10 Recent Video Games That Were Too Big To Fail (That Did Anyway)

"Too big to fail" is a term generally reserved for large financial institutions the failure of which would result in catastrophic economic strife, and so they're continually bailed out by the government to prevent wider systemic collapse.

In the world of video games it's thankfully not quite so dire, though there is nevertheless a clear feeling of hubris among some game publishers, that their releases are such commercial juggernauts that nothing they do could possibly derail the gravy train.

Yet in a time where gamers are more empowered than ever, keenly raking publishers over the coals for their poor conduct, it's safe to say that even the safest bet is no longer completely safe.

While these 10 video games all seemed like absolute slam dunk projects, each also flamed out as critical and consumer goodwill ran dry, leaving them with dented Metacritic scores and, worst of all, ill-stocked coffers.

Though each of these games seemed like critical and commercial smash hits on paper, and that they were simply too big to fail, each ended up falling flat in one way or another (if not both)...

Why It Was "Too Big"

The Battlefield franchise is one of the premiere first-person shooter behemoths - it's been around for two decades and, despite its ups and downs, has endured as a huge-scale alternative to the crowned king of the FPS, Call of Duty (which we'll be discussing later).

The prospect of any Battlefield game being bad enough to turn off players en masse just seemed inconceivable, especially with every new release now available as part of the EA Play Pro subscription service for a much lower entry fee.

Why It Failed Anyway

Compounding the rocky launches of the last few Battlefield games, last year's Battlefield 2042 released in a state which players and critics alike agreed was unfinished.

Between the depressing lack of expected features and embarrassing overabundance of bugs, the general feeling was that EA rushed the game out to meet a deadline, confident that it would still sell well enough regardless.

The Damage

2042's release has dealt possibly irreparable damage to the Battlefield brand, with the game receiving over 30,000 negative reviews on Steam within two days of its release, while a petition for refunds has been signed by more than 230,000 people.

But the real impact is reflected commercially: sales were so disappointing out of the gate that EA refused to disclose them, and less than five months after its release the concurrent player count has already dipped below 1,000.

Though EA and DICE are continuing to patch the game into slightly better shape, it's clear that many fans feel burned enough by the franchise that they may not return for the next installment.