In the world of gaming, the role of the corporation is usually played by a dastardly, mysterious and often oppressive firm. For decades, the companies have been the ogre of countless franchises, serving as the creators of viruses, the manufacturers of destruction, or literally world-ending entities.
There are hundreds of fictitious companies, but unfortunately not all of them are equally memorable. When the core storyline of a video game or the origin story for a video game, is built around a despicable, money-hungry enterprise, there is a good chance it will be remembered for years to come. In some cases, these organizations to be the games they operate in, because without them the universes simply wouldn’t exist.
8 Vault-Tec
Without Vault-Tec, the precipitation universe would have a hard time existing. This is a company that has been around since the late 1990s and serves as a seedy, deceptive organization that built dozens of high-tech “vaults” that were used on the surface to protect civilians in the event of a nuclear apocalypse.
However, the reality was something much darker, as many of the Vault-Tec vaults were actually used for dark or destructive experiments. As a company, Vault-Tec focused on technological marvels, creating amazing machines and wondrous devices that changed the lives of ordinary people. But beneath the surface lurked malicious intent, and there are some theories suggesting that Vault-Tec was responsible for the nuclear war that wiped out the world’s population.
7 Abstergo
Abstergo first appeared in 2007, ushering in the introduction of the Assassin’s Creed franchisee. As corporations go, few have as much evil intent as Abstergo, who serves as the modern day representation of the Templar Order, an ancient organization that seeks to rule the world with an iron fist. Its main goal is to free the world from the Assassin Order, a faction that has resisted its mission for thousands of years.
As the story goes, Abstergo was founded in 1937 and worked in the shadows to manipulate the world order. There are history-altering references to suggest that Abstergo quietly fueled the fascist fire that fueled, say, World War II. It was Abstergo who developed the Animus devices, which could explore the lives of users’ ancestors, which is very much the foundation of the whole Assassin’s Creed franchisee. It’s definitely an iconic franchise and definitely stands out as one of the most evil companies in gaming.
6 Umbrella
Few companies are as iconic as Umbrella, which first appeared in Resident Evil in 1996. This fictitious organization was founded in the 1960s and quickly grew into a multinational company. It was a company with many irons in the fire, from industrial machinery and cosmetics to food and consumer products.
From day one, Umbrella’s main interest was in pharmaceuticals and in the 1970s, Umbrella experimented with bio-organic weapons, viruses and dark, mysterious projects. In the Resident Evil franchise, Umbrella caused what was essentially a zombie apocalypse through the creation and subsequent release of the T-Virus. Because Umbrella effectively caused the end of the world and launched a multi-generational franchise that spanned various media, it is certainly an iconic company.
5 Black Mesa
Black Mesa is a government-owned research company active in the half-life universe, and at its peak it brought about the end of the world. In half-life, Black Mesa began in the 1950s as an organization dealing with all areas of modern science. Its activities included physics, propulsion, robots, genetics and radiation. It also studied extradimensional realms, which is important to note.
At the opening of half-life, released in 1998, the player experiences the Black Mesa Incident. During this event, Black Mesa scientists accidentally caused the ‘Resonance Cascade’, which disrupted the tissues of space and allowed extraterrestrial life forms from the ‘Borderworld’ to flood into Earth. as the half-life universe is unraveling, alien races are oppressing the human race, taking over the earth and generally wreaking havoc, all because a company couldn’t leave it alone well enough.
4 Cerberus
While Cerberus started out as a simple paramilitary organization in Mass effect‘s timeline, it would grow into a powerful company. This ‘human-survivor’ company was founded after the First Contact War, which took place shortly after humanity unlocked the ability to jump through space using the Mass Relay systems.
After a long period of growth, Cerberus became a shady company that tried to influence the entire universe through sabotage, espionage and “media manipulation”. While Cerberus’ operations were primarily focused on the human race, the company’s operations impacted the entire galaxy. At the beginning of Mass Effect 2Cerberus uses incredible technology to revive Commander Shepard, the protagonist of the series, and from then on, Cerberus is essentially the company responsible for the continuation of the entire franchise.
3 Ryan Industries
BioShock launched in 2007, featuring an innovative underwater environment known as Rapture. This was a city built on the bottom of the ocean, far from the tyranny of modern society and the oppression of dictating governments. Rapture was not the refuge it was, however, and within a few years it would collapse into a hive of crime, addiction, fear, and rogue.
The Rapture project was headed by Andrew Ryan, founder of Ryan Industries. This company built Rapture from the ocean floor, but it didn’t end there. In BioShock, Ryan Industries also continues to make Plasmids and Gene Tonics and test them on the Rapture population. After the collapse of Rapture, Ryan Industries builds ‘Big Daddies’ – hulking, monstrous creatures that roam the streets of Rapture.
2 Hyperion
Once upon a time Hyperion mass-produced relatively inexpensive weapons, but that was just the beginning for this space-faring company. In border areasHyperion would become a manufacturer of epic proportions, responsible for creating a range of destructive, unbelievable weapons. At the head of Hyperion is Handsome Jack, a narcissistic, overconfident antagonist with an interest in world domination.
Hyperion wasn’t always an evil company, but when Handsome Jack killed his way to the top, it became the beating heart of oppression on Pandora, the setting for the border areas franchisee. From the moment he was inculcated as the leader of Hyperion, he declared himself the rightful ruler of Pandora. With the power of the Hyperion enterprise at his fingertips, Handsome Jack started looting Pandora for resources, which is where the franchise essentially begins.
1 Landgraaf Industries
Landgraaf Industries is believed to be SimNation’s largest and most powerful company. This is the fictional world that The Sims has been around for more than two decades and the Landgraaf company has been in that world since day one. While the name ‘Landgraab’ has somewhat dubious origins, Landgraab Industries is not an inherently evil company.
There is a misconception that the Landgraaf corporation only deals with real estate – that is not the case. In fact, Landgraab Industries is a global leader in home technology, science, education and consumer products. Since 2000, the Landgraaf family has been an immediately recognizable group in The Sims franchise, and it’s probably the only company in the entire universe worth mentioning.
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