10 Worst Video Games Launches Of All Time (And If They Got Fixed)
These game launches were a disaster… but did any of them actually manage to turn things around?
There’s nothing quite like a bad video game launch. Players wait years, hype builds, trailers look incredible, and then, boom: bugs, crashes, broken servers, missing features. It’s one of the worst feelings in gaming, and sadly, it’s become a lot more common in the era of live service updates and rushed development cycles.
In the past, a bad launch was often a death sentence. But in today’s landscape, things aren’t always so final. With enough time (and in some cases, enough public shaming), studios can claw things back. That said, not every redemption story is a happy one. Some titles improved just enough to survive, others were abandoned entirely, and a few remain memes to this day.
So, which games had the worst launches ever? And more importantly, which ones actually got fixed?
From industry giants to overpromised indies, these are the 10 worst video game launches of all time - and where they stand now.
10. Concord
Disaster: Sony’s answer to Overwatch arrived with a thud. Concord, a 5v5 hero shooter from newly acquired Firewalk Studios, was dead on arrival. The game failed to carve out a unique identity, with players criticizing its bland characters, lack of arresting gameplay, and a tone that leaned heavily into a specific Marvel sci-fi series... but with none of the flavor. Most importantly - it just was a game no one wanted to play.
Despite ambitious marketing, launch numbers were abysmal. Within just two weeks, Concord was quietly pulled from storefronts, servers shut down, and refunds issued en masse - a staggering turnaround for a first-party title.
Redemption: There wasn’t one. Unlike other troubled live-service launches that slowly rebuilt themselves, Concord was simply erased. In a brutal but telling move, Sony shut down Firewalk Studios entirely just months after the game’s release, and only 1.5 years since squaring them.
The game now exists only as a cautionary tale - a warning about chasing trends rather than building meaningful experiences. For Sony, it was a costly reminder that live service success can’t be manufactured overnight, and for players, it was a rare case where a game disappeared before most even had the chance to hate it properly.