Top 10 Great Games That Recovered from a Terrible Launch
#10: “Diablo III” (2012)
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“Diablo III” was a hot mess when it was released in 2012. Gamers took issue with the persistent online authentication, a problem that Blizzard made even worse by essentially telling the players to suck it up. There were widespread connectivity issues that led to formal complaints and investigations. Then, to make matters worse, Blizzard refused to grant refund requests even though they knew full-well that their game was unplayable. And yet… it sold twelve million copies in its first year alone and went on to surpass thirty million units in 2015. Its success is likely a result of a number of factors, including many updates, the “Reaper of Souls” expansion, and Blizzard dropping the controversial auction house.
#9: “Sea of Thieves” (2018)
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This was yet another disappointment in Rare’s increasingly uneven lineup of games. It received middling reviews from both critics and general players for its lack of content and performance issues. Many players quickly grew bored of the game once they realized there was nothing to do, and some people couldn’t even play it due to the overloaded servers. It was a lose-lose situation - you either bought the game and literally couldn’t play it, or you did manage to play it and discovered that it was empty and frustratingly repetitive. Fortunately, the anniversary update did a lot to quell those criticisms. Featuring the modes Tall Tales, the Arena, and Hunter’s Call, this update was just what the game needed.
#8: “Street Fighter V” (2016)
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This was the first core “Street Fighter” game in nearly ten years, so of course expectations were high. Sadly, they were quickly dashed. There was a serious lack of single-player content, it suffered from terrible performance and server issues, and the DLC was far too expensive. Things were so bad that producer Yoshinori Ono admitted that they “didn’t put out a complete product.” Luckily, this self-admittance pushed them to make amends, and they subsequently fixed the netcode and added a story mode, additional levels, and characters. The “Arcade Edition” release signified the game being released with an optimal amount of content by finally adding an Arcade mode. If only they’d taken their time rather than rushing it out for the Capcom Pro Tour...
#7: “Halo: The Master Chief Collection” (2014)
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It should have been a surefire hit on paper; Halo’s 1-4 in one package with Halo 2 getting a full remake, but things got off to a rough start. This collection suffered from horrendous connectivity and matchmaking issues, and Microsoft was forced to apologize with a free month of Xbox Live Gold and a downloadable copy of the “Halo 3: ODST'' campaign. That was pretty cool. But what was even better was when they fixed the connectivity issues, allowing us to actually play the game. And then 343 went above and beyond by porting the collection to Steam, a move that resulted in generous pizza deliveries to their Redmond office. As an added bonus: “Halo Reach” is now in the collection too.
#6: “Star Wars Battlefront II” (2017)
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Battlegate will go down in gaming history. This thing was a hotbed of terrible PR choices, including its implementation of loot boxes, horrid progression system, and silly responses on Reddit that only caused more harm to the company’s reputation. Things were so bad that even governmental bodies and gambling commissions were getting involved. EA were tripping over themselves to fix the damage they had foolishly caused, and to their credit, they actually managed to save the game. They revamped the controversial lootbox system so that it now only has cosmetic items, and to this day have continued to release free content updates, to the point where it now feels like a whole new game than what it was originally.
#5: “No Man’s Sky” (2016)
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There’s no getting around it - the launch of “No Man’s Sky” was disastrous. Not just because of the poor state of the game, but the egregious and unwarranted hype, numerous false claims, and post-launch radio silence that really hurt. It was an utter PR nightmare and a case study in how not to market a video game. But damn if Hello Games hasn’t made up for it. The Foundation Update introduced bases, and the acclaimed Atlas Rises update essentially changed the game altogether with things like biomes, procedurally generated missions, and an extensive trade system. The Next edition added the long requested multiplayer support and VR support was a nice touch as well. Release controversy aside, you have to respect Hello for what they have since accomplished.
#4: “Grand Theft Auto Online” (2013)
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You wouldn’t know it now, but “GTA Online” was widely loathed upon its October 2013 release. Like many games on this list, the experience was horribly buggy. This included connectivity issues, crashes, and even complete loss of character data. Those who did manage to play the game reported a disappointing amount of content and a general lack of direction. However, Rockstar did not give up on the game, and it has received a seemingly endless amount of free updates throughout the years, including the particularly well-received Heists update. The fact that it’s still wildly popular after all these years is a testament to how far the game has come.
#3: “Warframe” (2013)
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“Warframe” seemingly came and went when it was released in 2013. It received middling reviews from critics, and the player count was staggeringly low. By all accounts, “Warframe” was a failure. But word of mouth slowly began to spread, and the game became a cult hit with an extremely dedicated fan base. These people spread the word even further, and the developers released a ton of post-release content, including numerous expansions, gameplay overhauls, and various story elements. These glorious additions, combined with the word of mouth, eventually resulted in “Warframe” becoming one of the most popular games on Steam. By 2019, the game had a reported player base of nearly fifty million people. Now that’s a comeback story right there.
#2: “World of Warcraft” (2004)
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If this list proves anything, it’s that Blizzard is really bad at launching games but really good at fixing them. “World of Warcraft” was a broken mess when it launched in November of 2004. Server issues prevented people from playing the game, and those who managed to get in either experienced terribly laggy gameplay or were thrown back out via relentless crashes. However, the underlying experience was strong enough to weather the rocky launch, and “World of Warcraft” became one of the most popular games ever made. It had registered nearly ten million people by 2009, and that number jumped to one hundred million by 2014.
#1: “Final Fantasy XIV” (2010)
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“Final Fantasy XIV” will forever remain a case study of the extreme lengths a company went to in order to save a franchise and reclaim good company PR. Square Enix was in dire straits in 2010. “Final Fantasy XIV” was universally panned by both critics and general audiences - so much so that Square Enix postponed subscription fees and did some internal reshuffling. Despite some band-aid fixes, the development team realized that the core engine was horribly flawed and impossible to work with. They were forced to scrap the project altogether and restart from scratch. Nearly three years later, the game was relaunched as “A Realm Reborn,” which was substantially better than its predecessor. Square Enix redeemed themselves, and Naoki Yoshida became a gaming legend.
