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15 Video Games That Had Terrible Launches But Made Brilliant Comebacks

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Ignacio Weil

Gaming - January 17th 2026, 19:00 GMT+1

Cyberpunk 2077 (2020)

The hype was sky-high, so the crash landed louder than usual – especially on last-gen consoles, where performance problems and bugs made Night City feel unfinished in the most literal way. Quests broke, physics went feral, and immersion evaporated when basic systems didn’t behave consistently. For months, the story around it was bigger than the game itself, and that’s never a good sign. The recovery came through a long, visible rebuild: stability patches, meaningful system changes, and a willingness to rework core mechanics instead of just sanding edges. When the big revamp and expansion era hit, *Cyberpunk 2077* finally started playing like the slick open-world RPG people expected, rather than a cautionary tale about shipping too soon. | © CD Projekt Red

Fallout 76 (2018)

The idea was bold, but launch reality was brutal: bugs, instability, exploits, and a world that felt oddly hollow. Without human NPCs, many players missed the classic Fallout loop of factions, conversations, and quest-driven momentum. The comeback arrived through years of fixes, but the biggest shift was restoring that RPG backbone. NPCs, dialogue-heavy questlines, and more structure gave people reasons to stay. Once the roughest technical problems were addressed, *Fallout 76* became a far more complete, playable take on the experiment than its first impression suggested. | © Bethesda Game Studios

Sea of Thieves (2018)

The ocean was gorgeous, the sailing was a blast, and then you’d ask: “So… what now?” At launch, the sandbox felt strangely empty once the novelty wore off – few enemy types, thin mission variety, and progression that didn’t offer much beyond cosmetics. The magic was there in the crew stories, but the game needed more structured adventures to support them. Rare treated that criticism like a roadmap, building a steady cadence of updates that added narrative arcs, new voyage types, emergent threats, and seasonal goals. Over time, *Sea of Thieves* became the kind of shared-world pirate game that generates stories because there’s finally enough world to push back. | © Rare

STAR WARS Battlefront II — Star Wars Battlefront II (2017)

The backlash wasn’t really about blasters or map design – it was about feeling nickel-and-dimed for basic progression. At launch, the grind and loot box economy made *Star Wars Battlefront II* look like a multiplayer shooter built around monetization first, balance second, and that perception swallowed everything else. Even players who liked the gunplay couldn’t ignore how power and unlocks seemed tied to the wrong incentives. EA eventually pulled back hard: progression was reworked, loot boxes were stripped out, and the game leaned into cosmetics and clearer unlock paths. With a steady flow of updates, new modes, and big waves of Clone Wars-era content, it gradually became the Star Wars shooter many expected on day one. | © DICE

No Mans Sky — No Man’s Sky (2016)

A universe-sized promise is risky when the first impression feels lonely, repetitive, and missing key features people thought were locked in. Exploration had moments of awe, but the loop could flatten out fast, and the gap between expectation and reality became the headline. What followed wasn’t a quick patch-and-pray situation – it was years of unusually consistent, free reinvention. Hello Games kept adding the stuff that made the fantasy work: deeper base building, multiplayer improvements, vehicles, story frameworks, and more varied planetary experiences. Little by little, *No Man’s Sky* shifted from “what happened here?” to one of gaming’s clearest examples of long-term redemption through sustained updates. | © Hello Games

Tom Clancys The Division — The Division (2016)

New York looked incredible, but the endgame didn’t hold together once players hit the top. The first weeks were dominated by bugs, odd balance swings, unreliable matchmaking, and loot that often felt stingy or pointless, especially in the Dark Zone where fairness mattered most. A lot of people bounced after realizing the treadmill wasn’t satisfying and the technical issues kept interrupting sessions. Ubisoft Massive’s rescue plan focused on fundamentals: better loot drops, clearer builds, smoother stability, and a more rewarding loop that respected your time. As updates and expansions landed, *Tom Clancy’s The Division* grew into a proper cover-shooter RPG with a healthier meta and a reason to keep logging in. | © Massive Entertainment

Tom Clancys Rainbow Six Siege — Rainbow Six Siege (2015)

A tactical shooter that demands precision can’t afford sloppy foundations, and the early months were rough: server instability, matchmaking frustrations, and a light content package that made repetition hit fast. The concept – tight teamwork, destructible environments, and round-based mind games – was strong, but the experience needed polish and long-term support to match its ambition. Ubisoft’s turnaround was a commitment to the live-service grind in the best way: constant balance passes, new operators, map updates, and a major health-focused push that tackled technical debt. As the meta matured and competitive play took off, *Rainbow Six Siege* shifted from shaky launch story to one of the genre’s most durable esports-friendly shooters. | © Ubisoft Montreal

Destiny (2014)

Plenty of players loved the shooting immediately, then hit the credits and wondered where the rest of the story went. The campaign felt oddly fragmented, the lore was harder to access than it needed to be, and the endgame grind could come off as repetitive instead of rewarding. It wasn’t “unplayable” so much as strangely incomplete for a game with such blockbuster confidence. Bungie’s fix was to give the universe clearer direction and better reasons to log in beyond habit. Raids and events kept the community anchored, but it was the bigger expansions – especially *Destiny*’s later overhauls – that brought stronger narrative beats, cleaner progression, and a more satisfying loot chase. The result was a shooter that finally matched its own mythmaking. | © Bungie

