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Some of the biggest video games today did not exactly have the perfect release. These titles were heavily criticized for being an unpolished, buggy mess on launch. However, instead of giving up, the developers went back to the drawing board, fixing the games with each subsequent patch and turning them into one of the biggest titles today.
This list will go over some of the biggest games that had a terrible launch but were able to redeem themselves to be a must-play in 2023 and beyond.
Note: The entries are not ranked in any specific manner. The list below represents those games that did not do well on release but subsequently became some of the biggest titles today across all platforms with patches.
Must-play video games that had one of the worst launches
1) Street Fighter 5
- Release year: 2016
While Capcom is currently going through its redemption arc with all the incredible titles they have been releasing in 2023, the Street Fighter 5 launch back in 2016 was disastrous, to say the least. It was a rough period in the developer’s history, with the fighting game being heavily criticized for its lack of single-player content, bugs, as well as a terrible netcode.
It took them a good deal of time to fix the majority of issues that the title was facing, and it wasn’t till the “Arcade Edition” did players finally started considering that there was finally enough content in the video game.
While it took a while to get there, Street Fighter 5 eventually became one of the most iconic fighting games that redeemed itself to a must-play status.
2) Cyberpunk 2077
- Release Year: 2020
Cyberpunk 2077 historically had one of the worst video game releases, with CD Projekt Red barely delivering on any of the promises they made regarding the title during its production. The RPG was incredibly buggy across all platforms, including next-gen consoles, and many players just ended up refunding the game.
However, three years later and with version 2.0, Cyberpunk 2077 was able to completely redeem itself and is now hailed as one of the best RPGs. The Phantom Liberty expansion also adds a new story and playable content to the title, making it a must-play in 2023 and beyond.
3) Diablo 3
- Release Year: 2012
Diablo 3 was one of the more broken titles that Blizzard ever released. The online services for the ARPG were an absolute mess, with players often getting stuck on authentication errors with no way to play the title.
Although unplayable at release, Blizzard refused to channel any refunds for the video game, no matter how bad community outrage got. Fortunately, in the subsequent patches, the developers did fix a majority of the issues, and Diablo 3 soon became one of the best-selling video games in the franchise, which went on to sell more than 30 million units by 2015.
Diablo 3’s sudden boom in popularity was due to the fixes, the removal of the auction house, along with the content that dropped with the Reaper of Souls expansion.
4) No Man’s Sky
- Release Year: 2016
No Man’s Sky promised a lot but delivered very little. While the video game is hailed as one of the best titles today when it comes to space exploration, back in 2016, when it launched, it turned into a big fiasco where players felt cheated and goaded into purchasing an unfinished product.
No Man’s Sky was one of the most broken games at launch. It was incredibly glitchy and barely possessed any features which was promised on the box.
It took Hello Games a considerable amount of time, fixes, and keeping their ears to community feedback to turn the ship around with the video game. It was not until the Founders and Atlas Rises update did it finally saw a great influx of new players.
Now, in 2023, No Man’s Sky is considered a must-play for those who love to spend time exploring and surviving in space.
5) Final Fantasy 14
- Release year: 2010
Final Fantasy 14 was one of the worst-received MMORPGs on release by both players and critics alike. Community sentiments with the game got so bad that Square Enix had to postpone the subscription fee and go through a complete team reshuffle in order to save a franchise that looked quite doomed at that point.
One of the worst parts of this video game was the terrible core engine, and the developers had to scrap the entire project and remake the title from scratch. Final Fantasy 14 was then relaunched as A Realm Reborn, and it was only after this the MMO began to rack up multiple accolades for itself.
6) Halo: The Master Chief Collection
- Release Year: 2014
Halo: The Master Chief Collection was one of the most anticipated video game releases in 2014, with the bundle containing games from one to four, along with a full remake of Halo 2. However, things did not go as planned for Microsoft as each one of them was filled with a plethora of performance issues, with matchmaking taking up forever.
The play state was so bad that Microsoft was forced to put out an apology, and those affected by the purchase were all given a free month of Xbox Live Gold. Its redemption began when 343 Industries started working on the fixes and then even going a step further and bringing the entire collection to Steam.
7) Warframe
- Release Year: 2013
Warframe was another video game that did not do well on release. While subsequent patches did fix a good many issues that it had been facing, it still enjoyed a cult following for years, and it was not until 2019 that it saw a significant boom in player count, with 50 million users logging in.
Warframe’s popularity did spread through word of mouth, but what did help its case even more, making it one of the better titles to get into in 2023, is the fact that the developers continued to release updates and new content.
