Gaming Fail of the Year 2020

[Phediuk]

See equivalent threads for 2017 and 2018, and 2019.

I think it's a shame the Cyberpunk stuff happened so late, because the earlier part of the year had some astounding screwups too. Remember when Gamestop literally had its business license revoked in Pennsylvania due to forcing its stores to stay open during COVID? And how about Warcraft 3 Reforged not only being a disaster but literally deleting the original Warcraft 3 upon installation?

Let's hear some more non-Cyberpunk suggestions and I'll get a poll going if there's enough responses. I bet Cyberpunk will still win, but let's see anyway.

 

[ItchyTasty]

The Avengers feel like a good contender. I mean the property should be able to sell itself by the name alone, but alas here we are.

 

[Menome]

I don't normally go for "Oh, the gaming press!" pitchfork moments, but for this year to have a majority of them report on historical and ongoing abuses at Ubisoft, where the situation hasn't even been resolved yet, and then go on to happily play and review Watch Dogs: Legion and Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is the biggest 'fail' I can think of.

 

[Sumio Mondo]

Cyberpunk 2077/CD Projekt Red and Ubisoft in equal measure.

Then, The Avengers.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Avengers, I mean how do you fuck up the biggest entertainment IP out there with something so clearly dull?

 

[Wispmetas]

Biggest fail overall in the industry: Cyberpunk on console probably, I don't remember the last time opinions on a game switched from night to day like that.

Other fail, the smash FGC sexual allegations really impacted me as a big fan of that scene

 

[ShotyMcFat]

Cyberpunk followed by Avengers
It's basically a broken unfinished game vs a boring uninspired game featuring MCU stunt doubles.

 

[Necron]

Based on everything that's happened surrounding this project... yeah, I still think Cyberpunk 2077 wins this "award".

 

[Hero of Legend]

Ubisoft followed by CDPR. No contest. (edit: and Rocksteady and Insomniac).

Anyone saying Nintendo should just stop. Right now.

 

[Deleted member 10795]

The Avengers shouldn't even be in the discussion. Being an aggressively dull/mediocre game and an underwhelming take on a licensed property isn't new or even particularly noteworthy. Infact they used to be common.

CD Projekt Red's intentionally garbage marketing/hype campaign and goading of the the trans community, together with the atrocious crunch, is an actual basis for this "award" - as is all the Ubisoft stuff that came out this year.

 

[Deleted member 543]

Ubisoft for years of abuse.
CDPR for transphobia, racism, crunch, deceiving consumers with a broken game.
Games media for failing to call out the above, and giving a broken game some of the highest scores of the year.
ResetEra for being taken in by an alt-right nutjob over the Cyberpunk OT. Do better.

 

[NotLiquid]

Toss up between Ubisoft and CDPR. Disasters in their own separate ways.

 

[hidys]

I was reflexively going to say Cyberpunk but then I remembered that Ubisoft has been protecting and shielding people who engage in sexual harassment.

So it's Ubisoft.

 

[Classy Tomato]

I legit forgot Warcraft 3 Reforged was released early this year...

It feels ages ago.

 

[BrickArts295]

CDPR/2077 by far. Not even Bethesda nor Bioware could burn so much goodwill with one game.

 

[sredgrin]

Ubisoft followed by CDPR. No contest. (edit: and Rocksteady and Insomniac).

Anyone saying Nintendo should just stop. Right now.

Click to shrink...

Nobody has mentioned Nintendo but you.

 

[Vommy]

CDPR with a close Avengers.

 

[Hero of Legend]

Nobody has mentioned Nintendo but you.

Click to shrink...

More of a preparation as there was a similar thread and a few had mentioned so.

Edit: This thread.

Edit 2: Reading the thread again, it was mostly Kotaku who put Nintendo on the list. Thankfully most called them out on it. I'm just used to having to deal with a certain community thinking they're the worst company ever for not letting them do whatever they want with their IP.

 

[HardRojo]

More of a preparation as there was a similar thread and a few had mentioned so.

Edit: This thread.

Edit 2: Reading the thread again, it was mostly Kotaku who put Nintendo on the list. Thankfully most called them out on it. I'm just used to having to deal with a certain community thinking they're the worst company ever for not letting them do whatever they want with their IP.

Click to shrink...

Lol what? You preemptively mention a company because you took it upon yourself to exact justice and deal with a certain "community"? What?

 

[Papercuts]

The FGC sex pest implosion over the summer was pretty crazy. Events got hit hard in general but the ramifications for that one will be big, especially with EVO getting shaken so hard.

 

[Hero of Legend]

Lol what? You preemptively mention a company because you took it upon yourself to exact justice and deal with a certain "community"? What?

Click to shrink...

Apologies. Again, I've had to deal with the FreeMelee community (if you've been in the threads you'll know what I mean). It's been constant misinformation being spread around with zero responsibility from the FreeMelee community to address the updates and clarifications on said topics when they come out. Such as the Joy-Con grifter as one example. So I jumped the gun thinking folks like that would just scream that Nintendo is the worst because... reasons. Again, my apologies.

