Assassin's Creed: Unity's launch was a technical disaster, infamous for its game-breaking bugs, horrific glitches, and dismal performance. Rushed for a holiday release, players encountered an unfinished game with a clunky protagonist and a weak story. The debacle was so severe that it damaged the franchise's reputation and ended Ubisoft's annual release model. | © Ubisoft
This remaster of three classic games should have been a surefire hit, but it launched as a bug-ridden mess with ugly new visuals. It was so poorly received that Rockstar had to pull it from sale temporarily, which was a huge problem since they had already removed the original versions from storefronts. Players were left with a broken product, unable to access the beloved classics it was meant to replace. | © Rockstar Games
Battlefield 2042 completely missed the mark on what fans love about the series, stripping out core features like a scoreboard and voice chat at launch. The game was also a technical disaster, riddled with so many bugs and performance issues that it felt unfinished. All that remained was a hollow shell that betrayed the hype of its classic Battlefield-style trailer. | © Electronic Arts
Star Wars: Battlefront II's launch was ruined by a pay-to-win system that locked heroes and power-ups behind a brutal grind or expensive loot boxes. The massive player backlash forced EA to temporarily remove microtransactions, creating an industry-wide scandal over predatory monetization. | © Electronic Arts
BioWare, a studio famous for its story-rich RPGs, baffled fans with Anthem, a shallow live-service looter-shooter that lacked purpose. Plagued by repetitive missions, technical problems, and a famously troubled development, the game quickly lost its player base. Plans for a major overhaul were eventually canceled, leaving Anthem as a costly and abandoned failure. | © BioWare
Fallout 76 infuriated fans by abandoning the series' single-player roots for a broken, empty multiplayer world. Its launch was a mess of glitches, tedious gameplay, and a complete lack of human NPCs, making the wasteland feel utterly lifeless. While it has been significantly improved since, its disastrous first impression remains legendary. | © Bethesda Game Studios
The 2013 SimCity reboot was crippled by its controversial always-online requirement, which backfired instantly when its servers failed at launch. This left players completely unable to access the city-builder they had just purchased. The disastrous opening paved the way for competitors like Cities: Skylines to dominate the genre SimCity once defined. | © Electronic Arts
The original launch of Final Fantasy XIV was so fundamentally broken that Square Enix took the drastic step of literally blowing up its own game world. This allowed for a complete reboot, transforming the disastrous failure into the beloved and critically acclaimed A Realm Reborn. Its legendary comeback story now completely overshadows the initial mess. | © Square Enix
WWE 2K20 was so riddled with bugs and glitches that it forced the annual series to skip a year. While the pandemic was the official reason, the game's terrible reception clearly prompted a complete overhaul. This notorious failure ultimately led to a much-needed and successful franchise reboot. | © Visual Concepts
Despite the Rockstar pedigree of its lead developer, MindsEye landed with a thud, bombed by both critics and players. The studio's response, which blamed a "concentrated effort to trash the game," only made the situation more bizarre. Following its commercial failure, the company was hit with significant layoffs, cementing its status as a major flop. | © Build a Rocket Boy
Diablo 3 is best remembered for the infamous "Error 37," which constantly prevented players from even logging in. This was due to Blizzard's controversial decision to require a constant online connection, even for solo play, which backfired spectacularly. The game was further marred by its poorly received real-money auction house, creating a sour first impression that the series never fully shook. | © Blizzard Entertainment
No Man's Sky became infamous for its disastrous 2016 launch, where the actual game was a hollow shell compared to the vast experience that was promised. Players discovered a repetitive grind sorely lacking the complex multiplayer and varied content shown in trailers. While it has since been redeemed through years of massive, free updates, its initial release remains a classic example of ambition tragically outpacing execution. | © Hello Games
Concord arrived as another generic live-service shooter in a crowded market, failing to offer anything that felt new or necessary. While technically stable, its uninspired design and steep price led to a complete commercial failure with a shockingly low player count. Sony responded by shutting down the game's servers and refunding players, making its entire lifespan barely a blip. | © Firewalk Studios
Despite a promise that it would release "when it's ready," Cyberpunk 2077 launched in a notoriously broken state, especially on last-gen consoles. The game was so plagued with bugs and performance issues that it was pulled from the PlayStation Store, shattering the developer's stellar reputation. It has since undergone a remarkable redemption arc, but its initial launch remains a cautionary tale for over-promising and under-delivering. | © CD Projekt
The Day Before was so catastrophic that it felt like a scam, releasing as a bug-ridden extraction shooter instead of the promised open-world MMO. Players were met with a broken game riddled with technical issues and accusations of plagiarism against the developers. In an unprecedented move, studio Fntastic shut down entirely and pulled the game from sale just four days after its Early Access release. | © Fntastic
For every polished masterpiece, the gaming industry has delivered an infuriating dud that launched broken, boring, or downright baffling. These are the titles that arrived with a symphony of error messages, a tidal wave of player outrage, and a legacy of pure disappointment. Let's look back at the most catastrophic game launches that truly tested the patience of players everywhere.
