10 Major Missteps By Video Game Companies

The gaming industry is barely into its teenage years compared with the likes of film and TV, having only reached the mainstream in recent decades. Developers and publishers are just now figuring out what does and doesn't work (and what they can and can't get away with).

As smaller indie developers grow and merge into corporations headed by executives that have never played a game in their lives, they seem determined to push the boundaries of common sense to their absolute limits.

Year after year, the gaming industry continues to torch its fanbase, as the rest of us watch on in a mixture of horror and amusement. Where once, gaming allowed us to escape the drama of the world, now we must watch as the industry gets assailed by lawsuits, scandals and even legislation aimed at curbing some of the wildest tendencies.

Following are the worst examples of this; events we must never forget if we are to force the industry to change for the better.

City-builder's are a genre designed to slow-paced and relaxing. Our inner perfectionists come out to play, as we swear we are having fun redesigning a roundabout for 3 hours because "it wasn't round enough".

The SimCity franchise was king of the city builders for decades, producing hit after hit for decades. Then SimCity 2013 happened. The game was reviewed positively before release - I mean, it was following a successful predecessor, what could go wrong?

Oh, SO much.

Focusing too hard on DRM to prevent piracy, EA somehow forgot to actually make the game work. Requiring a constant online connection while also having too few servers meant thousands of players were unable to play due to network issues, for a single player game.

The backlash was so severe the franchise has still not recovered, and other city builders have risen by the dozens to take its place.