 

[It’s Time To Go]

Not including cyberpunk, it's gotta be avengers. I thought that game would succeed purely on brand recognition and it just didn't.

 

[HardRojo]

The FGC sex pest implosion over the summer was pretty crazy. Events got hit hard in general but the ramifications for that one will be big, especially with EVO getting shaken so hard.

Click to shrink...

Oh yeah, that one was huge and right before EVO Online. The whole Smash stuff was crazy and sad to see, in the sense that it should be a welcoming community, not a dangerous one.

 

[Xater]

Ubisoft as a shitty company followed by Avengers.

I do think though Cyberpunk has it in the bag. Being pulled of one of the stores and the extended return policies are pretty unprecedented

 

[Hayeya]

1- CYBERPUNK 2077
Biggest AAA fuckup of the recent times, in this age of Social Media and fast circulating info, how can you release a Beta game for Full Price without any acceptable QA being done? I hope this is an avalanche that will force developers to release Fully tested Complete games.

2- UBISOFT
Sexual Harassment and other unacceptable behaviors should not be tolerated at all, and Top Management should be held accountable in the Ubisoft Case since they knew about these cases. Social Media is a God Send for showing the world what is really happening behind closed doors.

3- Avengers
This game reminded me of the DC Cinematic Universe, Stand alone movies are Successful and popular, and the Mega Movie that Binds them all is a Clusterfuck.
Crystal Dynamic dropped the ball hard with this, the Spiderman Game by Sony sold Gangbusters, how can a FUCKING AVENGERS Game release with such muted response is beyond me.

 

[stryke]

Ubisoft followed by CDPR. No contest. (edit: and Rocksteady and Insomniac).

Anyone saying Nintendo should just stop. Right now.

Click to shrink...

You can put your Nintendo shield down.

 

[jesu]

Amazon's Crucible was released in May then unreleased 2 months later, that's pretty bad.

And apparently it was closed down completley in November.

 

[Hennessy]

Fortnite and Apple fiasco.

 

[random88]

Warcraft III Reforged for me.

 

[Velg]

Biggest fail overall in the industry: Cyberpunk on console probably, I don't remember the last time opinions on a game switched from night to day like that.

Biggest fail for me personally: TLOU II story being boring, long and overly bleak.

Click to shrink...

Think this thread is more objective failures than opinions. TLOU was a great success in all available metrics.

 

[Rommaz]

Its Ubisoft and it's not even close

 

[Wispmetas]

Think this thread is more objective failures than opinions. TLOU was a great success in all available metrics.

Click to shrink...

Sure that's why I wrote about cyberpunk 1st, I thought personal failures were valid here too.
I'll edit it out to prevent a thread derail then.

 

[stryke]

The Avengers shouldn't even be in the discussion. Being an aggressively dull/mediocre game and an underwhelming take on a licensed property isn't new or even particularly noteworthy. Infact they used to be common.

CD Projekt Red's intentionally garbage marketing/hype campaign and goading of the the trans community, together with the atrocious crunch, is an actual basis for this "award" - as is all the Ubisoft stuff that came out this year.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, it perplexes me in some minds Avengers bombing somehow wins out against pervasive sexism/harrassment within a whole publisher.

 

[Taurus]

1. Cyberpunk 2077 full priced alpha version release

2. Avengers (so happy it is failing after the console exclusive character horseshit)

 

[Mendrox]

More of a preparation as there was a similar thread and a few had mentioned so.

Edit: This thread.

Edit 2: Reading the thread again, it was mostly Kotaku who put Nintendo on the list. Thankfully most called them out on it. I'm just used to having to deal with a certain community thinking they're the worst company ever for not letting them do whatever they want with their IP.

Click to shrink...

Do you work for Nintendo? :D

 

[cowbanana]

Gotta be Avengers. How can you screw that up so badly?

 

[Helix]

It's probably CDPR for me. Just coming into this year, I had really high expectations and held them in high regard and look where they are now! it's a damn shame.

 

[Rotobit]

Cyberpunk seems like a failure on several levels, from its representation issues, to the crunch, to technical problems. I expected it to be a rough landing, but I wasn't prepared for how bad it got.

Ubisoft's stuff sucks and, while I hope the changes they've implemented will allow their many great artists to work in a more comfortable environment, it's utterly baffling certain members of the upper management are still around. It doesn't inspire much confidence promises will be kept.

Avengers is incomparable to both, really. No one was really expecting anything great going after its lacklustre E3 2019 reveal, and what we got is basically boiler-plate GaaS. It was a failure to read the room more than anything else.

 

[grosvenor92]

What has been worse than Ubisoft honestly ? The amount of sexism/harassment that was exposed is unbelievable and thankfully those who were responsible either resigned or were let go.

 

[Klokwerk]

It should be between the Avengers and Cyberpunk.

I give it to Cyberpunk due to the massive overhype and bullshit marketing before release.

It's still a good game, but performance problems on last gen console plus the astronomical number of cut features on any version make it the clear winner for me. It should have stayed one or two more years in the oven.

