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Top 20 Worst Video Game DLCs And Expansions Of All Time

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Ignacio Weil

Gaming - October 20th 2026, 20:30 GMT+2

Assassins Creed Shadows Claws of Awaji — 1. Assassin’s Creed Shadows – Claws of Awaji (2025)

Naoe gets a bō staff, Yasuke gets another island to explore, and anyone exhausted by *Shadows* gets little reason to reconsider. *Claws of Awaji* continues the pair’s story with ambushes, new enemies, and some welcome closure, but familiar mission design limits the excitement. The disappointment is how cautiously it builds on its foundations: a handsome destination and a new weapon can only do so much for another round of recognizable chores. | © Ubisoft

KINGDOM HEARTS III Re Mind — 2. Kingdom Hearts III – Re Mind (2020)

*Re Mind* makes a peculiar bargain: endure another tour of *Kingdom Hearts III*’s finale, then enjoy some spectacularly demanding boss fights. Its expanded story revisits familiar confrontations with additional perspectives, while the Limitcut encounters give combat enthusiasts a much stronger reason to return. At a $30 launch price, that split matters. Players seeking substantial new adventures through Disney worlds instead received narrative homework and an advanced course in getting flattened by Organization XIII. | © Square Enix

Total War WARHAMMER III Blood for the Blood God III — 3. Total War: WARHAMMER III – Blood for the Blood God III (2022)

Commanding armies of murderous demons apparently doesn’t cover the cost of cleaning up after them. *Blood for the Blood God III* sells the blood sprays, dismemberment, and exploding bodies that give *Warhammer*’s battles their appropriately gruesome finish. Owners of either earlier game’s blood pack received it free, so this wasn’t a compulsory third purchase. Nevertheless, treating battlefield gore as an optional paid accessory remains an awkward choice for a series this enthusiastically bloodthirsty. | © Creative Assembly

4. Mortal Kombat X – Easy Fatalities (2015)

Finish him! Then check how many tokens you have left. *Mortal Kombat X* sold consumable shortcuts that simplified Fatality inputs, with five costing $0.99 and thirty costing $4.99 at launch. Standard commands remained available, and tokens could also turn up in the Krypt, so nobody needed to pay to perform a finisher. The objection was the business model: an easier control option became something you could repeatedly use up and buy again. | © NetherRealm Studios

TEKKEN 7 DLC13 — 5. Tekken 7 – Frame Data Display DLC (2019)

Three dollars isn’t much until the thing being sold is help understanding a game you already bought. *Tekken 7*’s Frame Data Display reveals crucial timing information, allowing players to study which attacks leave them vulnerable and when they can retaliate. It’s useful, especially in such a demanding fighter, which makes the separate charge harder to stomach. Learning why you keep losing shouldn’t require deciding whether the explanation fits your DLC budget. | © Bandai Namco Studios

Europa Universalis IV Leviathan 2021 — 6. Europa Universalis IV – Leviathan (2021)

A grand-strategy campaign can consume entire weekends; discovering that its save file has become unusable is therefore a fairly personal insult. *Leviathan* and its accompanying free update arrived amid reports of corrupted saves, crashes, placeholder artwork, and badly balanced mechanics. New diplomatic tools and development options struggled to compete with the basic question of whether a campaign would survive. Subsequent repairs mattered, but this launch gave armchair emperors excellent reasons to abdicate. | © Paradox Tinto

Cropped Evolve Season Pass — 7. Evolve – Season Pass (2015)

*Evolve*’s most intimidating monster might have been its purchasing options. The $24.99 Hunting Season Pass supplied four Hunters and three monster skins, but Behemoth, the additional playable monster, was a separate proposition. Free maps and the ability to play alongside DLC characters without owning them were sensible concessions. Still, buying a season pass without getting the big new creature was a frustrating introduction to a multiplayer game already demanding considerable investment from its audience. | © Turtle Rock Studios

