10 Updates To Video Games That Completely Broke Everything
When new doesn't mean better.
There's no denying that patches and updates are one of the greatest things about modern gaming: though it can theoretically invite developers to get lazy and just "fix it in post," it also allows nagging issues to be quickly dealt with and extra content to be added after release.
There's perhaps no better example of updates fixing a game than No Man's Sky, which is now almost completely transformed from its controversial original release back in 2016.
Yet there are also rare occasions where a patch does the opposite of its intended effect, by introducing gameplay elements that actually make the game worse.
This can be an accidental unbalancing of the delicate core mechanics, a fatal glitch that ruins the entire experience, or perhaps a cynical overhaul intended to make the game more accessible.
In each case, fans were left infuriated at what the patch left in its wake, sometimes to the extent of swearing the game off forever more. Yet even with these games that were eventually fixed, in many cases the player-base simply didn't stick around...
10. Incursions Update Revealed A Loot Exploit - The Division
Barely a month after it was released, The Division received a massive 1.1 patch which added raid-style Incursions to the game, intended to prolong its longevity by way of a higher difficulty level and more valuable loot.
The initial Falcon Lost Incursion unfortunately launched with a major glitch which allowed players to use the portable cover skill to slide through a wall, skip most of the Incursion's boss encounter, and hoover up the loot while tricking the game into thinking it hadn't been claimed yet.
As a result, players were able to keep repeating the exploit, and gear scores soared pretty much overnight, creating a massive chasm of inequality between those who took advantage of the exploit and those who didn't.
This basically derailed the game's PvP area the Dark Zone, giving players who rinsed the Incursion a huge combat advantage.
Ubisoft eventually provided a fix and even banned repeat offenders, but this screw-up in conjunction with the game's rather lackluster endgame upon launch caused the player-base to quickly dwindle.
It arguably wasn't until several years later that The Division got anywhere close to regaining its release period momentum.