
07:07interactions in one game had consequences in the other, whether it be political, social,
07:12or environmental. To build hype to the absolute max, Dust514 was totally free. How could anyone
07:18not be excited for this potential game-changer? Though the customisation and player interaction
07:23was awesome, this PS3 title was let down by atrocious graphics, glitches around every turn,
07:28and a heavy focus on grinding. Oh, there goes my excitement. Even if Dust514 was a triumph,
07:34it was fighting an uphill battle from the beginning since it was released six months before the
07:37PlayStation 4 as well. With Sony fans flocking to the next-gen console, interest in the cosmic spin-off
07:43dried up quickly, and Dust514 closed its doors in 2016. Despite the fact that EVE Online is still
07:49going strong after two decades, its offshoot failed to last three years.
07:534. No Mercy
07:55Best known for making pinball games, Zen Studios partnered with Marvel in 2009 to develop an arena-based
08:01shooter called Punisher No Mercy. And it would be easy to bag on this game, it's bad. I mean, it's really bad.
08:07In fact, it's so bad that it's not really anything. In fact, it's nothing. There is basically nothing in
08:12this game. It almost doesn't exist with how slight in content it is. Seriously, the story mode is
08:18composed of four matches. Seriously, four. The multiplayer has a couple of options, but it's not
08:23engaging enough due to the empty levels and mineral weapons of which players can only carry three at a
08:28time. Worse of all, the dull FPS doesn't try to have any fun with the Marvel brand, to the point
08:33where it's easy to forget that this is a Punisher game. Due to the poor reception,
08:37nobody would have blamed the powers that be if they closed the servers down,
08:40but since the Marvel licensing with Zen Studios was set to expire just a couple years after the
08:45release, it was wisely decided to put this trash out of its misery. In early 2011, the comic book
08:51dud was taken off the PlayStation Store less than two years after its debut. Although there is often
08:56understandably outcry when a game is killed off for good, even the biggest of Marvel fans didn't
09:00notice or care when Punisher No Mercy was taken out back and executed.
09:053. DriveClub
09:07Pushing the technological boundaries with its flawless car renders,
09:10Evolution Studios DriveClub looked like it was set to be something truly special.
09:14Considering each car was composed of 260,000 polygons and took seven months to develop,
09:20it probably would have been easier if the developers manufactured actual automobiles.
09:24Thanks to all the buzz, the racing simulator was among the best-selling games on the PlayStation 4,
09:28shipping two million units. However, DriveClub was met with heavy criticism,
09:33due to its poor online capabilities, inconsistent AI and lacklustre gameplay. Creators tried to make
09:39up for it with a bunch of patches, and they threw in additional features at no extra charge, including
09:44an innovative weather system that factors in cloud formations and movements of trees and grass.
09:49But unfortunately, the bumpy start cost DriveClub dearly, since it didn't bring in enough cash to
09:53turn much of a profit. When Evolution Studios shut down in 2016, the updates of course came to a grinding
09:59halt, signalling the beginning of the end. And sure enough, the online servers for DriveClub,
10:04DriveClub VR and DriveClub Bikes were switched off soon after. Although the single player functioned
10:10fine, it wasn't the same, and the future of this burgeoning series was snuffed out.
10:142. MAG
10:16Before its release in 2010, MAG looked like it was going to have a long and prosperous future.
10:21Zipper Studios' MMO Military Shooter was the first game to maintain 256 players simultaneously,
10:27which was the world record at the time. Each eight-player squad was overseen by a leader who
10:32was selected if their rank was high enough. This mechanic incentivised players to be extra
10:36diligent during their playthrough so that they could be promoted to team leader later.
10:40Since the missions involved airstrikes, parachuting, tanks and planes, the gameplay
10:44had a tremendous amount of variety. And with the well-structured skill tree,
10:48vast customisation and a plethora of diverse modes, MAG was a wonder to behold.
10:53Yes, it suffered from a few glitches and janky animations, but it wasn't enough to
10:57ruin the entire experience with a couple more patches, MAG really could have been epic.
11:02However, everything went belly up when Sony unceremoniously shut down Zipper Studios in
11:072012 due to quote, resource realignment. Yay, capitalism. When the developers went bust,
11:13it was no surprise when the servers were turned off less than two years later.
11:17MAG may not have been perfect, but he deserved a much longer run.
11:21And number one, of course, P.T.
11:24Ten years later, and this one still stings. Ten years, Jesus Christ.
11:30With Hideo Kojima working alongside Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro,
11:34P.T. was set up to be truly groundbreaking. Despite only being 20 minutes long,
11:38the horror experience was lavished with praise due to its eerie atmosphere, disturbing imagery,
11:43and photorealistic graphics. And when the ending revealed P.T. was a playable teaser for an upcoming
11:49Silent Hill project starring Norman Reedus, it couldn't come out soon enough.
11:53Although drastic changes in gaming development are nothing new,
11:56what came next was truly heartbreaking. After Kojima and his senior staff parted from Konami,
12:01the P.T. follow-up Silent Hills was cancelled. Just to row an ocean's worth of salt into the wound,
12:07P.T. was withdrawn from the PlayStation Store three days later, a decision that was regarded rightfully as
12:13spiteful, unprofessional, and cowardly. It caused such an uproar that several gamers
12:18rebuilt P.T. from scratch or ported it onto other systems, but due to legal issues these
12:23recreations were rendered unplayable. Many of the games on this list deserved so much better,
12:28but P.T. is in a universe of its own in terms of its influence on the gaming industry,
12:33with many horror games taking a nod from an unfinished project, no less. And one, of course,
12:39you can't play unless you spend a lot of money on a PlayStation 4 on eBay that still has it installed.
12:47Isn't that great? Thanks, Konami.