Being able to receive constant updates for games can be a godsend, as some games launch with game-breaking bugs that the community discovers and exploits, allowing developers to patch them and save the day. However, what happens if the game launches in a relatively healthy state, only for a rogue update to come out of nowhere and ruin the entire experience for everyone?
Unfortunately, this isn’t super uncommon, as many games, ranging from single-player darlings to competitive multiplayer and everything in between, have been caught up in disastrous patches that make everyone want to put them down and never touch them again. This list will primarily focus on updates to the current game, so ‘sequels’ or version upgrades, such as Overwatch 2, are excluded. Lucky them!
Rainbow Six Siege
Operation Chimera Update
First up, we have Rainbow Six Siege, which is a tricky landfield to navigate, as many players will likely have several different patches they thought were the worst. However, Operation Chimera is undeniably one of the worst periods the game has experienced, especially early in the season. Ela was still considered one of the top-tier Operators, then we got Lion and Finka on top of that, making it super frustrating to play.
Best Games To Replay Over And Over
Some video games practically require multiple playthroughs — and these particular selections really pack in the replay value.
Not only that, but this is arguably where the game became less tactical, pushing the game in a new direction and essentially shaking off anyone who was still hanging on to the slower, more methodical gameplay. Even if you liked the new Operators, you likely didn’t like how the gameplay or match flow felt with this update if you were accustomed to and a fan of the game when it launched!
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Patch 1.04
On the flip side, we have Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which got an interesting update to its multiplayer mode with Patch 1.04, turning its fast-paced, surprisingly fun competitive multiplayer into a camper’s delight overnight. This update would seemingly halve everyone’s health across the board, making it exceptionally easy to eliminate the opposition.
As a result, players were too afraid to move, as it was far more beneficial to use walls as cover and occasionally peak over them and land two to three shots to pick up an easy kill. Sure, the multiplayer isn’t the main drawing point of Uncharted titles, but it was surprisingly fun and rewarding, but all of that went out the window and was never addressed or fixed since!
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Patch 1.9
Next up, we have Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars and its Patch 1.9 update, which was supposed to adjust many aspects of multiplayer while leaving the single-player side largely untouched. However, as you likely guessed, all of the multiplayer changes were reflected in the single-player portion, making every encounter extremely easy, essentially nuking any enjoyment you’d get out of it.
And, to make the situation worse, this would be the final official patch released for the game, ending it on a tremendously sour note. While the multiplayer side of things is still engaging and rewarding with this update, the same cannot be said for its single-player offering, and that’s a bummer!
Fallout 4
Next-Gen 1.10.980 Patch
Fallout 4 may not be the most beloved game by Bethesda Game Studios, but for those who enjoyed it, they were having the time of their lives with it until the dreaded ‘Next-Gen’ Patch 1.10.980 hit the servers and ruined everything. Not only did this update single-handedly destroy tons of mods overnight, but it also corrupted tons of save data and made the game incredibly unstable.
So, if you haven’t touched this game in a while, have had lots of mods installed, or were super far in your game, you will likely encounter many issues that are still present today. If this sounds familiar, a similar thing also happened with Skyrim’s Anniversary Edition update. To say this is happening a second time is a disappointment would be a gross understatement!
RuneScape
Evolution Of Combat Update
From here, we move onward to RuneScape, a game that had one of the most hardcore and dedicated communities out there until its infamous Evolution of Combat update was released. While this is technically a version upgrade that took the game from RuneScape 2 to 3, it was so awful that we needed to include it. This update was so bad that it single-handedly birthed Old School RuneScape.
Despite the combat overhaul trying to add more nuance and skill to combat engagements, it did not sit well with practically the entire playerbase, as it came across as a far less competent system compared to other MMORPGs at the time. RuneScape’s combat was unique and a bit simplistic, but that’s why everyone adored it, and when it got revamped into something not even on par with its competitors, everyone jumped ship. An absolute disaster!
Dark And Darker
Highs And Lows
After that, it’s time to leap over to Dark and Darker, as it is rife with some solid patches mixed with equally as many disastrous and confusing ones that break the game completely. You can log into the game, and things will seem smooth sailing with only a few hiccups here and there, only to blink and find that Barbarians are beyond broken. Then, when they put out that fire, suddenly, the Druids are taking over, making every encounter frustrating.
Dark and Darker also seems to have no real grasp of direction, as they wanted to focus on 3v3s and remove solos, only to add them back in. When everything is functioning as it should, Dark and Darker is remarkably fun, but then a random update comes in and messes everything up. It’s quite confounding!
Dauntless
Progression Updates… Yes. Plural.
Dauntless is our penultimate pick, and it is quite a devastating tale, as it was one of the few Monster Hunter-likes that had engaging and rewarding combat and progression, only for Phoenix Labs to completely overhaul the game’s progression system. While changing the way you level up isn’t terrible on the surface, when they reset everyone’s hard-earned progress to the beginning and implement a far worse system in place of it, that’s when things get out of hand.
Prior to the second progression update, things worked and flowed as you’d expect: you went out to hunt specific monsters, defeated them for their materials, and used said materials to craft a unique and powerful weapon. But that’s not the case now, as you now only upgrade the base weapon and use the materials from defeated monsters to make skins for each weapon. Now hunts seem far less engaging, and die-hard fans feel more burned than ever before!
Tekken 8
Last and certainly not least, we have Tekken 8. Oh, boy, where do we even start with this one? Okay, we get it, Season 1 wasn’t the best Tekken had to offer, but Bandai Namco was making some promising changes throughout the season, making its upcoming season seem promising. Then, when they revealed it was the ‘Defensive Patch,’ everyone was sure Tekken 8 would go from a pretty solid game to an actual great one.
Yeah, about that. Instead of a Defensive Patch, we got even more aggression, a slew of 50/50 mixes, and already powerful characters becoming godlike. From there, we were left with this patch for the remainder of Season 2 and were promised a ‘Back to Basics’ update with Season 3. Can you guess what happened next? That’s right, the game got even more aggressive. Somehow.
It’s quite impressive to see how an already impossibly aggressive 3D fighter can get even more aggressive, spammy, and guess-heavy, but they keep finding ways to shock us. Underneath all the terrible changes in both Season 2 and 3 are some stellar tweaks to some of the most broken characters in the game, but they no sooner fix one mess only to make another, and it’s puzzling, to say the least. There’s an excellent game somewhere in there, but our patience is wearing thin to see if it ever emerges!
22 Best DLCs Of All Time
DLC can make a bad game good or make a great game incredible. From Mass Effect 3 and GTA 4 to Bioshock 2, here are the best DLCs of all time.
