Greed has been a part of human history for a long time. Arguably, greed has become increasingly problematic from the moment humans discovered farming, settled down, and restructured society. You know, those funky little concepts you might’ve heard during sociology or history lectures; socioeconomic factors like class, wealth accumulation and inequality, or the division of labor.
Related:Video Game Villains Who Were Truly Terrifying
Okay, you probably get the point. A more intriguing way to see it is: similar to aRunescapeor Idle Game player, some people, or in a more modern context corporate entities, just really like to see numbers go up. If you’re curious about the most greedy corporate entities within video games, you’re in the right place.
8Deep Rock Galactic
While much of the gameplay is more combat, mining, gear, and progression focused, at the end of the day, you’re a bunch of dwarves working for theDeep Rock Galacticmining company, with a member of upper management broadcasting tasks and commands into your ear.
Sure, it isn’t completely apparent what kind of goals or values this intergalactic mining company holds, but extracting resources for the sake of profit, no matter the cost, whether it’s the dwarves failing their mission, or having to eliminate armies of space bugs, seems a bit greedy right?
7Stardew Valley
While it’s true thatStardew Valleyis a cute, fun, cozy, and relaxing farming simulator with some extra mechanics and features, like combat and fishing, there’s a rich plot to explore underneath that initial impression. That’s where your character’s previous employer, Joja Corporation, comes in; the main competitor to Pierre’s general store.
Just like in real life, larger corporations can create competitive advantages against smaller businesses, stifling competition. For Joja Corp, that means being open longer and on more days than Pierre’s store.
Oh, Joja also likes charging for a store membership if that wasn’t greedy enough already.
6The Ascent
In The Ascent, you’re thrown into a dystopian future as an enslaved worker on Veles, a world controlled by a mega corporation called The Ascent Group. The reason you end up fighting, though, is because Ascent Group suddenly collapses, and a power vacuum is born.
Related:Best Non-Binary Villains In Video Games
Now, you have other corporations, as well as syndicates and other factions, all vying for control. As it turns out, having one giant corporation running everything can be a huge problem, both during its reign and after its collapse.
Some might argue this is the problem with too much centralization.
5Citizen Sleeper
Citizen Sleeper is an RPG with anti-corporatist messaging, which should make it obvious that such a game is about opposing corporate greed. In it, you play a fugitive in a sci-fi dystopia, fleeing from gigantic, all-encompassing corporations.
The problem is, you are pretty reliant on these corporations for your own survival; you’re an android, and at some point or another, you’ll be forced to repair or replace pieces of yourself. The greediest part? Planned obsolescence; the parts made and sold by these corporations are designed to fail after a set amount of time.
4Borderlands 3
If you’ve ever playedBorderlands 3, there are two immediately obvious things going on in that universe: first, despite the intentional humor, everything is pretty wild and dystopian, to the point where practically everyone and everything is fighting to survive, and second, there are tons of guns to go around.
The thing is, each of those guns has a specific manufacturer, whether that be DAHL, Torgue, Jakobs, or any other entity. Based on this information, it’s reasonable to conclude that these companies are intentionally capitalizing on conflict to make a quick buck.
3The Resident Evil Series
You’d think Umbrella Corporation would’ve been satisfied with its vast array of subsidiaries, participating in and profiting from various sectors, including pharmaceuticals, transportation, industrial machinery, and their applications, consumer products, tourism, and more for multiple decades.
Related:Angriest Villains In Games
But no, Umbrella had to take it a step further, meddling in biological weaponry and selling to the highest bidder for militaries across the globe. And while Umbrella wasn’t technically greedy for the money, they were greedy for the sake of achieving specific end goals, such as the Wesker Project.
2The Outer Worlds
Picture this: it’s 2355, and humans have begun colonizing planets in space. Pretty cool right? Well, yes and no. You see, there’s more to it than just imagining this as the new, galactic form of the wild west; sadly, it’s not quiteRed Dead Redemption 2in space.
The problem is, practically all of that colonization is headed by hyper-corporate entities and robber barons that have determined economic class as the single most important factor in society. If you’re not producing surplus value for these entities, like the workers at C&P Boarst Factory on the planet Monarch, you’re considered worthless.
1Cyberpunk 2077
It’s hard to beat the glaring ways greed manifests itself in the dystopian world of Night City. Not only do various corporations continue exploiting resources and labor for the sake of profit inCyberpunk 2077, they oftentimes operate above the law and control practically every aspect of life.
Living lavishly and accumulating wealth isn’t enough for Arasaka Corporation in particular, though. To maintain power and influence, Arasaka is seeking what you could likely call the ultimate form of greed; a way to upload your consciousness, and thus, cheat death indefinitely.
