List of commercial failures in video games

As a hit-driven business, the great majority of the video game industry's software releases have been commercial disappointments. In the early 21st century, industry commentators made these general estimates: 10% of published games generated 90% of revenue;^[1] that around 3% of PC games and 15% of console games have global sales of more than 100,000 units per year, with even this level insufficient to make high-budget games profitable;^[2] and that about 20% of games make any profit.^[3]

Some of these failure events have drastically changed the video game market since its origin in the late 1970s. For example, the failure of

cult games

.

The following list includes any video game software on any platform, and any video game console hardware where the commercial failure has been documented as such by the manufacture or published, or affirmed through industry sales trackers.

Video game hardware failures

32X

Main article: 32X

Unveiled by

the 32-bit era, but at the suggestion of Sega of America research and development head Joe Miller, the console was converted into an add-on to the existing Mega Drive/Genesis and made more powerful, with two 32-bit central processing unit chips and a 3D graphics processor.^[4] Nevertheless, the console failed to attract either developers or consumers as the Sega Saturn had already been announced for release the next year.^[4] In part because of this, and also to rush the 32X to market before the holiday season in 1994, the 32X suffered from a poor library of titles, including Mega Drive/Genesis ports with improvements to the number of colors that appeared on screen.^[5] Originally released at US$159, Sega dropped the price to $99 in only a few months and ultimately cleared the remaining inventory at $19.95.^[4] About 665,000 units were sold.^[6]

3DO Interactive Multiplayer

Main article: 3DO Interactive Multiplayer

Co-designed by RJ Mical and the team behind the Amiga, and marketed by Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, this "multimedia machine" released in 1993 was marketed as a family entertainment device and not just a video game console. Though it supported a vast library of games including many exceptional third party releases,^[7] a refusal to reduce its price of US$699.95 (equivalent to $1,476 in 2023) until almost the end of the product's life hampered sales. The success of subsequent next generation systems led to the platform's demise and the company's exit from the hardware market.^[8] This exit also included The 3DO Company's sale of the platform's successor, the M2, to its investor Matsushita.^[9]

Amstrad GX4000 and Amstrad CPC+ range

Main articles: Amstrad GX4000 and Amstrad CPC § The plus range

In 1990,

Mega Drive, a much-anticipated 16-bit console, was released in Europe, and the GX4000's aging 8-bit technology proved uncompetitive. Many of the games are direct ports of existing CPC games (available more cheaply on tape or disc) with few if any graphical improvements. Fewer than thirty games were released on cartridge, and the GX4000's failure ended Amstrad's involvement in the video game industry. The CPC+ range fared little better, as 8-bit computers had been all but superseded by similarly priced 16-bit machines such as the Amiga, though software hacks now make the advanced console graphics and sound accessible to users.^[10]

Apple Bandai Pippin

Main article:

Apple Bandai Pippin

The Pippin is a game console designed by

1996 in the United States), the market was already dominated by the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation. The Bandai Pippin also cost US$599 on launch, more expensive than the competition. Total sales were only around 42,000 units.^[12] In 2019, Apple returned to the video game industry with its game subscription service, Apple Arcade, which has proven to be successful.^[13]

Atari 5200

Main article: Atari 5200

The Atari 5200 was created as the successor to the highly successful Atari 2600. Reasons for the console's poor reception include that most of the games were simply enhanced versions of those played on its predecessor^[14] and the awkward design of the controllers, which themselves were also prone to breaking down. The console sold only a little over a million units.^[15] When it was discontinued, its predecessor was marketed for several more years, as was its successor, the Atari 7800, which was marketed more carefully to avoid a similar debacle. Nonetheless, the failure of the Atari 5200 marked the beginning of Atari's fall in the console business.

Atari Jaguar

Main article: Atari Jaguar

Released by Atari Corporation in 1993, this 64-bit system was more powerful than its contemporaries, the Genesis and the Super NES, with support for 3D graphics. Its sales were hurt by a lack of quality games and a number of crippling business practices on the part of Atari senior management. The controller was widely criticized as unwieldy with a baffling number of buttons, and the pack-in game, Cybermorph, was considered disappointing. The system never attained critical mass in the market before the release of the Saturn and PlayStation, and its failure brought the company down with it.^[16][17] Rob Bricken of Topless Robot described the Jaguar as "an unfortunate system, beleaguered by software droughts, rushed releases, and a lot of terrible, terrible games."^[18]

Atari Lynx

Main article: Atari Lynx

Released in 1989 in North America and Europe, and in Japan in 1990, by

ambidextrous controller layout.^[20] In late 1991, it was reported that Atari sales estimates were about 800,000, which Atari claimed was within their expected projections.^{[21][failed verification]} In comparison, the Game Boy sold 16 million units by later that year.^[22]

Overall lifetime sales were confirmed as being in the region of 3 million, a commercial failure despite positive critical reviews.

