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Top 20 Worst Video Game Controversies of the Century (So Far)

Top 20 Worst Video Game Controversies of the Century (So Far)
VOICE OVER: Riccardo Tucci WRITTEN BY: Johnny Reynolds
The 21st century is still young, but the video game industry has already suffered a ton of awful controversies. For this list, we'll be looking at the most noteworthy controversies surrounding video games from the year 2000 to 2022. Our countdown includes The Closing of Telltale Games, Blizzard's Many Faults, Real-life War in Fallujah, The Absent “Star Citizen,” and more!

Script written by Johnny Reynolds

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 20 Worst Video Game Controversies of the Century so Far. For this list, we’ll be looking at the most noteworthy controversies surrounding video games from the year 2000 to 2022. Which of these upset you the most? Share your thoughts, respectfully, in the comments below.

#20: “No Man’s Sky” Falls Short


The release of “No Man’s Sky” in 2016 marks an important moment in recent gaming history, but not for the right reasons. Hello Games’ Sean Murray spent a lot of time hyping players up with lofty promises of a wholly unique space exploration experience. However, when players got their hands on it, they were rightfully disappointed. Multiple promised features, such as multiplayer, were absent. One of the most anticipated games of that year quickly became a painful lesson in how not to market a game. Thankfully, the controversial launch has a happy ending. Instead of letting it die, Hello Games worked on “No Man’s Sky,” making constant improvements. And it’s in a much better state today.

#19: “The Last of Us Part II” Leaks


In April of 2020, videos showing gameplay and very crucial story details of “The Last of Us Part II” leaked online. Some fans were upset about the revelations, even though they were without the context of the larger story. When it released a couple months later, it was relentlessly review bombed on Metacritic. Many reviews went up as soon as the game launched, meaning the negative scores came from those who likely didn’t play it, let alone finish it. Reasons ranged from disappointment over the story to things far more hateful, like the inclusion of LGBT characters. What’s worse is that some people who worked on the game, like actress Laura Bailey, received online harassment and death threats.

#18: “Mass Effect 3’s” Ending


We understand the difficulty of creating a satisfying ending, but boy did BioWare really drop the ball on “Mass Effect 3.” Essentially, the finale boiled down to three different decisions, meaning three different endings. However, considering the narrative and characters were cultivated from a plethora of decisions players made across the trilogy, they were none too pleased. Many felt cheated, leading to the “Retake Mass Effect” campaign that demanded a better ending. There was even an investigation into whether or not BioWare had misled players on how important their choices were. BioWare gave out free DLC to expand on the ending, but the damage had been done.

#17: GTA: The World’s Most Controversial Series


It seems that every time “Grand Theft Auto” is in mainstream news, it’s because of some new controversy. The franchise has drawn debate since its inception, but it grew more frequent in the 21st century. It has been criticized for glorifying violence, though each installment has had its own specific controversy. “San Andreas” had its ‘Hot Coffee’ debacle, where a deleted sex minigame was discovered in the code, resulting in a class action lawsuit and a re-release of the game. Then there was “GTA IV,” which let players drive under the influence, and “GTA V,” which featured a mission where players had to graphically torture someone. We can only imagine what “GTA VI” will bring.

#16: Real-life War in Fallujah


Although several FPS games have focused on the war in Iraq, they’ve mostly still followed fictional events. “Six Days in Fallujah,” on the other hand, will chronicle a very real and very violent event. And that’s the problem. Announced in 2009, the game was dropped by publisher Konami after immense backlash. Many were concerned over the possibility of glorifying or trivializing the battle, which resulted in the deaths of around 800 civilians among many others. In 2021, the game was revived with publisher Victura, founded by the president of the game’s former developer. The announcement drew controversy again, with many calling for a second cancellation. “Six Days in Fallujah” releases in 2023. Needless to say, it will be a very interesting launch.

#15: The PSN Hack


In April of 2011, the PlayStation Network was hit with one of the biggest security breaches in history. Around 77 million accounts were put at risk following the breach, and online services for both the PlayStation 3 and PSP went down. In a baffling decision, Sony chose not to inform its player base, stating the network was simply down for maintenance. Even if it wasn’t clear that personal information was at risk, people deserved to know. However, Sony waited a week to inform anyone of that possibility. This decision drew a lot of criticism from government bodies around the world, as well as the justifiably angry players. Sony then had to spend a lot of time doing damage control.

