Games With Record-Breaking Launches and Disasters

The gaming world is a rollercoaster – exciting and unpredictable. It’s constantly changing, with both brilliant successes and unfortunate failures. We’ve seen games launch to incredible popularity, breaking all sorts of records, but also accompanied by equally memorable and significant problems.

Here’s a look at some of the most talked-about game launches – both the huge successes and the major failures. We’ll cover games that quickly gained millions of players, those that struggled to find an audience, and the frustrating bugs and glitches that sometimes overshadowed the fun.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

Despite $500 Million in 3 Days and the Best Digital Sales in Franchise History, Black Ops 4’s Servers Couldn’t Handle the Competition

2018 was an unusual year for the gaming industry, as the huge success of Fortnite pushed many developers to create games with ongoing, live services. Call of Duty responded with Black Ops 4, which earned over $500 million in sales within its first three days and had the best first-day digital sales of any Call of Duty game up to that point. However, the game soon faced challenges. In an attempt to compete with Fortnite, Black Ops 4 included a Battle Royale mode called Blackout. While promising, Blackout took resources away from the traditional Multiplayer and Zombies modes.

Players encountered problems with Black Ops 4 right from the start. This Call of Duty game notably lacked a single-player campaign, and many experienced crashes and server issues, particularly while playing Zombies. These bugs, combined with reduced development resources for the Zombies mode, left players feeling disappointed, leading many to switch to games like Fortnite.

Grand Theft Auto 5

Hitting $1 Billion in Sales in 3 Days is a Triumph, Marred Slightly by GTA Online’s Disastrous Launch

Rockstar Games consistently delivers high-quality games, and with fans eagerly awaiting Grand Theft Auto 6 in late 2026 (though another delay is always possible), it’s worth remembering the incredible success of Grand Theft Auto 5. Released in 2013, GTA 5 immediately became one of the best games ever made, earning over $1 billion in revenue in just three days.

Grand Theft Auto 5 is still one of the best-selling video games ever, and the release of Grand Theft Auto Online shortly after its launch was initially thrilling for many players. However, the online component suffered from a rocky start, with overloaded servers, extremely slow loading times, and frustrating progress resets that forced players to repeat the beginning of the game. Ironically, these launch issues were more irritating to players than the current delays surrounding the release of Grand Theft Auto 6.

No Man’s Sky

The Biggest Steam Launch of 2016 Suffered False Promises That Have Since Been Delivered Beyond Expectations

From the very beginning, No Man’s Sky generated a lot of anticipation. The idea of an endlessly explorable universe, created by a process that would ensure no two galaxies were ever exactly alike, captured the internet’s imagination. The game created such a buzz that it became the biggest release on Steam in 2016.

I remember when No Man’s Sky first came out – it felt like a real dream project, clearly made with a lot of heart. But honestly, the launch was a huge letdown. They’d talked so much about exploration and adventure, but what we got was a pretty empty universe – just endless random planets and creatures. There was no way to play with friends, almost no customization, and honestly, no real reason to do anything. It caused a massive backlash, and rightfully so. But what’s incredible is that Hello Games didn’t give up. Over the last decade, they’ve poured their hearts into the game, consistently releasing amazing free updates and expansions. It’s honestly been incredible to watch, and now No Man’s Sky has become the beautiful, fun game we were all hoping for.

Cyberpunk 2077

Selling 13.7 Million Copies in a Month and Breaking Steam Charts Was No Cause for Celebration When the Game Was So Very Broken

Cyberpunk 2077 is now considered one of the best games ever made, but its journey to success wasn’t easy. CD Projekt RED first revealed the game in 2012, but development continued as they focused on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which became a massive hit and raised expectations for their next project. Despite announcing it early, Cyberpunk 2077 faced numerous delays and was ultimately released before it was fully polished, leading to a very problematic launch.

Despite a rocky start, Cyberpunk 2077 ultimately found success. While it sold over 13 million copies and attracted over a million players on Steam by December 2020, the initial release was riddled with bugs on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, making it difficult to enjoy. CD Projekt RED spent a long time apologizing and fixing issues, and their efforts paid off in 2023 with the release of Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 and the Phantom Liberty expansion. These updates finally delivered the experience players had hoped for, and the game’s troubled launch became a cautionary tale for the industry.

Diablo 3

The Fastest-Selling PC Game Meant That Blizzard Didn’t Predict the Heavy Server Load

After a 12-year wait, Diablo 3 arrived as the sequel to Diablo 2, a game widely considered one of the best Action RPGs ever made. It launched with incredible sales, becoming the fastest-selling PC game in 2012 with 3.5 million copies sold in a single day. However, the initial excitement quickly faded when players discovered they couldn’t actually access the game they’d purchased.