Atari VCS (2021)

Main article: Atari VCS (2021 console)

The Atari VCS was developed by Atari Inc. to be a microconsole that would support numerous Atari games from its console library as well as other Linux-compatible games. Though announced in 2017 and supported by crowdfunding, publicly available units did not ship until June 2021. The console received lukewarm reception, seen as too costly compared to other consoles on the market without providing similar value. Atari reported a drop of about 90% in hardware revenue between 2021 and 2022, leading them to discontinue production of the unit and evaluating other options.^[23]

CD-i

Main article: CD-i

In the 1980s, electronics company

CD-based format called CD-i (Compact Disc Interactive) for various multimedia software. The first consumer-oriented player from Philips launched in 1991 with a launch price of $700 (equivalent to $1,566 in 2023).^[24] Although not technically a game console, Philips increasingly marketed the format as a video game platform from 1994 onwards.^[25] It was originally intended to be an add-on for the Super NES, but the deal fell through. Nintendo, however, did give Philips the rights and permission to use five Nintendo characters for the CD-i games. In 1993, Philips released two Zelda games, Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon. A year later, Philips released another Zelda game, Zelda's Adventure, and a few months later, a Mario game titled Hotel Mario. All four of these Nintendo-themed games are commonly cited by critics as being among the worst ever made. Much criticism was also aimed at the CD-i's controller.^[26] Although the Philips CD-i was extensively marketed by Philips, consumer interest remained low. Sales began to slow down by 1994, and in 1998, Philips announced that the product had been discontinued. In all, roughly 570,000 units were sold,^[27]

with 133 games released.

Commodore 64 Games System

Main article: Commodore 64 Games System

Released only in Europe in 1990, the C64GS was basically a

16-bit era was starting, which left no chance for it to succeed as it was unable to compete with consoles like the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Mega Drive.^[28]

Commodore CDTV

Main article: Commodore CDTV

The CDTV was launched by Commodore in 1991. In common with the Philips CD-i and the 3DO, the CDTV was intended as an all-in-one home multimedia appliance that would play games, music, movies, and other interactive content. The name was short for "Commodore Dynamic Total Vision". The hardware was based on the Amiga 500 computer with a single-speed CD-ROM drive rather than a floppy disk drive, in a case that was designed to integrate unobtrusively with a home entertainment center. However, the expected market for home multimedia appliances did not materialize, and the CDTV was discontinued in 1993,^[29] having sold only 30,000 units.^[30] Commodore's next attempt at a CD-based console, the Amiga CD32, was considerably more successful.

Dreamcast

Main article: Dreamcast

The Dreamcast, released globally in 1999, was Sega's final console before the company focused entirely on software. Although the console was initially successful and management in the company improved significantly after harsh lessons were learned from the Sega Saturn fiasco, the console also faced stiff competition, especially from the technically superior PlayStation 2 despite being in the market over a year ahead. The Dreamcast sold less than the Saturn, coming in at 9.13 million units compared to the Saturn's 9.5 million.^[31] The console's development was subject to further stress by an economic recession that struck Japan shortly after the console's release, forcing Sega, among other companies, to cut costs in order to survive.^[32][33][34]

Fairchild Channel F

Main article: Fairchild Channel F

The Fairchild Channel F was a second generation console released in 1976, and the first home console unit to use interchangeable

video game cartridges. It had respectable sales within its first year on the market, but soon faced competition from the Atari 2600, another cartridge-based system that was released in September 1977. Whereas the Channel F's games were generally based on intellectual and educational concepts, Atari had crafted games that were conversions of their action-based arcade video game hits, and were more popular, making the Atari 2600 the more popular system.^[35] By the end of 1977, the Atari 2600 sold about 400,000 total units compared to the 250,000 units of the Channel F.^[36] Fairchild's attempts to make more action-oriented games in 1978 failed to draw consumers to the system, and the console was completely overshadowed.^[37] By the time Fairchild sold the console technology to Zircon International in 1979, only 350,000 Channel F units had been sold in its lifetime.^[35]

FM Towns Marty

Main article: FM Towns Marty

The FM Towns Marty is a fifth generation console manufactured by Fujitsu. Throughout its few years in the market, the console sold an underwhelming 45,000 units.