Street Fighter X Tekken Character Pack — 8. Street Fighter X Tekken – Character Pack (2012)

The twelve extra fighters were already on the disc. That detail overwhelmed practically everything else about *Street Fighter X Tekken*’s character pack, which charged $20 to unlock names including Sakura, Blanka, Bryan, and Lei. Capcom explained that storing the data there helped avoid compatibility problems, but customers understandably saw a roster they possessed without permission to use. Whatever the technical reasoning, paying again to unlock existing disc content was a miserable way to introduce new fighters. | © Capcom

9. The Sims 4 – All DLC (2014–Present)

Want seasons, a university education, and a family dog? In *The Sims 4*, those ambitions lead to three different expansion packs. Individually, its add-ons can provide excellent stories and useful building tools; collectively, the catalogue makes ordinary aspects of simulated life feel exhaustingly itemized. Expansion packs sit alongside game packs, stuff packs, and kits, each offering another reason to spend. The frustration comes from assembling a cohesive household experience through so many separate purchases. | © Maxis

Tiny Tinas Wonderlands Season Pass — 10. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands – Season Pass (2022)

*Borderlands* had trained players to expect memorable destinations and substantial adventures from its DLC. *Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands* followed that reputation with four Mirrors of Mystery: compact, replayable dungeons built around increasingly difficult boss encounters. The additional Blightcaller class offered a worthwhile reason to experiment, but the overall package leaned heavily on repetition and loot farming. Anyone hoping for another elaborate campaign soon discovered that Tina’s next big adventure involved running through the same encounters again. | © Gearbox Software

Metro last night msn — 11. Metro: Last Light – Ranger Mode (2013)

*Metro*’s oppressive atmosphere benefits enormously from fewer interface distractions and ammunition you’re frightened to waste. Ranger Mode leaned into precisely those strengths, then became a bonus attached to the Limited Edition or a separate paid download. A difficulty setting was suddenly part of the purchasing decision. The mode itself had a clear creative purpose; the frustration was being charged extra for a variation that made the radioactive tunnels feel even more convincing. | © 4A Games

Cropped Asuras Wrath — 12. Asura's Wrath – Episode Pack Part IV: Nirvana (2012)

Asura can punch his way through gods, but even he can’t knock down a checkout screen. *Part IV: Nirvana* supplied four additional episodes containing the story’s true conclusion, resolving conflicts left hanging by the base game. The fights are gloriously excessive, and the emotional payoff gives all that shouting a purpose. Those strengths also expose the problem: this is the ending players wanted from their original purchase, sold back to them as an extra. | © CyberConnect2

Cropped Mass Effect 3 From Ashes — 13. Mass Effect 3 – From Ashes (2012)

Imagine spending two games investigating a vanished civilization, then discovering that its surviving eyewitness costs extra. *From Ashes* introduced Javik, a Prothean squadmate whose observations complicate the mythology *Mass Effect* had spent so long building. His recruitment mission was brief, but his presence enriched the wider campaign. That made the launch-day $10 charge particularly irritating: one of the trilogy’s most revealing characters was treated as an optional addition when he felt anything but incidental. | © BioWare

Cropped Sonic Adventure DX — 14. Sonic Adventure DX – Upgrade (2010)

*Sonic Adventure*’s downloadable console release took an unusual route to becoming the Director’s Cut: ask players to buy another upgrade. The DLC provided sixty missions and access to unlockable Metal Sonic, features associated with the earlier DX edition. Returning fans were therefore paying to restore familiar extras rather than discover a newly expanded adventure. The missions offer more to do, but splitting an old rerelease into separately priced components makes the whole arrangement feel unnecessarily stingy. | © SEGA

Cropped Street Fighter III Color Pack DLC 2011 — 15. Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition – Color Pack DLC (2011)

