Patches and updates are established part of modern gaming. Their purpose is to improve their respective games, and that’s what they do. Most of the time, they rid the titles of bugs and other shortcomings. Sadly, that’s not always the case.
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Some patches actually harm their games. Not only do the developers fail to fix the intended issue, but they create a plethora of new problems. The result earns intense ire from gamers. It demonstrates that the developers don’t care about the projects that they work on, yet they still expect money for their efforts. The best-case scenario is that these new issues are resolved. Even then, however, they secure an infamous place in gaming history.
7Star Wars Galaxies
In MMORPGs, everyone starts on equal footing. The same initially went forStar Wars Galaxies. Players were just random citizens in a galaxy far, far away. The game was less flashy than other franchise titles, yet it was also more immersive in ground-level world-building. That was until the marketing higher-ups insisted on more Jedi in theirStar Warssandbox.
In response, Sony and Lucasarts added a special holocron containing ancient knowledge of the Jedi and Sith. Basically, it let players unlock Force powers at an earlier point.Because these mystical knights are so powerful by nature, they outshone all other classes and destroyed any semblance of game balance. Their inclusion also broke the canon in half since the setting was supposedly during a time when the Jedi were nearly extinct. This led many fans to jump ship. It is rather ironic that the galaxy’s greatest hope turned into its downfall.
6Cyberpunk 2077
Suffice it to say,Cyberpunk 2077didn’t have the smoothest launch. Numerous game-breaking bugs made it virtually unplayable for numerous audiences. To their credit, CD Projekt Red worked tirelessly to fix the problems. Some patches, though, created more problems than they solved.
Such was the case with Patch 1.1. During the “Down in the Street” mission,Takemura no longer phoned V with his next lead. This effectively prevented players from continuing the story. Considering it’s early in the narrative, there’s not much else to do. Thankfully, this is one of the many issues which the developers addressed. Now,Cyberpunkis in a far better state.
5Marvel’s Avengers
ThisAvengerstitle was plenty disappointing inits live-service mediocrity. The developers intended it to be an ongoing multiplayer experience. However, what happens when there’s a crippling problem with the main attraction?
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The answer is Patch 1.8.0. Though the update doesn’t hinder the core gameplay, it displays players' IP addresses for all to see. This is a serious invasion of privacy, one which resulted in several people being doxed. Obviously, giving personal info to an angry troll is a bit of a problem. What’s worse is that no Avengers were around to save them. At least the developers eventually did, though the damage was already done.
4Star Wars: Battlefront 2
No, not the 2017 DICE game. This is theBattlefront 2from 2005 (i.e., the good one), which is why the damage hurts so much more. The Pandemic title received a surprise update in 2021. It was intended to fix various graphical and controller issues. Sadly, the Force was not with this hotfix.
The patch caused an utter mess. Players reported problems with the UI, graphics, text, and field of view. Some even suffered crashes. Worse still, it negated the use of popular mods. The tale has a happy ending, though. Lucasfilm Games revertedBattlefront 2to its previous version,thereby undoing the damage.
3Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered
TheCall of Dutyseries has already done much to anger its tired fan base.The 2017 remasterofModern Warfarewas meant to be different. True, the folks at Activision insisted on packaging the title withInfinite Warfare, but they assured players that the game wouldn’t have any pay-to-win mechanics. Well, that turned out to be false.
The developers soon added those very mechanics. Microtransactions included better weapons and items. Several of these weren’t even present in the originalModern Warfare. In short, Activision’s earlier statements were outright lies. Moreover, they set a dangerous precedent for future remasters and re-releases.
2Fallout 3
Despite theFalloutfranchise moving forward,Fallout 3still gets the occasional update. The developers at Bethesda want to make the game more available to a wider swath of fans. Sadly, a 2021 example had the opposite effect.
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The intent was to remove the Windows Live requirement, meaning that fans could play the title without the defunct service. While the patch did just that, it also killed the script extender. Countless mods relied on this component, but they were now null and void. This was especially egregious considering how popular mods are in Bethesda games. It was ultimately another modder who came to the rescue. The whole debacle madeFallout 76look functional.
1Diablo 4
Blizzard has a dubious history with updates.Diablo 2already saw an infamous patch that exponentially increased the difficulty. However,Diablo 4somehow surpasses it. Soon after its debut,the developers released Patch 1.1 to balance the game. Instead, it nerfed experience points and various competitive aspects, such as DPS. The Sorceror class suffered especially in this regard. It’s no wonder that people called the update “the worst patch in gaming history.” That name may not be warranted, but the ire certainly is. One can understand the swift response from the Blizzard developers. After all, they don’t want the newDiabloto tank right out of the gate.
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