Genesis Nomad

Main article: Genesis Nomad

The Nomad, a

Sega 32X. The release was five years into the market span of the Genesis, with an existing library of more than 500 Genesis games.^[38] With the Nomad's late release several months after the launch of the Saturn, this handheld is said to have suffered from its poorly timed launch. Sega decided to stop focusing on the Genesis in 1999, several months before the release of the Dreamcast, by which time the Nomad was being sold at less than a third of its original price.^[39] Reception for the Nomad is mixed between its uniqueness and its poor timing into the market. Blake Snow of GamePro listed the Nomad as fifth on his list of the "10 Worst-Selling Handhelds of All Time," criticizing its poor timing into the market, inadequate advertising, and poor battery life.^[40]

Gizmondo

Main article: Gizmondo

The Gizmondo, a handheld video game device featuring

GPS and a digital camera, was released by Tiger Telematics in the UK, Sweden and the U.S. starting in March 2005. With poor promotion, few games (only fourteen were ever released), short battery life, a small screen, competition from the cheaper and more reputable Nintendo DS and PSP, and controversy surrounding the company, the system was a commercial failure. Several high-ranking Tiger executives were subsequently arrested for fraud and other illegal activities related to the Gizmondo.^[41]

It is so far the world's worst selling handheld console in history, and due to its failure in the European and American video game markets, it was released neither in Australia nor in Japan. Tiger Telematics went bankrupt when it was discontinued in February 2006, just 11 months after it was released.

HyperScan

Main article: HyperScan

Released in late 2006 by Mattel, the HyperScan was the company's first video game console since the Intellivision. It used radio frequency identification (RFID)^[42] along with traditional video game technology. The console used UDF format CD-ROMs. Games retailed for $19.99 and the console itself for $69.99 at launch, but at the end of its very short lifespan, prices of the system were down to $9.99, the games $1.99, and booster packs $0.99. The system was sold in two varieties, a cube, and a 2-player value pack. The cube box version was the version sold in stores. It included the system, controller, an X-Men game disc, and 6 X-Men cards. Two player value packs were sold online (but may have been liquidated in stores) and included an extra controller and 12 additional X-Men cards.^[43][44] The system was discontinued in 2007 due to poor console, game, and card pack sales.^[45] It is featured as one of the ten worst systems ever by PC World magazine.^[46]

LaserActive

Main article: LaserActive

Made by Pioneer Corporation in 1993 (a clone was produced by NEC as well), the LaserActive employed the trademark LaserDiscs as a medium for presenting games and also played the original LaserDisc movies. The LD-ROMs, as they were called, could hold 540 MB of data and up to 60 minutes of analog audio and video. In addition, expansion modules could be bought which allowed the LaserActive to play Genesis and/or TurboGrafx-16 games, among other things. Very poor marketing combined with a high price tag for both the console itself ($969 in 1993) and the various modules (e.g., $599 for the Genesis module compared to $89 for the base console and $229 for Sega CD add-on to play CD-ROM based games) caused it to be quickly ignored by both the gaming public and the video game press.^[47] Less than 40 games were produced in all (at about $120 each),^[48] almost all of which required the purchase of one of the modules, and games built for one module could not be used with another. The LaserActive was quietly discontinued one year later after total sales of roughly 10,000 units.

Neo Geo CD

Main article: Neo Geo CD

Released in Japan and Europe in 1994 and a year later in North America, the Neo Geo CD was first unveiled at the 1994 Tokyo Toy Show.^[49][50] Three versions of the Neo Geo CD were released: a front-loading version only distributed in Japan, a top-loading version marketed worldwide, and the Neo Geo CDZ, an upgraded, faster-loading version released in Japan only. The front-loading version was the original console design, with the top-loading version developed shortly before the Neo Geo CD launch as a scaled-down, cheaper alternative model.^[51] The CDZ was released on December 29, 1995^[52][53] as the Japanese market replacement for SNK's previous efforts (the "front loader" and the "top loader"). The Neo Geo CD had met with limited success due to it being plagued with slow loading times that could vary from 30 to 60 seconds between loads, depending on the game. Although SNK's American home entertainment division quickly acknowledged that the system simply was unable to compete with the 3D-able powerhouse systems of the day like Nintendo's 64, Sega's Saturn and Sony's PlayStation, SNK corporate of Japan felt they could continue to maintain profitable sales in the Japanese home market by shortening the previous system's load-times.^[54] Their Japanese division had produced an excess number of single speed units and found that modifying these units to double speed was more expensive than they had initially thought, so SNK opted to sell them as they were, postponing production of a double speed model until they had sold off the stock of single speed units.^[55] As of March 1997, the Neo Geo CD had sold 570,000 units worldwide.^[56] Although this was the last known home console released under SNK's Neo Geo line, the newly reincarnated SNK Playmore relaunched the Neo Geo line with the release of the Neo Geo X in 2012.^[57] In April 2019, SNK announced at a conference in Seoul that they plan to release a Neo Geo 2 console and later a Neo Geo 3. They plan for the Neo Geo 2 to be a semi open platform console, where they will be built in games, as well as additional games that can be purchased separately. These are planned to be spiritual successors to the original Neo Geo arcade and home systems.^[58]

