There’s nothing quite like the hype for a new video game. Developers go all out with marketing and try to generate as much stir as they can. Whether that is done through trailers for a new IP, by previous installments in a long-running series, or because of a studio’s track record, there’s always a reason why anticipation for new games is off the charts nearing their release day.
But sometimes, it all turns out to be a deceptive cover-up for a disaster in the making. Games like these turn out to be broken, riddled with bugs, or literally empty in the worst-case scenarios. With there being many such instances throughout history, let’s recall the games that were a disaster at launch and left fans devastated.
Most Disappointing Video Game Launches
Before we get to our dishonorable mentions, let’s just say this list of the most disappointing video game launches does include some personal grudges. You’ll undoubtedly have a few of your own if you’ve been a long-time gamer too.
If that’s the case and you’d like to voice a different opinion, feel free to mention in the comments which game launches you think were a disaster and what you would rank them.
5. Assassin’s Creed Unity
Today, Assassin’s Creed Unity is hailed as having the best parkour out of any game in the franchise. But if you look at the launch day reviews, they couldn’t be more contradictory, and to an extent they were right.
Unity at launch was littered with bugs and was a huge mess. Animations were stuttering, the massive crowd density killed the frame rate, and the subpar story didn’t do it any favors. Believe me, Unity’s problems were worse than they sound. It even put Oblivion and Skyrim’s glitches to shame. Its launch was so disastrous that Ubisoft ended up giving away the Dead Kings DLC for free and even offered a free game to players as compensation. That said, currently the consensus is that Unity is the best Assassin’s Creed game in the series when it comes to gameplay and if you’re willing to look past the shallow storyline, you’ll genuinely enjoy the parkour and world.
Related: Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Remake Could Now Be In Development
4. Fallout 76
This wouldn’t be a list of games that were a disaster at launch if it didn’t include a Bethesda title. Not that they are bad in any way, but when it comes to Bethesda, the studio is, well, known to either overpromise or have a ton of bugs in their games at launch. In the case of Fallout 76, it was both.
Fallout 76 was totally devoid of life. There were no NPCs in the game as “interactions between players” was supposedly what Bethesda was going for. The go-fetch quests weren’t a bright idea either and let’s just not talk about the game-breaking glitches, especially the invisible enemies that hit you and random teleportation while playing the game – oops, we just did.
3. Anthem
Anthem’s launch is a curious case indeed. From the trailers, it seemed quite good, but then release day arrived and the game fans got wasn’t remotely close to what they were shown.
For starters, after the story ended, you basically had no reason to play the game as there was no end-game content. The loot system was terrible too. Anthem felt like it had no loot despite being a looter shooter, and the innumerable issues on consoles such as crashes and frame drops didn’t help. It was a total bare-bones experience, and unfortunately, unlike the other games in this list, Anthem never recovered.
Related: Anthem Sold 2 Million Copies In One Week And Then Died
2. Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077’s launch is infamous. While it’s unrecognizable today, it was a disasterpiece when it went live. Cops would spawn out of thin air, features like wall running were pulled from the final version, missing textures, NPCs glitched, and the game would crash so frequently that it was unplayable.
The pre-order culture left fans traumatized at what they had received and CD Projekt Red started sending out refunds. CDPR lost all the goodwill and credibility they earned with The Witcher 3. Cyberpunk 2077 has certainly come a long way since thanks to CDPR’s determination and while it’s easily one of the best gritty action games of all time, its launch was as brutal as it gets.
1. No Man’s Sky
With No Man’s Sky, Hello Games painted a picture of a game that didn’t exist. The “ultimate space game brimming with life, over 18 quintillion unique planets, and multiplayer” they called it, but in reality, No Man’s Sky was an utterly repetitive and lifeless exploration simulator where walking and farming resources was the only thing you could do.
The disappointment following the release of No Man’s Sky was immeasurable and Hello Games knew they were in deep water. However, you need to give credit where it’s due. Hello Games accepted its failure and has been working on No Man’s Sky restlessly for the past 7 years.
Today, No Man’s Sky stands as a pinnacle of what it means to be an amazing open-world game. It’s a shining example of if developers are ready to accept their faults and community feedback and then use that to better their game, they can easily become a respected and loved studio by players around the world.
Related: No Man’s Sky Update Brings Procedurally-generated Ships
That’s a wrap on this article. If you want more Insider Gaming, check out the news that Sony has a new PlayStation handheld console In development.
