20 Great Video Games That Everybody Turned Against
You love them, then you hate to love them, then you just hate them.
Every year there is a veritable onslaught of new video game titles, and it seems that every year there is an equal amount that go the way of Kony 2012 – once so widely known and supported, and now bad-mouthed and thrown straight in the bin, no takebacks.
Yes, there are few things gamers love more than to denounce a popular title, but sometimes it is actually justified. Over the past few decades – and more and more so since the dawn of online-only gaming, gaming-as-a-service and in-game monetisation – a whole great pile of games that, at their core, are or were excellent, have been turned against by pretty much everyone you know.
Whether hampered by poorly managed bugs, excessive monetisation and loot boxes, shorter gameplay than expected, AI use, promises not delivered on, and myriad other issues, these games have been publicly burned. Either once-great and ruling the scene, or underground masterpieces, no matter what their critics say these are good games – it’s just unfortunate that the developers did that one thing.
These are 20 great video games that everybody turned against.
20. ARC Raiders (2025)
Extraction shooter Arc Raiders dropped in October last year, to positive noises from critics and fans alike. The game sets you down in a multiplayer map where shooting, looting and escaping are the orders of business – and business is booming.
Playing as a raider in the new Rust Belt of post-apocalyptic Italy, you head topside from your underground base regularly to scour the surface for supplies, fighting hostile autonomous ARC robots and other “survivors” (anyone with a controller/keyboard and an internet collection). And everyone loved it at first: the format and gameplay are distinct from the game’s contemporaries and the graphics are top notch, with the smooth combat system and real sense of danger delivering rewarding sessions.
However, since launch the game has had a plethora of major issues that have made initial fans think again. As player uptake has ramped, the server’s stability has declined, with games crashing frequently, users losing data (i.e.: loot), late match entries and other server-related bugs. Add to this that a whole host of non-sever related issues have gradually made themselves known, including disastrously dark lighting for console players, and the game’s use of AI has become more publicised, and it has created a situation where everyone who once loved this title is questioning their decisions. And it will take a lot for developer Embark to win them back.