10 Most BROKEN Video Game Launches Of The Generation
Cyberpunk 2077 is just the latest in a long line of botched video game launches.
To pick one of many analogies, you wouldn't buy a car with no engine on the proviso that it will turn up at some point. That'd be absurd, right?
So why is we still accept the practice of studios releasing shonky, broken games? Oh sure, a large portion in this list have gone on to be great games over time, no doubt there. But for all our pissing and moaning, we allow studios and publishers (and you can probably guess which ones) to chuck out half-baked offerings and expect us to be complacent.
In the eighth generation alone, fans have seen a beloved space-faring franchise run into the ground, famous comic licenses drop the ball and war sequels friendly-fire themselves into critical derision. What connects them all?
Myriad amounts of bugs, glitches, unfinished or unpatched content, or a combination of many elements making them either unplayable or broken beyond enjoyment. When a glitch goes from humorous aside to game-breaking, you know there's an issue here.
These aren't little mistakes from small, indie teams either. We're talking millions in money or lengthy development times resulting in broken messes that are put to shame by indie games. Games touted as the next big thing and end up being the next Big Rigs instead.
So consider this a reminder of some of the darkest times, of broken games that [hopefully] can serve as a prime example to avoid and not repeat.
10. Battlefield 4
When you consider how well Battlefield 3 was received, the solution to its sequel should have been easy: "Make it again but better". However, it seems some wires were crossed and the message was translated to "Put out a hollow shell of a game, so broken the only solid part would be the disc it comes on".
To say that it was "a bit of a mess" is an understatement. I mean, how often are games subject to lawsuits for being buggy? No really, that actually happened, as a law firm took action against EA and DICE, claiming misrepresentation of the final product.
The fallout and backlash to Battlefield 4's playable condition caused DICE to halt work on its other upcoming titles to focus on fixing this mess. When a company has to suspend everything else to sort one mess of a launch out, you know it's that bad.
As mentioned in the intro, this did go on to be playable and enjoyable... eventually. But even EA acknowledged this would damage their fanbase's trust. At least they got that bit right.