10 Major Controversies That Killed Great Video Games

Nobody, not even a game developer, is perfect. Mistakes can happen to anyone, and lapses in judgement can lead to some serious 'egg on your face' moments regardless of how calm and composed an individual is. Gaming history is littered with instances of decisions and moments that have gotten everyone talking for all the wrong reasons.

And whilst the gaming community is known for their ability to conjure up debates and division out of practically anything, they've also got an unrivalled ability to come together in unison when a controversy arises.

There's no understating just how powerful a united fanbase can be either when it comes to making or breaking the success of a video game, with plenty of titles feeling the full force of criticism from the ground and living to tell the tale.

So, from obvious cash-grabs to messy lawsuits from competing companies, here are some of the most major controversies that helped cast a black cloud over already established great titles, or games with all the potential in the world to become great, and killed off any hopes of them establishing themselves as truly legendary.

Cooking Mama is undoubtedly the definitive cooking simulator franchise in the gaming world, and its bright colours and overly happy presentation makes it one of the most inoffensive titles going for the most part. Cooking Mama: Cookstar was developed by 1st Playable Productions and published by Planet Entertainment, but its release remains one of the most speculated and controversial in recent times.

There's a lot within Cookstar that fans of the franchise can get behind; it has that casual arcade feel that is perfect for a handheld, the recipes are more detailed than most that had come before and it utilises the Nintendo Switch's controls very well for the most part.

Its controversial release ensured that there will always be a black cloud hanging over all of this promise however.

Originally released in March 2020 without any public announcements or high profile press statements, the game was pulled from the Switch EShop after just a couple of hours due to disputes between Planet Entertainment and the owners of the Cooking Mama IP, Office Create.

Rumours began to circulate that the game was a secret crypto miner, but it turned out that the dispute came from Planet Entertainment selling the game despite terminating their licence with Office Create prior to the game's release. The game was heavily condemned by Office Create when it did release in April 2020, no doubt impacting the review scores from critics, and the planned PS4 release of Cookstar has, at the time of writing, still not come about or even been acknowledged by Planet Entertainment.