Neo Geo Pocket and Pocket Color

Main articles: Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Color

The two handheld video game consoles, created by

Aruze in January 2000.^[63][64] Eventually on June 13, 2000, Aruze decided to quit the North American and European markets, marking the end of SNK's worldwide operations and the discontinuation of Neo Geo hardware and software there.^[63] The Neo Geo Pocket Color (and other SNK/Neo Geo products) did however, last until 2001 in Japan. It was SNK's last video game console, as the company filed for bankruptcy on October 22, 2001.^[63][65] Though commercially failed, the Neo Geo Pocket and Pocket Color had been regarded as influential systems.^[62][66][67] It also featured an arcade-style microswitched 'clicky stick' joystick, which was praised for its accuracy and being well-suited for fighting games.^[68] The Pocket Color system's display and 40-hour battery life were also well received.^[62] Although these were the last known systems released under SNK's Neo Geo line, the newly reincarnated SNK Playmore relaunched the Neo Geo line with the release of the Neo Geo X in 2012.^[57] In April 2019, SNK announced at a conference in Seoul that they plan to release a Neo Geo 2 console and later a Neo Geo 3. They plan for the Neo Geo 2 to be a semi open platform console, where they will be built in games, as well as additional games that can be purchased separately. These are planned to be spiritual successors to the original Neo Geo arcade and home systems.^[58]

N-Gage

Main article: N-Gage (device)

handheld game system

.

Made by the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia, and released in 2003, the N-Gage is a small handheld console, designed to combine a feature-packed mobile/cellular phone with a handheld games console. The system was mocked for its taco-like design, and sales were so poor that the system's price dropped by $100 within a week of its release. Common complaints included the difficulty of swapping games (the cartridge slot was located beneath the battery slot, requiring its removal) and the fact that its cellphone feature required users to hold the device "sideways" (i.e. the long edge of the system) against their cheek.^[69] A redesigned version, the N-Gage QD, was released to eliminate these complaints. However, the N-Gage brand still suffered from a poor reputation and the QD did not address the popular complaint that the control layout was "too cluttered". The N-Gage failed to reach the popularity of the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, or the Sony PSP. In November 2005, Nokia announced the failure of its product, in light of poor sales (fewer than three million units sold during the platform's three-year run, against projections of six million). Nokia ceased to consider gaming a corporate priority until 2007, when it expected improved screen sizes and quality to increase demand.^[70] However, Nokia's presence in the cell phone market was soon eclipsed by the iPhone and later Android phones, causing development to gravitate to them and sealing the fate of the N-Gage brand. In 2012, Nokia abandoned development on the Symbian OS which was the base for N-Gage and transitioned to Windows Phone.

Nintendo 64DD

Main article: 64DD

A disk drive add-on and Internet appliance for the Nintendo 64, it was first announced at 1995's Nintendo Shoshinkai game show event (now called Nintendo World). The 64DD was repeatedly and notoriously delayed until its release in Japan on December 1, 1999. Nintendo, anticipating poor sales, sold the 64DD through mail order and bundled with its Randnet dialup subscription service instead of directly to retailers or consumers. As a result, the 64DD was supported by Nintendo for only a short period of time and only nine games were released for it. It was never released outside Japan. Most 64DD games were either cancelled entirely, released as normal Nintendo 64 cartridges or ported to other systems such as Nintendo's next-generation GameCube. Upon announcement of the cancellation of Randnet in 2001, Nintendo reported a total of 15,000 current 64DD users on Randnet.^[71]

Nuon

Main article: Nuon (DVD technology)

The Nuon was a DVD decoding chip from VM Labs that was also a fully programmable CPU with graphics and sound capabilities. The idea was that a manufacturer could use the chip instead of an existing MPEG-2 decoder, thus turning a DVD player into a game console. A year after launch only eight games were available.^[72] One game, Iron Soldier 3, was recalled for not being compatible with all systems.^[73]

Ouya

Main article: Ouya

The Ouya is an Android-based microconsole released in 2013 by Ouya, Inc. Even though the Ouya was a success on Kickstarter, the product was plagued by problems from the beginning.^[74] The console was very slow to ship and suffered hardware issues.^[75] On top of this, the console had a very limited library of games.^[76] The critical reception ranged from lukewarm to outright calling the console a scam.^[77] Just two years after its release, Ouya was in a dire financial situation and negotiated a buyout with Razer.^[78] Razer continued to run software services for Ouya until June 2019, after which the company deactivated all accounts and online services, rendering most apps unusable.^[79]

PC-FX

Main article: PC-FX

The PC-FX is the successor to the

dating sims

. It was never released outside Japan.

