10 Worst Things Gaming Did In 2024
Including studio closures, canceled projects, and the end of Game Informer.
There’s no denying that 2024 was an amazing year for video games.
Primarily, the past twelve months saw the releases of numerous top-notch titles, including Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, Helldivers 2, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Balatro, Silent Hill 2, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Animal Well, Tekken 8, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and of course, Astro Bot.
Consequently, many relatively small developers with limited teams, budgets, and marketing prowess thrived alongside the titans of the medium.
Plus, video game adaptations impressed across the film and television landscapes thanks to the successes of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Knuckles, Fallout, and the second season of Netflix’s Arcane. (Yes, the lackluster Borderlands and Like a Dragon: Yakuza movies came out, too, but overall, there were more good adaptations than bad.)
That said, this year was also full of distress and frustration, with the industry perpetuating misguided (and greedy) business practices that led to various negative outcomes.
Throw in multiple delays, the end of an iconic publication, palpable creative bankruptcy, and blatant bigotry and division amongst players and it’s clear that 2024 had its fair share of downsides, too.
Need proof? The following 10 examples should do the trick.
10. Continued Player Division Regarding Diversity and Representation
Over the past decade or so, video games have made concerted efforts to include a wider array of characters and stories so that more people are represented and understood.
Consequently, the internet continues to be filled with people who mindlessly yell, “Woke!” and want to argue whenever anyone who’s not a cisgender and heterosexual white man (or stereotypically gorgeous woman) gets the spotlight.
For instance, take Naughty Dog’s latest IP, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
As soon as it was revealed, countless social media threads and YouTube videos emerged chastising it for having a non-white and bald female protagonist (played by mixed race actress Tati Gabrielle) who – apparently – isn’t attractive or feminine enough for dudebros and incels.
(Let’s not forget that the same people cried foul because The Last of Us II’s Abby was allegedly too masculine and ugly.)
Months earlier, Ubisoft’s upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows was labeled “woke” for featuring a Black samurai named Yasuke as one of two protagonists (even though he’s based on a real historical figure).
Likewise, various interpretations surrounding Black Myth: Wukong’s “wokeness” – or lack thereof – dominated the conversation upon its release, with internet users making sociopolitical judgements about others depending on if they played it.