20 Most Controversial Games of the 2020s (So Far)

An outlier on this list given that it's the only game here that hasn't actually been properly released yet - and that's precisely why it's listed.

Star Citizen is a multiplayer space trading and combat sim which was announced in 2012 and originally intended to launch in 2014. 

12 years later, however, the main multiplayer component remains in early access and its single-player mode Squadron 42 still isn't out, with the game's scope continually growing alongside its mind-bogglingly massive crowd-funded budget.

At the time of posting, Star Citizen is expected to cross the $1 billion crowdfunding mark this summer, and despite large swaths of players openly dismissing the game as a "scam" given the ever-delayed release, 2025 was its biggest funding year ever, amassing an eye-watering $155 million alone.

Many grew frustrated years ago with director Chris Roberts' refusal to simply ship a 1.0 version of the game, feeling that it's probably destined to remain in embryonic early access forever more, a result of biblical levels of scope-creep and mismanagement - I mean just go look at developer Cloud Imperium Games' Glassdoor page, the staff reviews do not paint a pretty picture.

Above all else, even if the game meets Roberts' recent estimate of a 2027 or 2028 release, there's virtually no chance of it living up to over 15 years of hype. 

Expect a chorus of "That's it?" from casual players, even if it actually ends up being pretty great.