12 Abusive Video Game Sequels That Completely Missed The Point

4. Gran Turismo 6

For years, the Gran Turismo series was absolutely untouchable as the go-to racing simulator. The first four games in particular continued to redefine the genre with innovative gameplay and stunning graphics, yet things hit a road block with the fifth game, which was continually delayed and ultimately failed to live up to expectations. With its glitchy menus which took too long to navigate due to being linked to the game's servers, and the fact that only a small number of cars had actually been meticulously modeled inside and out (referred to as "premium" models) while the rest were just upscaled from Gran Turismo 4, the game did not warrant the ridiculous amount of development time spent on it. Hopes were extremely high for Gran Turismo 6, then, a game which in retrospect really should not exist in its current state. Polyphony made the misguided decision to release it for the PS3 to maximise sales rather than wait a year or two and launch it on the PS4: as a result, it feels more like Gran Turismo 5.5, a marginal improvement over the previous game, if still marred by many of the same issues (namely terrible sound design and a continued lack of premium vehicles). In addition to this, the inclusion of micro-transactions made the whole enterprise feel even more desperate, and fans voted with their wallets, with the game selling just 25% of what the previous game did on launch in the US.