- 05/06/2025
Sometimes all that's left to say is sorry.
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00:00Do you ever get that feeling that the 8th generation broke video games, made it super
00:04hard to get hyped because you almost definitely will be disappointed, made us realize just
00:08how money grubby publishers can be when given a lucrative license like Star Wars or Marvel?
00:12Well, those emotions aren't just recognized on the side of the audience. Oftentimes,
00:17developers or other team members are working on titles for years, and they know what's
00:20being assembled isn't going to go down very well.
00:23I'm Scott from WhatCulture.com, and these are 9 video games so bad they apologized.
00:279. Mighty No. 9
00:29Keiichi Inafune has been a major force in video games for nearly 40 years, having worked on
00:34key franchises such as Street Fighter, Resident Evil, and especially Mega Man. 2016's Mighty
00:39No. 9 then was meant to be a spiritual successor to the classic Mega Man era, which is why
00:44its colossal failure was so frustrating and surprising. Simply put, its messy development,
00:49significant delays, deceptive Kickstarter campaign, insulting trailer, and lackluster finished
00:54product culminated in an incredibly negative release period.
00:56The haters were not wrong, and it wasn't just players, backers, and critics who felt
01:01cheated. Inafune himself echoed similar sentiments. During a promotional Twitch livestream around
01:06the time of release, Inafune admitted,
01:08I own all the problems that came with this game, and if you want to hurl insults at me,
01:12it's totally my fault. I'm the key creator, I will own all that responsibility.
01:16One of the many failings of a crowdfunded project run amok, at least KJ's honesty helped
01:21restore his reputation.
01:22Number 8, Cyberpunk 2077, the launch version
01:25Feeling like a tale we'll tell our grandkids at this point, the version of Cyberpunk that
01:30existed pre-release was set to be revolutionary. Graphics, player agencies, storytelling, overarching
01:35realism, and more, at launch we were instead greeted by a dumpster fire of technical bugs,
01:40limited interactivity, narrative weaknesses, and suspiciously constrained review restrictions,
01:45siphoning off the clearly prioritized PC version from everything else. To that end,
01:49PlayStation 4 and Xbox One editions were genuinely unacceptable, tarnishing the formerly beloved
01:54and champion CD Projekt Red, creating one hell of a downward trajectory after The Witcher 3.
01:59Many speculated that those behind the scenes knew about these flaws and chose to put the
02:03game out anyway. And indeed, company co-founder Martin Nowinski owned up to it when he tried to
02:08make amends in a January 2021 film statement.
02:11The console version of Cyberpunk 2077 did not meet the quality standard we wanted it to meet.
02:16I and the entire leadership team are deeply sorry for this, and this video is me publicly
02:20owning up to that. Please don't fault any of our teams for what happened.
02:24Fortunately, lining up with what these teams had described was always the release date internally
02:28before publisher Wims kicked it out the door early. February 2022 saw a much more fleshed-out
02:33Cyberpunk finally be worth everyone's time.
02:36While this 2017 sequel provided more bang for your buck than its 2015 original, its insane
02:44baked-in use of microtransactions, loot boxes, and a grindy progression system proved that EA
02:49hadn't learned any lessons from other microtransaction-filled releases and instead were doubling down on them.
02:54The loot box-fueled randomization and expense of the StarCard system, players would have to
02:59spend exorbitant amounts of money, time, and energy without ever really knowing what they
03:03were getting. Beyond making the title unethical in several ways, these procedures led to publisher
03:08EA being investigated for unlicensed gambling by the Belgian Gaming Commission. In turn,
03:12other areas such as Singapore, the UK, and Australia examined the broader question of
03:17if loot boxes in general constitute illicit betting.
03:20In response, DICE GM Oscar Gabrielsson announced a revamp, conceding,
03:24we've heard the concerns about potentially giving players unfair advantages. This was never our
03:28intention. Sorry we didn't get this right. We hear you loud and clear, so we're turning off all
03:33in-game purchases. Star Wars Battlefront 2 thankfully turned itself around considerably,
03:38but 2017 was one hell of a rough year for the developers.
03:426. Mass Effect 3
03:43Mass Effect 3 has faced several controversies since it was unleashed in March 2012, with the
03:49addition of Kai Leng being among the most salient. Not only is he an Asian character voiced by a
03:53white actor, industry legend Troy Baker, but Leng is frequently considered one of the worst additions
03:58to the series' entire cast. As the elusive man's top henchman, Kai's introduction far too late in the
04:03saga had little depth, and was simultaneously offered too much and too little significance. He gets to
04:08harm far more substantial characters like Miranda and Thane without earning that valuable place in
04:13the plot, and is then given too much focus by having Shepard hunt him down and finish him off
04:18instead of prioritizing more important things like saving the galaxy. Troy's response upon seeing Kai
04:23Leng was, oh, I don't have to do this, also saying it was not good, dude. Baker also pretends to
04:29vomit while saying that acting this character was like having soap in his mouth.
04:335. Metal Gear Survive
04:34The 2015 separation between Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima and longtime publisher Konami was
04:40antagonistic and very sudden. Kojima was booted from his own franchise, leading to claims of
04:44professional mistreatment amidst Konami, forcing him to go out with the unfinished Metal Gear Solid
04:495 The Phantom Pain. This incited plenty of bad blood between the publisher and series' fans,
04:54so the decision to proceed with 2018's Metal Gear Survive was baffling. Rather than win audiences
04:59back to Konami's side, the zombie survival action game's brazen changes to direction and developer
05:03were seen as blatant slaps in the face to Kojima, the franchise, and any die-hard fans of over 20
05:09years. Seriously, a zombie survival continuation of a formerly cinematic single-player IP,
05:15someone at Konami was clearly acting out a grudge. To the shock of no one, Metal Gear Survive was a
05:20critical and commercial dud thanks to absurd microtransactions, poor programming, online
05:24difficulties, and generic everything in between. To compensate, Konami gave away free in-game items,
05:29100 SV coins, and one premium boost to players whose avatar existed before February 27, 2018.
