What was the Biggest Launch Failure of 2013

[rokaraged]

If there's anything we can hope developers learn this year is not to rush their games out when they simply aren't ready. This year's been marred by so many screw ups that should have been forseeable during development.

What game do you think messed up their launch the most?

I am still waiting for my RTW2 to be fixed, and my GTA online character to rematerialize.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I would say GTA Online. It's a lot of fun now that they have it working but that launch was a complete mess. Losing all progress is probably the worst thing that could happen to the player. Well, it could've been worse; it could've been bricking peoples' consoles.

 

[Roxas1359]

Huh, well better get this one out of the way before others take it:
Sim City 2013.

Honestly need I say more? I mean the launch of it was so bad that it was literally unplayable for a long while, then there was the whole "always online" problem which only heated up more once a mod was created and showed that the game could in fact be played offline unlike what Maxis had said.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I guess Rome 2. Seriously, have you SEEN that shit? It's funny for people like me who don't have much of an interest in those games but it's a huge slap in the face to anyone who likes the Total War series.


What is this even?

 

[FrozenLaughs]

Simcity takes the cake. At least people who bought GTA5 could still play the rest of their game. Simcity players got shafted hard.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Huh, well better get this one out of the way before others take it:
Sim City 2013.

I can't believe I almost forgot the trainwreck that was Simcity.

Between the DRM, blatant product placement, server issues, limited build space for no reason, and being nigh broken, it was the gift that just kept on giving.

 

[Caiphus]

Are we only talking about distribution, DRM and all that? Because, if so, then Simcity takes the gold.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is worth a mention, what with its fake trailers and being sold for 80 USD in my country. Hmmmno.

Ride to Hell: Retribution for being utter shite (but probably not what the OP was going for)

And The War Z for actually being fraudulent. It takes a lot to get Steam to take a game off their store, and they managed it. Bravo, gold star.

 

[TheSYLOH]

I'm probably going to go with this launch failure


Here it is from another angle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl12dXYcUTo

But yeah, SimCity didn't literally fall burning out of the sky while spreading toxic fuel all over the place.

 

[Caiphus]

Lololol

You are correct. If we are to draw any positives from Simcity's launch, it is that nearby farmyard animals were mostly unharmed.

 

[SilverUchiha]

And The War Z for actually being fraudulent. It takes a lot to get Steam to take a game off their store, and they managed it. Bravo, gold star.

While I agree, I thought The War Z came out late last year and was then re-released this year under a new title with various fixes.

OT: For me... hate to say it, but Super Mario Bros. 3D World. I love the game and have had fun with it, but it isn't meeting the sales numbers of any other Mario game to date and isn't helping the WiiU make the sales it has been needing for a very long time now. It might just mean that Nintendo needs more than Mario, which isn't a startling revelation, but it is somewhat depressing that Nintendo isn't in an all-too-comfortable position at the moment. Especially when the WiiU is a great console that needs to sell more to get more games for it. :/

 

[Caiphus]

While I agree, I thought The War Z came out late last year and was then re-released this year under a new title with various fixes.

You could be right. I remember it dallied about with a closed beta for a while, got taken off Steam, back on Steam, now it's called Infestation or something?

Very funny to watch, as long as you weren't one of the poor bastards taken along for a ride.

As to Super Mario 3D world, yeah. You can't expect good sales for any Wii U game at the moment, really. Which is a shame. It's a shame when legitimately decent games perform poorly. I would then sort of take your position and argue that The Wonderful 101 was an even more painful flop to watch. What'd it get? Like 80k lifetime sales?

Edit: Sorry if it sounded like I was repeating your post. I get into the habit of doing that to avoid low content.

 

[Azkar Almsivi]

Battlefield 4, so much hype, so many platforms, still not working for many, including me as of this moment.

 

[Epic_Bubble]

Sim city hands down. A complete disaster at launch while a game like Total war rome was buggy it was expected and didnt go to the length that sim city did to hype its "oh online is the future".

Sim City was unplayable in the first release of the launch and scarred the proud now that is Sim City.

 

[hermes]

SimCity, no doubt. No other game with such high profile was released as definitely broken...

At least with GTAO, you had a chance of having a relatively bugless experience. With SimCity it was all the time, and almost every bug was game breaking...

 

[CarlsonAndPeeters]

Not a game, but feel like adding the Ouya to this list. So much hype and then...no one cared.

No game compares to Sim City though. Although that launch, in the grand scheme of things, will probably prove to be good for the industry since it shows that you just can't get away with that kind of bullshit.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

Yeah, Sim City. No competition. Eh... maybe Deadly Premonition or something. But Sim City wasn't just buggy... it was broken by design, far as I'm concerned.

 

[aozgolo]

Definitely Sim City, I mean this is the first time I've ever not been excited for a Sim City game... well I was briefly excited back when I first heard about it, but then it launched and... nope... still don't own it, don't plan on it either. Sim City 4 is still pretty damn good.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

That's a really tough question. I'm going with Sim City for sheer number of customers annoyed, although GTAO was pretty hopeless as well and A:CM was a vicious betrayal of those who did buy it.