When Diablo 3 launched in 2012, Blizzard was surprised by how many people wanted to play. Players often faced extremely long waits – sometimes for hours or even days – just to access the game. Long-time fans were also disappointed by some unexpected design choices, and technical server problems made the game unplayable for many. Thankfully, these issues have since been fixed.

Battlefield 2042

Despite 4 Million Sales in 2 Months, Rough Design Choices, and COVID Development Led to Thousands of Negative Reviews and Refunds

The rivalry between Battlefield and Call of Duty is well-known, and while the latest Battlefield 6 shows the series is still a strong contender, many fans were disappointed by Battlefield 2042. That game explored a potential future for the franchise, with mixed results. Although Battlefield 2042 sold over 4 million copies in two months, that number includes a significant amount of refunds and players who only tried the game through a free trial.

The launch of Battlefield 2042 was a major disappointment. Whether caused by poor management or issues stemming from development during the COVID-19 pandemic, the game was plagued with bugs and lacked many features fans expected from previous Battlefield titles. This led to a disastrous release, forcing DICE to focus all its resources on fixing Battlefield 2042 and putting other projects on hold.

Fallout 76

Fallout Goes Live-Service and Multiplayer At the Cost of Sanity, Servers, and Fun, With 1.4 Million Units Sold in 2 Months

Bethesda Game Studios is famous for its immersive single-player games, especially the popular Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series. Fans generally know to expect a few bugs and a considerable wait between each new game. However, Fallout 76 was a departure for Bethesda, as it tried something new by bringing the Fallout experience to a multiplayer world.

Fallout 76 initially received a lot of criticism and became known as one of the worst-received games made by Bethesda, and understandably so. When it first launched, the game world felt empty and lacked meaningful activities, making it seem like a truly desolate experience. Numerous development problems and glitches plagued the game, meaning it needed significant improvements. Thankfully, Fallout 76 has improved a lot and is now much more enjoyable to play.

Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2017)

Immense Success for Star Wars and DICE, Plagued by EA’s Signature Microtransaction Greed

Everyone remembers when Star Wars took the world by storm, and it remains a hugely popular franchise. When EA announced a new Battlefront game – a sequel to the 2015 reboot developed by DICE, the creators of Battlefield – fans were thrilled. The original Battlefront only featured content from the first three Star Wars films, so players were excited to see what else was in store.

The 2017 release of Battlefront 2 aimed to be a comprehensive Star Wars experience, drawing from all eras of the franchise. However, initial enthusiasm quickly faded when players discovered that much of the game’s content – like better items, weapons, and characters – was locked behind a paywall of in-game currency and loot boxes. Players felt they were being asked to pay again for content after already purchasing the full game. This focus on profit through microtransactions and the gambling-like nature of loot boxes severely damaged the game’s initial reception. Thankfully, a complete overhaul of this system led to a significant turnaround, and many players are now hoping for a Battlefront 3.

The team behind Battlefront 2 once received the most downvotes ever on Reddit. This happened when they attempted to justify the way unlockable content worked in the game.

Overwatch 2

35 Million Players in Just One Month Were Stopped Short Due to Server Issues and DDoS Attacks

When Overwatch came out in 2016, it quickly became a standout title in the gaming world. Its unique gameplay was both new and incredibly engaging, making each match hard to stop playing as players learned the ins and outs of its diverse and stylish heroes. When Overwatch 2 was announced in 2019, many fans were unsure about the need for a sequel, fearing it would be mostly the same game with a new number. However, the addition of cooperative story missions, or PvE content, sparked interest and gave players a reason to look forward to the next installment.

Despite numerous delays, Overwatch 2’s launch was ultimately helped by its decision to be free-to-play, which successfully increased the player base to record numbers. While the cancellation of the promised PvE mode was a disappointment, the launch was even more troubled by a cyberattack on Blizzard. This resulted in server problems, denial-of-service attacks, extremely long wait times to join games, and players losing items they’d previously earned.

Concord

A Launch That Didn’t Even Peak at 700 on Steam, Paired with a Potential Budget of $400 Million, Shows the Harsh Death of Live-Service Hero Shooters

Just because a game is ambitious doesn’t mean it will succeed, and that’s certainly true with Concord. It was intended to be PlayStation’s next big franchise, filled with bright, imaginative sci-fi characters and worlds that could have set it apart. Unfortunately, launching as a live-service hero shooter in 2024 proved to be a fatal flaw, highlighting how quickly gamer preferences are changing.

The launch of Concord was a major failure. The game never reached 700 concurrent players on Steam and was taken offline by Sony after just 12 days. It sold fewer than 25,000 copies despite costing an estimated $400 million to develop. While the game itself may have been well-made and created with enthusiasm, it clearly didn’t find an audience.

2026-01-23 23:08