Seven extra colors per fighter sounds like an uncomplicated cosmetic purchase. Somehow, *Third Strike Online Edition* made it complicated: opponents without the DLC couldn’t see those colors, and replays didn’t preserve them. You could pay to personalize a character and still lose that personalization when showing off a match. For a game whose appeal includes expressing yourself through your chosen fighter, selling alternate palettes with such limited visibility was a remarkably unappealing offer. | © Capcom

Cropped Mass Effect Pinnacle Station 2009 — 16. Mass Effect – Pinnacle Station (2009)

Shepard has alien civilizations to negotiate with and a galaxy to save, but *Pinnacle Station* would prefer another attempt at the training leaderboard. Its thirteen combat scenarios emphasize timed kills, survival, and other arena objectives, sidelining the conversations and consequential choices that distinguish *Mass Effect*. A dedicated combat challenge isn’t inherently a bad idea. Building one around the original game’s awkward shooting, with little narrative substance to compensate, makes this assignment especially easy to decline. | © Demiurge Studios

Cities Skylines II Beach Properties — 17. Cities: Skylines II – Beach Properties (2024)

*Beach Properties* managed to become more memorable for its refund arrangements than its buildings. Released while *Cities: Skylines II* still needed substantial improvements, the $9.99 asset pack offered waterfront housing and trees rather than a meaningful expansion of coastal simulation. The response prompted an apology, refunds for individual purchases, and alternative compensation for Ultimate Edition owners. Its assets were subsequently incorporated into the base game, finally giving those disappointed virtual homeowners something resembling a decent deal. | © Colossal Order

Destiny 2 Curse of Osiris 2017 — 18. Destiny 2 – Curse of Osiris (2017)

Mercury promised ancient mysteries and the Infinite Forest, then delivered a surprisingly cramped place to spend your evenings. *Curse of Osiris* paired a short campaign with repetitive simulation passages, but its worst mistake affected people who hadn’t bought it: raised requirements blocked access to previously available endgame activities. Bungie subsequently restored access to the Prestige Leviathan raid. An expansion should make a shared world feel larger; this one briefly made the existing purchase feel smaller. | © Bungie

The Saboteur The Midnight Show 2009 — 19. The Saboteur – The Midnight Show (2009)

Buying *The Saboteur* secondhand could leave its cabaret dancers more thoroughly dressed than expected. New console copies included a single-use code for *The Midnight Show*, which unlocked nudity alongside a VIP area and other extras; subsequent owners could purchase access separately. PC players received the content automatically. The whole arrangement turned a minor adult-content option into an incentive to buy new, adding a strangely bureaucratic interruption to a game about sabotaging Nazi-occupied Paris. | © Pandemic Studios

Cropped The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion HORSE ARMOR — 20. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Horse Armor Pack (2006)

Steel or elven? That was the grand creative dilemma offered by *Oblivion*’s Horse Armor Pack, a small purchase that became an enormous punchline. The armor did increase horses’ health, so dismissing it as entirely cosmetic misses a functional benefit. Even so, a couple of outfits for your mount felt painfully modest beside expectations of substantial role-playing expansions. Its lasting notoriety owes more to selling such a tiny addition than to anything particularly disastrous about the armor itself. | © Bethesda Game Studios

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Paying extra to make a game worse takes some of the fun out of checking out. You’ve already bought the base game, enjoyed it enough to want more, and trusted that the season pass would be worth it. Then come the recycled missions, flimsy story additions, and cosmetic upgrades priced like small luxuries. The worst video game DLC and expansions can sour that original purchase, leaving you wishing you’d stopped at the credits.

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Paying extra to make a game worse takes some of the fun out of checking out. You’ve already bought the base game, enjoyed it enough to want more, and trusted that the season pass would be worth it. Then come the recycled missions, flimsy story additions, and cosmetic upgrades priced like small luxuries. The worst video game DLC and expansions can sour that original purchase, leaving you wishing you’d stopped at the credits.