The Elder Scrolls Online (2014)

A trip to Tamriel sounded irresistible, yet the early months were clogged with server strain and an MMO structure that didn’t click for everyone. Progression and balance issues didn’t help, and the game struggled to win over single-player Elder Scrolls fans. The revival came when the design became more welcoming and less gated, paired with big systemic improvements. Over time, updates expanded how you could explore, level, and group up, and chapters added weight and variety. Eventually, *The Elder Scrolls Online* started feeling like a true living Elder Scrolls world you could drop into for the long haul. | © ZeniMax Online Studios

Driveclub (2014)

Sony aimed for a glossy PS4 racer built around social play, but the core promise buckled fast. Servers struggled, matchmaking stalled, and online features were unreliable enough to overshadow the driving. That hurt more here because the hook wasn’t optional – it was the identity. The recovery came through steady patching that stabilized performance and made races feel consistent again. With more cars, tracks, and standout additions like dynamic weather, *Driveclub* gradually shifted from cautionary tale to underrated arcade gem. | © Evolution Studios

Warframe (2013)

It arrived as a fast, stylish space-ninja idea that didn’t yet know how to explain itself. Early *Warframe* could feel repetitive and thin – limited mission variety, rough onboarding, and a grind that wasn’t always rewarding in the right places. The movement and combat hinted at something special, but the surrounding systems were still forming, and the game’s identity wasn’t fully locked in. What turned it around was relentless iteration: reworks, deeper progression loops, and expansions that kept adding “one more layer” without losing the core speed. Story quests, new frames, open-world zones, and quality-of-life improvements transformed it into a long-running co-op universe instead of a promising prototype. | © Digital Extremes

Battlefield 4 (2013)

Early matches could feel like a technical stress test: crashes, rubber-banding, messy netcode, and progress that didn’t always feel secure. The scale was there, but the foundation wasn’t, and players noticed immediately. What changed was the relentless repair campaign – major updates targeting hit registration, stability, and network performance. Community-driven testing and repeated fixes slowly sanded down the chaos. Once it settled, *Battlefield 4* finally delivered the large-scale, destructive sandbox it was supposed to be from day one. | © DICE

Final Fantasy XIV (2010/2013)

Square Enix took an unprecedented step: admitting the original version didn’t meet expectations, then essentially burning it down to rebuild it properly. Early design choices made the game feel slow, awkward, and frustrating to navigate, with technical problems and clunky systems that pushed even loyal fans away. Instead of pretending it was fine, the team leaned into a full relaunch, rethinking everything from quest flow to combat feel. *Final Fantasy XIV* returned with a clearer structure, better performance, and an MMO rhythm that respected players’ time without losing the series’ identity. Over the years, expansions kept raising the bar, turning a once-derided project into one of the genre’s most celebrated long-running worlds. | © Square Enix

Diablo 3 — Diablo III (2012)

Launch night felt less like a dungeon crawl and more like a queue simulator, with servers collapsing under demand and the infamous “Error 37” becoming the real final boss. Even once people got in, the loot chase didn’t hit right, and progression could feel stingy unless you leaned into the auction-driven economy. The Real Money Auction House, in particular, warped the vibe – suddenly the best gear felt like something you bought, not something you earned. Blizzard’s turnaround was decisive: *Diablo III* ditched the auction house, revamped drops with Loot 2.0, and made endgame loops far more satisfying. By the time *Reaper of Souls* and Adventure Mode took over the conversation, it had turned into the easy-to-recommend action RPG it always wanted to be. | © Blizzard Entertainment

The witcher 1 msn — The Witcher (2007)

The writing had bite, but the original release came with enough rough edges to distract from it – bugs, performance issues, and uneven English presentation. It could feel like fighting the interface when you wanted to live in the world. The turnaround wasn’t just patching; it was a genuine overhaul. The Enhanced Edition improved stability, cut down load times, and upgraded localization and voice work, making the experience far smoother. By then, *The Witcher* had earned a second look and started building the reputation the series now lives on. | © CD Projekt Red

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A bad launch used to be a death sentence. Now it’s sometimes just the ugly first draft – day-one disasters, broken matchmaking, missing features, and patch notes that read like apologies. The surprise isn’t that players get mad; it’s that a handful of games survive the pile-on long enough to earn a second chance.

What follows are comeback stories powered by rewrites, rebalances, and stubborn post-launch support – titles that went from cautionary tales to recommendations. If you’ve ever wondered which infamous releases eventually became genuinely great (and why), these are the ones that pulled it off.

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A bad launch used to be a death sentence. Now it’s sometimes just the ugly first draft – day-one disasters, broken matchmaking, missing features, and patch notes that read like apologies. The surprise isn’t that players get mad; it’s that a handful of games survive the pile-on long enough to earn a second chance.

What follows are comeback stories powered by rewrites, rebalances, and stubborn post-launch support – titles that went from cautionary tales to recommendations. If you’ve ever wondered which infamous releases eventually became genuinely great (and why), these are the ones that pulled it off.