10 Games That Overcame Catastrophic Releases

A game doesn't always reach consumers’ hands in the most optimized and well-finished state, or even in a playable one. Often, games must get to players on a specific period before the "fiscal year closing" (i.e., they must make sure that the developers and shareholders make money) or on a specific date, such as coinciding with a movie release (basically a rule for games based on movies), when the product's delivery date to crowdfunding backers approaches, or for some other reason that causes game releases to be rushed or unfinished.

Many titles have reached the market in a sorry state - riddled with bugs, lacking content, or with problematic systems - but with time and hard work from the developers, they’ve managed to receive numerous updates, apologies, refunds, and most importantly, a willingness to deliver the game as promised, turning things around and becoming a game that, at the very least, met expectations and, sometimes, exceeded them.

So let's list 10 games that were released in a terrible state and rose to the top, overcoming disastrous releases to become huge hits, and if you have any questions, leave a comment.

Bringing together Halo 1 through 4 with a complete remake of Halo 2, the Master Chief Collection seemed like a gift to fans - until it was released with serious connectivity and matchmaking issues. Microsoft apologized by offering a free month of Xbox Live Gold and a digital copy of the Halo 3: ODST campaign.

But the real fix came later, with updates that solved the issues and, later, the collection's release on Steam. The reception was so positive that fans sent pizzas to studio 343 Industries. Today, Halo Reach is also part of the package and is one of the company's best exclusive games.

The release of EA's Battlefront II went down in history as one of the worst examples of abusive monetization. The loot box system directly interfered with player progression, and the company's responses on forums - especially Reddit - only made things worse. The controversy was so huge that it reached regulatory bodies and gambling commissions, and was also responsible for prompting governments in several countries to begin discussions on loot box legislation.

EA had to rush to put out the fire: they completely revamped the rewards system, restricted paid items to cosmetics, and began releasing frequent free updates. They also had to justify themselves in several courts to claim that the "surprise mechanic" system wasn’t abusive or unfair. The game’s been reborn and is now a lot more fair and fun, but microtransactions still constantly try to grab players' attention.

When it was released in 2012, Diablo III sparked outrage among fans. The system that forced players to be online 100% of the time frustrated them, who faced constant connection issues. Blizzard handled these complaints with arrogance, asking fans to "just accept it" and be done with it. To make matters worse, the company refused to offer refunds, even though the game was often unplayable.

Still, Diablo III sold 12 million copies in its first year and reached over 30 million by 2015. This was only possible thanks to consistent updates, the Reaper of Souls expansion, and the removal of the controversial auction house. However, the release of Diablo Immortal in 2018 showed that Blizzard hadn't quite learned their lesson in humility.

Released by Rare, Sea of ​​Thieves disappointed many people in 2018. It received lukewarm reviews for its lack of content, inconsistent performance, and overloaded servers. Many players either couldn't access the game or abandoned it soon after realizing it was repetitive and empty.

But the turning point came with the Anniversary Update, which introduced new modes such as Tall Tales, The Arena, and The Hunter's Call. The game gained depth, variety, and a more engaged fanbase, becoming one of the most downloaded games on PlayStation 5 in Canada and the US and third place in Europe. Apparently, now the waters are in less turmoil for Rare's game.

It's hard to imagine that today, but GTA Online was very poorly received when it debuted in 2013. Connection issues, constant crashes, and data loss left players furious. There was also little content and no clear direction. But Rockstar didn't abandon the game. On the contrary: they invested heavily in free updates, events, and expansions. Today, there are entire communities dedicated to creating stories, characters and roleplaying in GTA Online.

A highlight is the heist update, which transformed the multiplayer experience. The game's ongoing success is a testament to the effectiveness of this ongoing work. It's a shame they didn't handle with the same care the release of remastered versions of classic GTA games. Who knows, maybe in a few years.

After nearly a decade without a main title in the franchise, expectations for Street Fighter V were huge. Unfortunately, the release let fans down: it lacked single-player content, didn't even have an arcade mode at first, the servers were unstable, and the DLCs, which included only a new character or skin, were outrageously priced.

Producer Yoshinori Ono even admitted that the game was released unfinished. The criticism paid off: Capcom fixed the netcode, added a story mode, new characters, and stages. The Arcade Edition finally delivered the complete game fans had been waiting for. Several other versions of the game followed, eventually reaching the ultimate gold platinum champion master EX edition, which is the complete and corrected game that should have been released from the start.

Few games exemplify a launch disaster as well as No Man's Sky. The game was the victim of uncontrolled hype, false promises, a terrible launch, spawned countless memes, and an uncomfortable silence from the developer after its release. It also featured in our article about the most misleading trailers.

But the team at Hello Games didn't give up. The Foundation update introduced base building, and Atlas Rises redesigned the game with biomes, procedurally generated quests, and a more robust trading system. Then, came multiplayer and even VR support. Despite the initial controversy, it's impossible not to recognize the studio's dedication, and today, No Man's Sky is even cooler than the developers promised.

Fans of the Fallout franchise had long been asking for an online spin-off, and their wish was granted with the release of Fallout 76.

Bethesda envisioned the game as a sandbox, a world where players create their own fun by experimenting with systems and interacting with each other. As a result, at release, the game featured no NPCs other than enemies, and players weren't thrilled with the idea.

Fallout has always had a solid RPG foundation, one that goes far beyond XP and level-up perks. It's a compelling story filled with interesting characters, where you explore a world full of quests and hidden details to find as you complete them.

This depth was lacking in Fallout 76, which was intended to be a sandbox experience without the variety of mechanics a sandbox usually offers - limited to base-building, looting, and shooting. Eventually, Bethesda gave up and began planning a series of updates to revitalize the game with new content.

Of all these updates, the one that truly brought players back - and essentially saved the game from being discarded - was the Wastelanders update, which introduced human NPCs. It turns out that quest givers are an important part of what makes an RPG great.

The game was virtually unplayable on all platforms except high-end PCs, to the point that it was temporarily removed from digital stores. Even if you could play it, constant bugs often broke your immersion - in a world that already fell short of what players expected.

CD Projekt Red pushed themselves beyond their means, and it took years for the game to finally recover. But it eventually did, and in spectacular fashion. With the release of the stellar Phantom Liberty expansion and the 2.0 update, which brought a huge list of gameplay improvements and overhauls, Cyberpunk 2077 finally became what it was always meant to be.

It's been a long journey, and it's to be expected that people have become more skeptical of marketing hype, even from studios who’ve earned a solid reputation.

Perhaps no game has undergone such a radical transformation as Final Fantasy XIV. When it was released in 2010, the title was universally criticized for its flawed design, constant bugs, and poor gameplay.

The situation was so dire that Square Enix suspended subscriptions and internally restructured the team. After failed patch attempts, the company made a drastic decision: destroy the original game and rebuild it from scratch. Three years later, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn was, well, reborn - a complete reinvention, praised by critics and adored by fans. Producer Naoki Yoshida has become an industry legend, and the game remains one of the most influential MMOs today.

These examples prove that even when everything goes wrong, it's still possible to bounce back with hard work, listening to the community, and dedication. Do you know of any game that had a disastrous release and turned things around? Leave it in the comments below.