PlayStation Classic

Main article: PlayStation Classic

Following the release of Nintendo's

Tony Hawk's), but other omissions were considered odd and disappointing.^[81] The system sold poorly and within the month, its suggested retail price had dropped to US$59.^[82] By April 2019, the price had dropped to US$30, and CNET described the PlayStation classic as "arguably one of the top flops of 2018."^[83]

PlayStation Vita

Main article: PlayStation Vita

Sony's second major

3DS platform, its design being too conceptually similar to the PSP, and a general lack of support from Sony and other developers.^[90]

PSX (DVR)

Main article: PSX (digital video recorder)

Built upon the

Sony Computer Entertainment head Ken Kutaragi to revive the ailing consumer electronics division,^[95] it also hurt Sony's media convergence plans.^[96]

Saturn

Main article: Sega Saturn

The Sega Saturn was the successor to the

fifth-generation console, released in Japan in November 1994 and in Western markets mid-1995. The console was designed as a competitor to Sony's PlayStation, released nearly at the same time. With the system selling well in Japan and Sega wanting to get a head start over the PlayStation in North America, the company decided to release the system in May instead of September 1995, which was the same time the PlayStation was going to be released in North America. This left little time to promote the product and limited quantities of the system available at retail. Sega's release strategy also backfired when, shortly after Sega's announcement, Sony announced the price of the PlayStation as being $100 less than the list price for the Saturn.^[97][98] The console also suffered from behind the scenes management conflicts and a lack of coordination between the Japanese and North American branches of the company, leading to the Saturn to be released shortly after the release of the 32X, which created distribution and retail problems.^[97] By the end of 1996, the PlayStation had sold 2.9 million units in the U.S., with only 1.2 million units sold by the Saturn.^[99] With the added competition from the subsequent release of the Nintendo 64, the Saturn lost market share in North America and was discontinued by 1999. With lifetime sales estimated at 9.5 million units worldwide, the Saturn is considered a commercial failure.^[100] The cancellation of a game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, known in development as Sonic X-treme, has been considered a significant factor in the console's struggle to find an audience. The impact of the failure of the Saturn carried over into Sega's next console, the Dreamcast. However, the console gained interest in Japan and was not officially discontinued until December 7, 2000.^{[citation needed}

]

Stadia

Main article: Google Stadia

Google released Stadia, a cloud gaming platform using the power of its existing data centers, in November 2019. Players could access games through web browsers, Chromecast devices, or on mobile platforms. In addition to partnering with several developers to release titles on Stadia, Google created its own Stadia Games and Entertainment division with Jade Raymond as its lead, along with acquired a handful of existing studios. Unlike prior streaming options where players had access to the full set of titles for a monthly subscription fee, Google opted to have players buy each game they wanted to play, in addition to offering a subscription tier that offered free games. This approach did not obtain significant traction with users, and by February 2021, the company closed down Stadia Games and shuttered the studios it had acquired, stating that it took too much significant investment to develop games, and instead would continue to focus on bringing other titles to the service. After another troubled year, Google stated in February 2022 they would be working to use Stadia's technology as a white-label product for corporate partners, such as delivering game demos over streaming technology.^[101] In September 2022, Google announced they were shuttering Stadia as a consumer product, with the service going offline in January 2023 and supplying refunds for those that purchased equipment, subscriptions and games. Google said "it hasn't gained the traction with users that we expected" as the reason for the shutdown, though intended to use the technology in its other business sectors.^[102] Game journalists believed that Google did not make Stadia a unique offering with nearly no exclusives, escalated by the shutting down of its studios, and requiring players to repurchase games at full price to play them on the service.^[103][101] Stadia also failed to offer a latency advantage over other streaming services that was promised when announced, and Google had been slow to roll out Stadia internationally, remaining behind GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming as of February 2022.^[104]

uDraw GameTablet

Main article: uDraw GameTablet

The uDraw GameTablet is a graphics tablet developed by THQ for use on seventh generation video game consoles, which was initially released for the Wii in late 2010. Versions for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were released in late 2011. THQ also invested in several games that would uniquely use the tablet, such as uDraw Pictionary. The Wii version had positive sales, with more than 1.7 million units sold, prompting the introduction of the unit for the other console systems.^[105] These units did not share the same popularity; 2011 holiday sales in North America fell $100 million below company targets with more than 1.4 million units left unsold by February 2012.^[106] THQ commented that if they had not attempted to sell these versions of uDraw, the company would have been profitable that respective quarter, but instead suffered an overall $56 million loss.^[106] Because of this failure, THQ was forced to shelve some of its less-successful franchises, such as the Red Faction series.^[107][108] THQ would eventually file for bankruptcy and sell off its assets in early 2013.^[109][110]

Vectrex

Main article: Vectrex

Though its independent monitor could display only monochrome visuals, the console's vector-based graphics and arcade-style controller with analog joystick^{[citation needed]} allowed developers to create a strong games library with faithful conversions of arcade hits and critically praised exclusives.^[111] However, its release shortly before the video game crash of 1983 doomed it to an early grave.^[111]

Virtual Boy

Main article: Virtual Boy

red/blue format simulates the Virtual Boy's 3D display. 3D red cyan glasses are recommended to view this image correctly.