#14: The “Cyberpunk 2077” Launch


Like “No Man’s Sky,” “Cyberpunk 2077” had an exceptionally troubled launch. However, given that CD Projekt Red had announced the game in 2012 and previously developed “The Witcher,” excitement was much higher. When the game released in 2020, CD Projekt Red only allowed reviewers to play the PC version. Turns out, the studio was well aware of the multitude of technical issues in the PS4 and Xbox One versions. Consumers were of course frustrated, leading to refunds, Sony removing it from the PS store, stock drops for CD Projekt’s parent company, and a lawsuit in which it had to pay $1.85 million. We’re grateful the studio has worked to improve the issues, though it seems like the whole situation could’ve been avoided.

#13: No Russian


“Call of Duty” features plenty of harrowing moments, though there was one in particular that was the topic of heated discussion. One of the opening missions in “Modern Warfare 2” has the player, as an undercover agent, partake in a mass shooting at a Russian airport. While the game gives the player the option to skip it, the shocking violence got everyone talking. Some saw it as the further glorification of violence in video games, some saw its inclusion as pure shock value, while others saw it as a necessary, albeit disturbing, piece of the story. Regardless, it was censored in certain countries and, unsurprisingly, removed entirely from the Russian version.

#12: Bethesda Loses the Love of the People


Bethesda has lost the trust from a significant portion of its player base. The studio that saved “Fallout” from death and wowed us with “The Elder Scrolls” has since made some very problematic decisions. In 2015, it tried to charge Steam players for “Skyrim” mods while planning to only give the creator 25% of the profits. Of course, the studio’s biggest blunder was the launch of “Fallout 76.” From the moment it was announced as an online multiplayer game with no NPCs, fans felt uneasy. Those feelings were unfortunately justified; the bug-filled open world felt repetitive and empty. The controversies kept coming post-launch, including the ‘Power Armor’ edition fiasco, a data breach, and reports of forced crunch.

#11: The “Manhunt 2” Rating


Rockstar is obviously no stranger to controversy being the studio behind “Grand Theft Auto.” But “Manhunt 2” was certainly the most violent game it had made up to that point. It was seen as so extreme, in fact, that the UK and Ireland refused to rate it. In the US, it received an Adults Only rating. This essentially would’ve killed it since Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft don’t allow AO games on their systems. Rockstar had to heavily censor it for a Mature rating, including the removal of a scoring system based on how violent your kills were. The censorship did fix the issue. But “Manhunt 2” was still banned in several countries including New Zealand and Germany.

#10: BioWare’s Mismanagement


Sadly, it wasn’t just the ending of “Mass Effect 3” BioWare had to deal with. Following the dissatisfying launches of “Mass Effect: Andromeda” and “Anthem,” an article from Kotaku’s Jason Schreier in 2019 exposed the many roots of the problem. A severe lack of leadership and direction, particularly during the development of “Anthem,” has warranted extreme frustration from employees. It has led to rushed deadlines and extreme reworkings in design, all while dealing with pressure from parent company EA. The studio still commands a certain respect for how many great RPGs it has given us in both the sci-fi and fantasy genres. We just really hope to see it return to form someday soon.

#9: The Closing of Telltale Games


Telltale grew popular with incredible storytelling in “The Wolf Among Us” and “The Walking Dead.” Suddenly, point-and-click adventures were back and the studio began buying rights to various popular IPs. However, that in part proved to be its downfall. It took on too many projects, leading to crunch. It also refused to deviate from the formula that made it popular, leading to increasingly blander releases. The expensive rights and the dwindling sales eventually led Telltale to laying off all employees in 2018, save for a small number left for necessary duties. Much worse, the fired employees were given no severance, but were given a 30-minute timeframe to leave the building. The Telltale brand may have been saved through acquisition, but this was appalling.

#8: The Absent “Star Citizen”


In 2012, Cloud Imperium Games announced “Star Citizen,” a sci-fi FPS/MMO hybrid. A Kickstarter campaign earned it $2 million with a planned 2014 release. As we all know, that didn’t happen. Although the Kickstarter finished long ago, the studio has continued earning funds by selling in-game content. As of September 2022, a decade after announcement, it has received $500 million in crowdfunding and $63.25 million from private investors. Many initial backers have struggled in getting refunds, making it all feel crummier. Despite in-development sections being released, the game still isn’t out. We’d really like to believe this isn’t one of the biggest scams in gaming history, but that grows harder with each passing year.