05:35The company commented on Twitter,
05:37we know there's been some bumps during launch, and that they were aware of final issues that
05:41still needed fixing. Unsurprisingly, the game only continued to find new and innovative ways to
05:46die on its arse.
05:474. Fallout 76
05:49Bethesda had a monumentally sour time across the 8th generation. Yes, we got Fallout 4 after years
05:55of teases and leaks, but we also got Fallout 76, and the single most disastrous handling
05:59of a fanbase in modern gaming history. Promising an online interconnected approach to Fallout and
06:04delivering almost nothing, 76 was marred by a lack of game modes. No NPCs, performance instability,
06:10hardly any storylines, boring mission design, terrible rewards, and a general feeling of it
06:14being a proof of concept, rather than a game from the makers of Skyrim.
06:18Adding insult to injury, the Power Armor Special Edition deceitfully swapped its marketed canvas
06:23duffel bag for a cheaper nylon one. Customers were very angry, and Bethesda's subsequent
06:27offer of 500 in-game items wasn't fair reimbursement, as that could barely buy you
06:32anything of real worth. Executive producer Todd Howard had to atone for the game since,
06:36and in a March 2021 chat between Xbox and Bethesda executives, he finally did.
06:41When that game launched, the litany of issues we had, we let a lot of people down. And, well,
06:46there was very little we didn't screw up. Howard lamented not doing a free beta beforehand
06:50for every Fallout 4 player to see what Bethesda was really dealing with. I mean, yeah, maybe that's
06:56a thought for next time.
06:573. 13. The Remake
07:00Typically, video game remakes aim to either improve upon the original or present alternative
07:04experiences that simultaneously appeal to new players and surprise returning ones. Final Fantasy
07:097's remake and Resident Evil 2's managed to accomplish both. 2020's 13 remake did neither.
07:14On the contrary, its negative adjustments to art style and gameplay limitations alongside myriad
07:20technical and audio glitches resulted in dismal reviews across the board. According to anonymous
07:24employees at developer Playmagic, the creation of the game was hampered by poor project management,
07:29a lack of staff and low morale due to a toxic company culture. Immediately following launch,
07:3425% of 13's credited staff actually left, as they were finally free. A joint statement released
07:39by Playmagic and publisher Microids on November 13th, 2020 tried to set things right. They admitted,
07:45first and foremost, we would like to offer our most sincere apologies for the game's technical
07:49issues. In its present state, 13 does not meet our quality standards, and we fully understand
07:54players' frustrations. They did patch the game through at least February 2021, but the damage
07:59was already done, with a handful of amendments barely changing anything.
08:032. Grand Theft Auto The Trilogy The Definitive Edition
08:06All publisher Rockstar and developer Grove Street Games had to do was modernize the graphics and
08:11controls of these bona fide GOAT video games. They're super simplistic titles design-wise by
08:16today's standards, and despite Grove Street Games having a spotty track record with mobile ports of
08:21Grand Theft Auto anyway, this should have been a walk in the park. Not to mention it's Rockstar,
08:27this is GTA. You just do not make sure every last I is dotted or T crossed. As I record this though,
08:33I still can't believe quite how much they effed this up. As we'd later find out, Rockstar barely
08:38oversaw the project whatsoever, and these so-called Definitive Editions were instead barely playable.
08:43Wunky collision detection and mission completion bugs, ugly character models, gross world textures,
08:47blinding rainfall effects. At the end of November 2021, Rockstar did post an update,
08:52as they clearly finally walked into the smoldering room that was Grove Street Games' development
08:56ethos and promptly done at Donald Glover. Firstly, we want to sincerely apologize to everyone
09:01who has encountered issues playing these games. The updated versions did not launch in a state
09:05that meets our own standards of quality, or the standards our fans have come to expect.
09:101. Friday the 13th, The Game
09:12I adore this game, but it's certainly a hard game to love, and was quadruply so at launch.
09:18Amongst its faults were too few maps, absurd animations, unreliable frame rates on consoles,
09:23and a general feeling of not really having control over anything that's going down.
09:27It goes that publisher Gunn Media weren't prepared for how many people would be playing
09:30simultaneously, and in a June 2017 Retro Jason Voorhees trailer, they addressed it.
09:36We just wanted to say that we're sorry. You guys destroyed our servers and our expectations.
09:40Thankfully, Gunn gave away free outfits for counselor characters, over 10,000 customization
09:44points, a Retro Jason skin, and a remastered version of the chiptune theme from the original NES game.
09:50They even closed out that month with a double XP weekend.
09:53Sadly though, legal and licensing issues with screenwriter Victor Miller have complicated
09:57Friday the 13th's updates since then, shutting down some servers in November 2020,
10:02and leaving peer-to-peer matchmaking as their only way to play.
10:05Again though, I will say, even in 2022, when the game works, Friday the 13th is actually pretty awesome.
10:11And those are our picks for 9 video games so bad they had to apologize.
10:16Let me know your favorites down in the comments below, and please subscribe to the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast.
10:20For now, I've been Scott from WhatCulture.com. Thank you very much for listening, and I'll catch you soon.
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