This red monochromatic 3-D "virtual reality" system was widely panned by critics and failed due to issues related to players getting eye strain, stiff necks, nausea, and headaches when playing it, along with the console's price and lack of portability. It came out in 1995 and was Nintendo's first failed console release. Gunpei Yokoi, the designer of the platform and the person largely credited for the success of the original Game Boy handheld and the Metroid series of games, resigned from the company shortly after the Virtual Boy ceased sales in order to start his own company, although for reasons unrelated to the console's success.^[112] The Virtual Boy was included in a Time "50 Worst Inventions" list published in May 2010.^[113]

Nintendo's Wii U was released in November 2012. It was designed as a successor to the Wii to provide a more sophisticated experience and draw back "core" gamers that had dismissed the Wii, which they found was aimed for casual gameplay.^[114][115] The Wii U features the GamePad, the unit's primary controller with a touchscreen allowing for dual-screen play similar to the Nintendo DS line, or can be used for off-TV play.^[116] Though the Wii U received positive coverage, it had low sales of fewer than 14 million units by the end of 2016 compared to the Wii's lifetime of 101 million units.^[117] Nintendo executives attributed the poor sales of the Wii U to a combination of factors. They admitted their messaging of the Wii U's abilities had not been clear, leading to a general perception that the unit was primarily a tablet system or an add-on to the original Wii rather than a new home console.^[118] They also recognized a failure to manage their game release schedule, and to garner significant support from third-party publishers and developers, leaving the Wii U library with gaps in software releases.^[119][120] Nintendo stated an expectation to sell 100 million Wii U units,^[121] and this over-estimation of sales contributed to several financial quarters of losses through 2016.^[122][123] Nintendo's next console, the Nintendo Switch, became a "make or break" product for the company due to the Wii U's failure, according to Reggie Fils-Aimé,^[124] and its development and marketing avoided several of the pitfalls that occurred for the Wii U;^{[118][119][125][126]} The Switch proved successful quickly, outselling the lifetime sales of the Wii U within nine months of its release.^[127] The Wii U was discontinued worldwide on January 31, 2017, a month before the Nintendo Switch was released.^[128]

Video game software failures

The following is an incomplete list of software that have been deemed commercial failures by industry sources.

APB: All Points Bulletin

APB: All Points Bulletin was a

Babylon's Fall was an online action role-playing game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC. The game was PlatinumGames' first attempt at a live service game, and was described as an attempt to combine the combat system featured on Nier: Automata with multiplayer, although the game could also be played solo.^[132] Originally teased at E3 2018,^[133] Babylon's Fall would suffer a multitude of delays away from its initial planned 2019 release date, with the game being further delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.^[134][135]

Upon its eventual release on March 3, 2022, Babylon's Fall was met with little fanfare and received generally negative reviews from critics and players, many who criticised the game's lacklustre mechanics and combat, with several critics calling the game overpriced.^{[136][137][138]} The concurrent player count for Babylon's Fall only peaked at 1,179 on release day,^[139] and player numbers declined rapidly afterwards; by April 13, 2022, it was reported that the game's player count had fallen to below 10 concurrent players, and on May 4, 2022, the player count reportedly dropped to a single player.^[140] On September 13, 2022, Square Enix announced that they would be ending support for Babylon's Fall on February 27, 2023, and suspended digital sales of the game and in-game currency, despite initially promising that they were intending to support the game in the long-term.^{[141][142][143]} Babylon's Fall's commercial failure was described by Forbes as "one of the biggest mainstream misses we’ve seen in recent memories",^[144] with TechRadar also naming the game "[Square Enix]'s biggest disaster of the year".^[145] Despite this, PlatinumGames CEO Atsushi Inaba later said that the failure of Babylon's Fall did not affect any of the company's plans to continue expanding into live service games, and also attributed some of Babylon's Fall's faults to the separate developments of the core game and the live service elements between PlatinumGames and Square Enix, respectively.^[146]

Battlecruiser 3000AD

One of the most notorious PC video game failures, Battlecruiser 3000AD (shortened BC3K) was hyped for almost a decade before its disastrous release in the U.S. and Europe. The game was the brainchild of Derek Smart, an independent game developer renowned for lengthy and aggressive online responses to perceived criticism. The concept behind BC3K was ambitious, giving the player the command of a large starship with all the requisite duties, including navigation, combat, resource management, and commanding crew members. Advertisements appeared in the video game press in the mid-1990s hyping the game as, "The Last Thing You'll Ever Desire."^[147] Computer bulletin boards and Usenet groups were abuzz with discussion about the game. As time wore on and numerous delays were announced, excitement turned to frustration in the online community. Smart exacerbated the negative air by posting liberally on Usenet.^[147] The posts ignited one of the largest flame wars in Usenet history.^[148] During the development cycle, Smart refused to let other programmers have full access to his code and continued to change directions as new technology became available, causing the game to be in development for over seven years.