#7: Severe Mistreatment of Employees


It’s a depressing fact that we have to lump so many companies together when it comes to how poorly they treat their employees. In recent years, multiple studios have been surrounded by controversy due to forced crunch. Some of the biggest names in gaming, from Naughty Dog to Rockstar, from CD Projekt Red to EA, have grievously overworked their employees. And unfortunately, it isn’t limited to crunch. Other studios, such as Ubisoft, Riot, and Activision Blizzard, have been the subject of multiple sexual harassment allegations and lawsuits. Video games are hard enough to make as it is without having to worry about your health and safety. What’s even more upsetting than how many studios we already named is knowing how many we didn’t.

#6: Konami’s Fall From Grace


Konami’s legacy stretches far back with plenty of arcade classics and stellar console IPs. But its time of greatness has long since passed. In 2015, the studio had a very public falling out with director Hideo Kojima. It removed Kojima from its listings and marketing material and banned him from attending the 2015 Game Awards. It also canceled his “Silent Hills” project with Guillermo del Toro, despite very positive reception to the playable teaser. Konami seemed not interested in games at all, focusing more on merchandising its IPs to the displeasure of many fans. On top of all that, it has treated employees very badly, like filing complaints with any company that hired former workers and preventing Kojima Productions employees from getting health insurance.

#5: EA’s Mismanagement of “Star Wars”


EA was far from anyone’s favorite company when it picked up the “Star Wars” license. That doesn’t mean it didn’t consistently hurt the fandom with its decisions. It revived the “Battlefront” series in 2015, but the season pass and a lack of single player were criticized. Of course, that was nothing compared to the infamous loot box controversy surrounding the game’s 2017 sequel, which prompted worldwide government response. Also, we’re still not over the cancellation of “Project RagTag,” a single player experience led by “Uncharted” creator Amy Hennig at Visceral Games, the studio behind “Dead Space.” What hurt more than the cancellation was the immediate closure of Visceral. That’s just cold. But hey, at least “Fallen Order” was good…

#4: Microtransactions


Ever since the advent of DLC, developers and publishers have been coming up with all kinds of ways to get some extra money from their players. And while DLC can be great, the next step in its evolution has brought more problems than it’s worth. Microtransactions have grown more and more frequent in the AAA game space. In fact, it makes news if one launches without them and many breathe a sigh of relief. Some are certainly more predatory than others in their implementation, but there’s a good reason they usually get such a negative reaction from players. We lament the days when alternate costumes and weapons could just be unlocked by playing, but that’s quickly becoming a thing of the past.

#3: Blizzard’s Many Faults


Honestly, if we didn’t combine Blizzard’s controversies into one spot, they would’ve taken up a quarter of the list. In recent years, Blizzard has been hit with multiple sexual harassment allegations with reports detailing a ‘frat boy’ culture. It’s clearly an incredibly toxic workplace, though the studio has made it clear it doesn’t really care about its players either. In 2019, it banned professional “Hearthstone” player Blitzchung and took his winnings for voicing his support of protestors in Hong Kong. The announcement and launch of “Diablo Immortal” were met with extreme backlash due to it being a predatory mobile game. Additionally, “Warcraft III: Reforged” and “Overwatch 2” were surrounded by their own brands of controversy. It seems Blizzard can’t do anything right.

#2: Gamergate


Gamergate may have ended some time ago, but its effects were widespread and long-lasting. The movement, if you can call it that, began in 2014. Game developer Zoë Quinn was the target of extensive harassment after their ex-boyfriend falsely claimed they were in a relationship with a Kotaku reporter in exchange for a good review of their game, “Depression Quest.” The wave of vitriol that came her way was inexcusable and disgusting, but it didn’t stop there. Self-proclaimed ‘Gamergaters’ then moved on to harassing and threatening other prominent women in games media, such as developer Brianna Wu and critic Anita Sarkeesian. No one deserves the types of threats they received, and it was all one awful, embarrassing mess.

#1: Violence in Video Games


It seems that, no matter the era, violent acts will always be attributed to violence in entertainment. Video games in particular have been used as the scapegoat countless times in the US following exceptionally brutal events. If news comes out that a shooter enjoyed video games, you can bet that’s where the finger of blame will be pointed. Nevermind the fact that violent games launch in other parts of the world without issues. Or that worldwide studies have proven no correlation. It isn’t just that video games are foolishly held responsible for horrific acts. But these claims detract from the real problems, whether they be mental health issues or regulations of certain firearms. Sadly, the frequency of these claims shows some may never understand.
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