10 Most Disappointing Triple-A Games Of 2023
1. Counter-Strike 2
The excitement was palpable when Valve shadow-dropped Counter-Strike 2 back in September, that the legendary FPS was finally getting a long-awaited update.
Yet the monkey paw curled the moment that players realised how Valve had massacred their beloved IP, given that CS2 ended up falling flat for both die-hards and casuals alike.
Though critical reception was largely positive, players found fault with the game's performance and lack of launch content, as well as Valve's decision to remove its predecessor, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, from Steam entirely.
This resulted in CS2 quickly becoming Valve's worst-rated game ever on the platform, and even almost two months removed from release, it's still harangued by performance and matchmaking woes.
Much as fans can be fickle about change, in this case the prevailing feeling that Valve released this update too early feels totally on the money.
While it's highly likely that CS2 will be in a much better state by mid-2024, the rough launch has saddled it with so much totally unnecessary reputational baggage.