10 Biggest Gaming Controversies Of 2017 (So Far)

8. Mass Effect Andromeda's Botched Animations

Andromeda animation badness
Electronic Arts

Becoming a meme overnight (and being almost as terrifying as the faceless character glitch from Assassin's Creed: Unity), videos of Mass Effect Andromeda's creepy, lifeless animations were the first sign that the highly anticipated sequel had gone very, very wrong.

In the run up to release the internet was flooded with hilarious videos and ridiculous gifs of the game's animation and physics system going completely haywire. Obviously what should have been a funny couple of days completely span out of control, with one developer who worked on the game receiving death threats over social media - even though she wasn't the one to blame.

In the end it turned out that the problems ran deeper than shoddy animations and technical shortcomings though. The entire development of the game was in turmoil up to its official release, with the Andromeda that hit shelves resembling nothing of the original concept the developers started working towards four years ago.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked full time as a content producer at WhatCulture for nine years. In that time he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple channels, specialising in subjects such as gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 most listened to gaming podcast in the UK that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, covered breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.