10 Upcoming Video Games That Have Already Pissed Fans Off

Video game fans sure are a vocal bunch, and considering what the average AAA game costs these days, you can't really blame them for being outspoken.

While some players obviously take their concerns too far, it's also frustratingly common for publishers to make cynical, money-grabbing decisions about their games which end up pissing players off before they've even got the game in their hands.

And so, though 2023 looks set to be one of the most stacked years for gaming ever, many upcoming games have rubbed a lot of potential customers the wrong way.

From games getting an arguably unjust price rise, to titles with some very questionable political decisions behind-the-scenes, and publishers blatantly treating gamers like walking ATMs, these games have all pissed a lot of people off before they've even hit the market.

It's of course entirely possible that some of these games will weather the pre-release controversy just fine and everything may ultimately turn out to be a little overblown.

But at the same time most of these issues are at least a cause for concern - if not an invitation to wait for reviews before throwing down your cash...

Easily one of the year's most anticipated Microsoft-exclusive titles is open-world multiplayer FPS Redfall - the latest game from Dishonored developers Arkane.

And while it's of course a given that you need to connect online for the multiplayer portion of the game, publisher Bethesda stoked the ire of the Internet when they recently revealed that the game would require players to remain permanently connected to the Internet even when playing solo.

Given that Redfall can be played in its entirety as a single-player experience, forcing players to stay online seems like an excessive measure of control, ensuring that players can't keep playing if they have connection issues or want to play offline for whatever reason.

And more to the point, it means that when Redfall's servers are eventually taken offline, the game will effectively become unplayable. Simply put, the always-online requirement is terrible for game preservation.

While publishers typically state that such measures mark an attempt to stamp out piracy, it feels like an especially lousy justification in this case given that Redfall will be launching on Xbox Game Pass and can be played for just a small subscription fee.