10 Ill-Fated Choices That Wrecked Video Games Instantly

Picture the scenario. You're John Romero, one of the pioneering minds behind the first-person-shooter genre. You go on to found the underrated Ion Storm with free rein. What do you do?

Grow a massive ego, over-hype your next release and doom the very company you created.

This is the sad tale of Daikatana, an almighty bomb that disgraced its first person shooter lineage when it was released in 1998. As Ion Storm's second title, the game is a textbook example of negligence and disappointment.

The antics of its creator were already a warning sign, as John boasted about the game constantly, taking advantage of his status in the gaming industry to up the game's chances of success. With Romero and the lead developers placed front and centre, working culture within the company began to degrade and this dropped to its worst level when the infamous and controversial advertisement for Daikatana came out in the press. "John Romero's about to make you his b*tch" is a laughably bad moment in gaming history, one that portrayed Ion Storm in a bad light and set the stage for the title's launch.

Selling a pitiful 8,190 units in the US, the game was a miserable failure. Romero has since apologised for his behaviour but, Daikatana is still considered one of the worst games ever made. Despite making the seminal Deus Ex (Helmed by Warren Spector, not Romero) the developer never really recovered financially. Many lamented Ion Storm's demise in 2005, who never reached their full potential.