20 Disastrous Gaming Launches Everyone Saw Coming
The most predictable video game launch disasters.
The big difference between video games and most other art forms is that they're amorphous creations with the potential to continue evolving over time, as developers release patches and updates to (hopefully) improve them.
The grim flipside of the modern capability to update games post-launch, however, is that far too many games end up bowing in less-than-ideal shape, with the confidence that they can be further chiselled into condition after release.
And there are certainly times where games have made it clear long before launch that things aren't going to go well right out of the gate, with players en masse latching onto this fact.
That's definitely true of these 20 games, all of which ended up launching quite calamitously for one reason or another, long after the writing was on the wall.
From poor gameplay previews to press reports of a troubled development and even cagey remarks from the developers themselves, the tea leaves absolutely pointed to these games all releasing as a hot mess - which they totally did.
While some sadly never really improved much, others were thankfully continually worked on until they became the game players actually wanted all along...
20. Skull & Bones
It frankly would've been shocking if Ubisoft's open world pirate-themed action-adventure game Skull and Bones enjoyed a successful launch, considering the utter minefield that was its path to release.
Originally announced at E3 2017, the game was continually delayed until finally releasing almost 7 years later at the start of 2024.
During this period many reports were made of the game's troubled development, said to be a result of scope creep and project mismanagement, causing its budget to balloon to an eye-watering $200 million.
By the time a poorly received closed beta took place in 2023, it seemed nigh-on impossible that Skull and Bones could weather the storm of bad PR and somehow launch in a manner that satisfied players, critics, and Ubisoft themselves.
Ultimately the game bowed to aggressively mediocre reviews, most feeling that its empty, repetitive gameplay wasn't worth the $70 price tag nor Ubisoft's widely-mocked decision to label it a "AAAA" title.
Though Skull and Bones didn't have major server issues on launch compared to many games on this list, the utter lack of interesting things to do made it a coma-inducingly dull experience that surely left those few who actually bought it with weapons-grade buyers' remorse.