The Worst Game Releases of 2023

2023 has been an amazing year for gaming. It was also the year of some of the worst game releases

The year 2023 has been a revolutionary one for gamers. Games that have been keeping fans on the edge of their seats for their release came out. The likes of Spider-Man 2 defined what superhero games should be while games like Baldur’s Gate 3 introduced the world to a whole new level of Role Playing Games. On the flip side of that coin, this year has had some of the worst game releases in gaming history. Some were bad while others made a laughingstock of themselves. This list aims to look at some of the worst games that never deserved to be released.

Number 5: Starfield

Starfield was a game hyped up by Bethesda to be one of the biggest and best open-world experiences that a gamer could experience. The game was ramping up till its release date came by. When it finally did, the game felt unfinished. The game follows the basic Bethesda formula and adds nothing new to it. The game was often stuttery and laggy. Additionally, Non-Playable Characters (NPCs) have no emotion in their eyes. Conversations between characters turn into staring contests.

What makes the release particularly bad is Starfield’s promised exploration. The game however offered non-inhabited planets and reused assets all over the game. Due to the vast uninteresting world, players are forced to use fast travel constantly. This turns the game into a constant load screen instead of actual gameplay.

Number 4: Lord of the Rings: Gollum

Video Game adaptations of books usually turn out to be some of the best games ever created. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Lord of the Rings: Gollum. The game featured lackluster visuals with horrible gameplay elements. The game costs $50 but runs like a game from 2004. Adding to that, the game is boring to play with unskippable cutscenes that do nothing for the game.

The game feels like a bunch of chores you do as Gollum till you go to sleep,

Number 3: Skull Island: Rise of Kong

A game with a lot of potential that fell flat as soon as it was released is Skull Island: Rise of Kong. A game that could have been a behemoth eventually turned out to be a mess of a game. The game has very poor graphics and even worse gameplay. Kong instead of being an awesome force of power taking down dinosaurs turns into a Cocomelon monkey jumping on lizards.

Platforming is lazy and filled with glitches. Resources are reused with trees floating above one another or two identical stones sitting beside each other. Kong also occasionally clips into walls and/or under the floor.

Number 2: Avatar The Last Airbender: Quest for Balance

Avatar The Last Airbender is an iconic series many hold near to their hearts. This game however ends up becoming a heart attack for those who like the series. The game is also created by the same team as Rise of Kong which already speaks volumes about its quality. The game features the main cast of the series.

The character models are very poorly made and prone to glitches that cause the characters’ bodies to contort to horrific shapes. Additionally, the game has no voice acting, and an unholy amount of dialogue boxes plague the game. The combat too is uninteresting and it boils down to mashing the same buttons over and over again. The game is not just bad but makes any Avatar fan regret ever buying the game.

Number 1: The Day Before

The Day Before is a game that never existed. The studio behind it, FNTASTIC created amazing launch trailers for the game but never showed any real in-game footage. The game was expected to never launch due to how horrible any attempt at promoting the game was. Against all odds, the game was still released. It surprised everyone by being worse than anyone could have expected.

A game that promised to be the next Last of Us released a bootleg, Android, copy-pasta game. To add salt to the open the studio behind the company closed its doors two days after the game was released and vanished as if it never existed before.

Dishonorable Mentions:

Crime Boss: Rockay City: An unbalanced, buggy, and repetitive game that flopped on launch
Redfall: Another game riddled with bugs, awful gunplay and performance issues
Gangs of Sherwood: An awful attempt at making Scifi Robin Hood

Final Word

The games mentioned may not have performed well in the grand scheme of games. However, a lot of them were a ton of fun to laugh at because of how bad they were. They stand as an indicator of how far games have come in recent times and that the standards are higher than ever.