10 Incredible Video Games That Were Awful At Launch

7. Final Fantasy XIV

No Mans Sky Next
Square Enix

In recent memory, No Man's Sky is the most prominent example of a miraculous turnaround in fortunes for a failed project, but even Hello Games' efforts pale in comparison to the mammoth undertaking Square Enix laboured to achieve with Final Fantasy XIV.

To say the successor to Final Fantasy XI's massively multiplayer universe was anything short of an eye-opening disaster is putting it mildly. On launch in 2010, it was immediately clear that Square had been toiling away for several years on an MMO primed to be a spiritual successor to XI, only the gaming world had moved on since then. Archaic, outdated features celebrated in 2003 weren't received with welcome arms in 2010, sounding the death knell for Final Fantasy XIV as we knew it.

Square, having already invested millions in the game, wasn't content to cut loose, however. Three years, staff reshuffles and a whole lot of overtime later, the beleaguered title relaunched with a new moniker - A Realm Reborn - to glowing praise, much of which being attributed to the talented guidance of replacement director Naoki Yoshida.

For those interested in the whole fascinating story, check out the documentary below:

Contributor
Contributor

Joe is a freelance games journalist who, while not spending every waking minute selling himself to websites around the world, spends his free time writing. Most of it makes no sense, but when it does, he treats each article as if it were his Magnum Opus - with varying results.