Top 10 Biggest Gaming Fails of 2020

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Biggest Video Game Fails of 2020.

For this list, we’ll be looking at instances within the industry where companies or influencers said or did something problematic or made bad business decisions that angered fans.

Which of these do you think was the biggest fail of 2020? Be sure to sound off in the comments below.

Joy-Con Drift has been causing problems for Switch owners almost as long as the console has been available. But it became a much bigger problem for Nintendo in 2020. Multiple class action lawsuits have now been filed against the company, the newest being in Seattle in November. This latest suit alleges Nintendo isn’t properly informing customers of the problem nor doing anything to fix it as it still occurs in newer models of the Switch and Switch Lite. Nintendo stated in October that Joy-Con Drift quote “isn’t a real problem”… right before another suit was filed in California. Nintendo offers free repairs, at least for the first pair of Joy-Cons. But many still experience the issue several months after getting them back.

Crunch has been an issue before, but 2020 is when it really came into the public eye. In July, a Glassdoor review appeared from a Respawn employee stating they experienced “burnout, stress, and extreme anxiety” while working on “Apex Legends.” Director Chad Grenier has since stated they refuse to crunch despite slow updates due to the pandemic. But other developers haven’t been as helpful. In March, Kotaku uncovered the widespread crunch culture of Naughty Dog. Employees would often work 12-hour days or longer, citing a feeling of obligation and the studio’s built-in atmosphere. Most recently, it was CD Projekt Red. After promising to avoid forced overtime, it mandated 6-day work weeks before delaying the game without many of the team knowing until the world did.

Not that long ago, the idea of getting paid to play video games was a wild fantasy. With Twitch and other platforms, it no longer is. But there are some streamers who feel they deserve more. In April, InvaderVie came under fire for asking viewers to pay her channel’s full subscription fee, $5 to $10. She stated anyone watching Twitch should have $10 and if they didn’t, it was because they were irresponsible with money and should be working anyway. That’s a lot easier said than done considering this was at the onset of a global pandemic where people lost their jobs. When this was pointed out, she doubled down on her comments. While she did eventually apologize, her statements were nonetheless incredibly entitled.

Don’t worry, we still won’t spoil it here. “The Last of Us Part II'' was undeniably one of the most anticipated games of 2020. In April, major story and gameplay elements for the game leaked online. That in itself is incredibly unfortunate. But the story elements, laid out without context, angered many fans. These included major character deaths as well as a change in playable character halfway through the game. Some fans were so upset with the story decisions that they review-bombed the game on Metacritic the day of release. The game’s launch was surrounded by so much vitriol that some team members received hateful messages and death threats, which is clearly unacceptable. It was all just a big, awful mess.

Getting a brand new console under normal circumstances is usually a struggle, let alone during a pandemic. Sony and Microsoft still went ahead with their release plans, but pre-ordering was a nightmare. In September, Sony revealed the price and release date for the PS5, but some retailers like Wal-Mart jumped the gun on pre-orders. Sony themselves had promised they’d give players plenty of notice before pre-ordering, yet they went live on the website almost immediately after the release announcement. Microsoft fared a little better, but retailers ran out of Xbox stock soon after pre-orders went live. Neither Sony nor Microsoft were prepared with enough systems. But with how they each hyped up their consoles as the next generation of gaming, they really should’ve been.

Blizzard has come under fire over the last few years for various reasons. And the studio was back at it again in 2020 with poor treatment of its employees. An internal survey in 2019 revealed many employees were unhappy with their compensation following budget cuts from parent company Activision Blizzard. Blizzard implemented raises this year, though the majority of them were under 10%. Given the payment received by higher ups, like Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick’s $40 million salary in 2019, many were naturally upset. Blizzard didn’t look any better when it closed a French office in October. And since Brexit and the lockdown complicated original plans to move the office to London, Blizzard instead laid off 285 employees in the midst of a global pandemic.

The latest entry in Microsoft’s flagship franchise has seen a lot of problems behind the scenes, this year especially. Footage shown during a July showcase was criticized for lackluster graphics. And it resulted in a widespread meme of one of the game’s enemies. Soon after, Microsoft delayed the game to an unspecified 2021 release date, taking away the biggest title for its upcoming console. While the footage’s backlash was likely one of the reasons, the lockdown and the fact that 343 Industries have heavily outsourced to external developers also played roles. Adding to the uncertainty was director Chris Lee’s departure in October, joining other high-profile employees like Lead Producer Amy Olsen who have left since development began. We’re still excited, but very concerned.

EA released its regular sports titles in 2020, though fan reception has reached a boiling point. “Madden NFL 21” was criticized heavily for a slew of bugs and not enough new elements, yet still launched at full price. Fans review-bombed the title on Metacritic, earning the lowest ever user score of 0.2, and got #nfldropea to trend on social media. Then there was “FIFA 21.” Not only did it not add much new, but the Switch version was so insultingly similar to “FIFA 20” that IGN republished its review and gave the new game a 2/10. “ NHL 21” wasn’t nearly as criticized, but still only implemented minor updates. EA hasn’t been popular for a while and these decisions make it easy to see why.

In 2016, Microsoft launched its own streaming platform called Mixer. And over the course of its lifespan, it actually managed to lure in some big names in the streaming community. However, it simply couldn’t compete with the numbers of well-established platforms like Twitch and YouTube. In June, Microsoft abruptly announced Mixer’s closure and began the process of moving all partners and streamers to Facebook Gaming. Microsoft’s Head of Gaming Phil Spencer stated the partnership with Facebook was a strategic move for the xCloud service to reach more people. However, big streamers who had signed exclusive contracts with Mixer like Ninja and Shroud just ended up going back to Twitch.

Let’s start off by saying that this is incredibly shameful and unacceptable on every level. Over the Summer, a plethora of sexual assault claims surfaced throughout the gaming industry. Several publishers cut ties with writers and even some events were cancelled due to the claims. The most significant case came from Ubisoft. Over 3 dozen former and current employees unearthed a long-lasting cycle of abuse both physical and verbal which caused many higher ups to be let go. While it’s wonderful these abusers were found out, the fact that it took so long points to the widespread sexist culture seen throughout all corners of gaming.