 

[Ramsay]

Three that come to mind:

• The systematic sexual harassment, if not worse, within countless gaming communities - including, but far from just the Smash community.
• Speaking of sexual harassment, Ubisoft. Here's a reminder that Guillemot still hasn't resigned despite being fully aware of the systemic sexual harassment in his company and doing absolutely nothing to stop it.
• Cybercrunch 2077. Transphobia, endless crunch, false advertising, lying to investors, shady review practices, kowtowing to the CCP, arguably the most broken AAA release since Sonic 06, and even discounting all of these previous reasons, a mediocre-at-best game even if polished.

Dishonourable mention goes to the storytelling failures of TLOU Part 2 - though nowhere near as bad as the above three failures, being a poorly-written, poorly-characterised and poorly-presented misery simulator still warrants a mention.

 

[APOEERA]

I would say in addition to Ubisoft and their actions with sexual harassment (which is the most egregious) would be supposed "fans" and their campaign of harassment after the leaks around The Last of Us Part II. I mean, idiots on Twitter and elsewhere were giving death threats to Laura Bailey that Naughty Dog had to say something. Not to mention you couldn't go anywhere on social media without someone spoiling the game out of spite. Just everyone involved with the leaks and the dog piling is a gaming fail.

CDPR as well committing potential security fraud and their whole behavior around Cyberpunk 2077 is also a gaming fail.

 

[Evolution of Metal]

Crucible

Release -> Beta -> Cancellation

The disaster that I have never seen in gaming. Sure Warcraft Reforged was a scam, reselling the same product under the guide of remake, Avengers being a disappointing bomb, and Cyberpunk being mediocre underdelivering like crazy. You might argue that Sony pulling Cyberpunk is a but unprecedented, but I think Crucible still takes the cake.

 

[arcadepc]

The FGC sex pest implosion over the summer was pretty crazy. Events got hit hard in general but the ramifications for that one will be big, especially with EVO getting shaken so hard.

Click to shrink...

Especially the past Twitter feeds by Mr Wizard about "not meeting our standards and values"

 

[Redcrayon]

Ubisoft's systemic sexual harassment issues feels like enough of a contender to make it a front runner alongside Cyberpunk.

 

[Siresly]

Winner: CD Projekt
Transphobia and cultivating a shitty audience, removing games at the behest of the CCP, crunch and lying about it, Cyberpunk 2077 being a mess on consoles and lying about it. They fucked up so many things so severely in such a short amount of time that I may have forgotten something. Oh how they misled people about the refund situation and caused a bunch of bullshit for their partners. And their transparent, embarrassing "Dear Gamers" bullshit. And one of the guys in management liked a "Avengers should get shat on, not Cyberpunk" tweet, signaling that he prioritizes diversion by attacking peers over taking responsibility for the mess he's helped cause. What a piece of shit company. Completely ruinous management.

Winner: Ubisoft
Probably the only other case that could be made. Ubisoft's issues with culture, sexual harassment and assault, were so severe, widespread and overlooked by management for so long. Yves Guillemot still needs to fire himself.

Cyberpunk seems like a failure on several levels, from its representation issues, to the crunch, to technical problems. I expected it to be a rough landing, but I wasn't prepared for how bad it got.

Ubisoft's stuff sucks and, while I hope the changes they've implemented will allow their many great artists to work in a more comfortable environment, it's utterly baffling certain members of the upper management are still around. It doesn't inspire much confidence promises will be kept.

Avengers is incomparable to both, really. No one was really expecting anything great going after its lacklustre E3 2019 reveal, and what we got is basically boiler-plate GaaS. It was a failure to read the room more than anything else.

Click to shrink...

Right? Yves Guillemot ran the company throughout all this, overlooked all of it, was friends with the Serge Hascoet creep. It appears extremely likely that Guillemot was very aware and just ignored it, for what's possibly decades. It's insane that he's trying to weasel his way out claiming to have been innocent and unaware. If that were true, he should fire himself for incompetence/negligence instead.

Him remaining at his position adds negative credibility to the notion that Ubisoft is serious about sufficiently addressing this.

 

[Yggfk]

I feel we had tons of "Konami" moments this year: companies that did their best to earn our despise. Ubisoft and CDPR can just go fuck themselves.

 

[weekev]

Its Ubisoft and it's not even close

Click to shrink...

I'm gonna throw in the fact that literal slave labour is being used to produce all of our gaming stuff. The gaming fail is the absolute lack of acknowledgement of this abhorrent situation where we are all basically complicit in enabling this shit through consumerism. The lack of coverage is as astounding as it is disgusting.

[BBC] In China, Uighurs 'moved into factory forced labour' for foreign brands Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony

It was recommended that I cross post this from EtcetEra for awareness, particularly as we move towards a new generation of consoles. Letting people make informed decisions about where they're willing to put their money is the best thing anyone can do here. Here's the latest on the various...

www.resetera.com

 

[aisback]

Cooking mama

 

[My Blue Heaven]

everyone just being ok w/ mario's death on march 31, 2021 is a pretty big gamer crime. yall are just gonna stand by and do nothing? smh