In November 1996,

Although critically acclaimed and planned as the first part of a trilogy, Beyond Good & Evil (released in 2003) flopped commercially. Former

Brütal Legend is

Conker's Bad Fur Day is a

Daikatana

One of the more infamous failures in modern PC video games was Daikatana, which was drastically hyped due to creator

The first title released by Ion Storm, Dominion was a real time strategy title similar to Command & Conquer and Warcraft, based as a spin-off to the G-Nome canon. The game was originally developed by 7th Level, but was purchased by Ion Storm for US$1.8 million. The project originally had a budget of US$50,000 and was scheduled to be finished in three months with two staff members. Due to mismanagement and Ion Storm's inexperience, the project took over a year, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.^[167] Dominion was released in July 1998. It received bad reviews and sold poorly, falling far short of recouping its purchase price, let alone the cost of finishing it. The game divided employees working on Ion's marquee title, Daikatana, arguably leading to the walkout of several key development team members. It put a strain on Ion Storm's finances, leading the once well-funded startup to scramble for cash as Daikatana's development extended over several years.^[168]

Duke Nukem Forever

Duke Nukem Forever was an entry in the successful Duke Nukem series, initially announced in 1997, but spent

EarthBound (1994), the second installment in

A sequel to the successful Wii-exclusive platformer Epic Mickey, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two was developed by Junction Point Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios for the Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and Microsoft Windows. Though heavily advertised and being released on multiple consoles, only 270,000 copies of Epic Mickey 2 were sold in North America, barely a quarter of the original's sales of 1.3 million.^[179] The game's failure led to the shutdown of Junction Point^[180] and the cancellation of future entries in the Epic Mickey series.^[181]

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Based on

Known for being the first adventure game by

Although reviews for Jazz Jackrabbit 2 were positive,

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an action RPG game released in 2012, developed by

The Lamplighters League

The Lamplighters League is a turn-based tactics game developed by Harebrained Schemes and published by Paradox Interactive (the parent company of Harebrained Schemes) in 2023. The game was based on adventures published in pulp magazines of the 1930s. While the game received positive reviews, it failed to achieve a commercial success. A week after its release, Paradox stated that they intended to write off the game at a cost of 248 million kr (US$22 million).^[196] This followed after Paradox had laid off 80% of Harebrained Schemes' employees.^[197] Harebrained Schemes, which had been bought by Paradox in 2018, announced that they agreed to end their partnership with Paradox, and reorganized as an independent company.^[198]

The Last Express

Released in 1997 after five years in development, this $6 million

MadWorld is a beat 'em up title for the Wii developed by PlatinumGames and distributed by Sega in March 2009. The game was purposely designed as an extremely violent video game.^[210] The game features a distinctive black-and-white graphic style that borrows from both Frank Miller's Sin City and other Japanese and Western comics.^[210][211] This monotone coloring is only broken by blood that comes from attacking and killing foes in numerous, gruesome, and over-the-top manners. Though there had been violent games available for the Wii from the day it was launched (e.g. No More Heroes and Manhunt 2), many perceived MadWorld as one of the first mature titles for the system, causing some initial outrage from concerned consumers about the normally family-friendly system.^[212] MadWorld was well received by critics, but this did not translate into commercial sales; only 123,000 units of the game sold in the United States during its first six months on the market.^[213] Sega considered these sales to be "disappointing".^[214][215] Regardless, the game's critical success allowed a pseudo-sequel, Anarchy Reigns, to be produced.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is the sixth main installment in

