10 Big Industry Gaffs Gaming Companies Want You To Forget

5. Watch Dogs' Graphical Downgrade (Ubisoft)

A case of hype and flashy gameshow tactics becoming self-defeating in their own right, Watch Dogs was always meant to be Ubisoft's next big thing. When it was first shown off at E3 2012 people found themselves marvelling at the environment that Ubisoft had supposedly completed, and were wowed further when it returned the following year confirmed to be on the then next generation of consoles. This was not the Watch Dogs that got released however, with the final release suffering from a graphical look that bore no resemblance whatsoever to the gorgeous pixels we were shown at both of its E3 shows, along with a shoddy story and fairly lacklustre gameplay to boot. It was very much a case of the perpetual hype-machine getting crushed underneath its own weight, but it did expose the rather unsavoury marketing techniques developers and publishers used at different shows. The debacle surrounding Ubisoft's new IP only further embedded the cynicism gamers now seem to have in respect to all pre-release material for titles, which is a huge shame considering part of the fun in getting games is delighting in the fervent excitement that occurs beforehand.