Ōkami was a product of

After developing the

Starbreeze Studios had acquired a license in 2014 to develop a game set in The Walking Dead franchise from Skybound Entertainment, using the cooperative gameplay mechanics from Payday: The Heist developed by Starbreeze's subsidiary Overkill Software. The game fell into development hell namely due to demands from Starbreeze to switch game engines, first from the internally-developed Diesel Engine which had been used on the Payday games to the newly developed Valhalla Engine, which Starbreeze had acquired at a large cost, and later to the Unreal Engine after the Valhalla proved too difficult to work with. Having slipped its major release dates twice, the game was completed by November 2018, but which the developers felt was under extreme rush and without sufficient quality review and testing. Overkill's The Walking Dead had mediocre reviews on release to Microsoft Windows, and only 100,000 units were sold within the month. Starbreeze had placed a significant amount of sales expectations behind the game, and with poor sales, the company placed plans to release the game on consoles on hold, and in December 2018 announced that it was restructuring due to a lack of liquidatable assets from the underperformance of Overkill's The Walking Dead.^[231] In Starbreeze's financial report for the quarter ending December 31, 2018, which included Overkill's The Walking Dead' release, the game brought in only about 34.1 million kr (about US$3.7 million), while Payday 2, a title released in 2013, made 20.4 million kr in the same quarter.^[232] By the end of February 2019, Skybound pulled its licensing agreement from Starbreeze as "ultimately 'Overkill's The Walking Dead' did not meet our standards nor is it the quality that we were promised". Starbreeze officially halted further development of the Windows version and cancelled the game's planned console ports, while Skybound later cancelled the game entirely and pulled the license from Starbreeze.^[233] The poor returns on OTWD led Starbreeze to undergo a corporate restructuring from December 2018 to December 2019, laying off staff, selling off publishing and intellectual property rights, and reimplemented paid downloadable content for Payday 2, reneging on an early promise that all such future content would be free.^[234]

Psychonauts

Though achieving notable critical success,

Shenmue on the Dreamcast is more notorious for its overambitious budget than its poor sales figures. At the time of release in 1999, the game had the record for the most expensive production costs (over US$70 million),^[245] and its five-year production time. In comparison, the games' total sale was 1.2 million copies.^[246] Shenmue, however, was a critical hit, earning an average review score of 89%.^[247] The game was supposed to be the initial installment of a trilogy. The second installment was eventually released in 2001, but by this time the Dreamcast was floundering, so the game only saw a release in Japan and Europe. Sega eventually released it for North American players for the Xbox, but the poor performance of both titles combined with restructuring have made Sega reluctant to complete the trilogy for fear of failure to return on the investment.^[248] However, a Kickstarter campaign has received record support for a third title, with a release originally set for 2018,^[249] was eventually released on November 19, 2019.^[250] Ports of the first two titles were released in 2018 for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 to re-acclimate players in preparation for the third title's release.

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric is a spin-off from the

Sonic Runners was a Sonic the Hedgehog game for

Sunset, a first-person exploration adventure game involving a housekeeper working for a dictator of a fictional country, was developed by two-person Belgian studio Tale of Tales, who previously had created several acclaimed arthouse style games and other audio-visual projects such as The Path. They wanted to make Sunset a "game for gamers" while still retaining their arthouse-style approach, and in addition to planning on a commercial release, used Kickstarter to gain funding. Sunset only sold about 4000 copies on its release, including those to Kickstarter backers. Tale of Tales opted to close their studio after sinking the company's finances into the game, and believed that if they did release any new games in the future, they would likely shy away from commercial release.^[260]

System Shock 2

System Shock 2 was the 1999 sequel to the 1994 immersive sim System Shock. The original game was made by Looking Glass Studios and published by Origin Systems, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts at the time. System Shock was critically praised and had modest sales. Irrational Games was formed in 1997 by three former Looking Glass employees, and Looking Glass approached Irrational about co-developing a game like System Shock, and after several iterations, came to the idea of a direct sequel. System Shock 2 was similarly met with critical praise at release and was named as Game of the Year by several publications,^[261] but did not sell well, with only about 58,000 copies selling within eight months of release.^[262][263] For Looking Glass, System Shock 2, similar to Thief: The Dark Project, represent games that they had developed with multi-million dollar budgets that they could not recoup, and due to mounting debt, Looking Glass closed down in May 2000.^[264] Irrational wanted to continue to develop in the System Shock series, but Electronic Arts, which owned the intellectual property, felt sales of System Shock 2 failed to meet expectations to justify a sequel. Instead, Irrational set out to develop a game as a spiritual successor to the gameplay concepts of System Shock but without using the property, resulting in their 2007 hit title BioShock.^[265]

Uru: Ages Beyond Myst

The fourth game in the popular Myst series, released in 2003. It was developed by Cyan Worlds shortly after Riven was completed. The game took Cyan Worlds more than five years and $12 million to complete^[266] and was codenamed DIRT ("D'ni in real time"), then MUDPIE (meaning "Multi-User DIRT, Persistent / Personal Interactive Entertainment / Experience / Exploration / Environment"). Though it had generally positive reception,^[267][268] the sales were disappointing.^[269] In comparison, the first three Myst games had sold more than 12 million units collectively before Uru's release.^[270] Uru's poor sales were also considered a factor in financially burdening Cyan, contributing to the company's near closure in 2005.^[271]

Arcade game failures

I, Robot

Released by Atari in 1983, I, Robot was the first video game to use 3-D polygon graphics,^{[citation needed]} and the first that allowed the player to change camera angles.^[272] It also had gameplay that rewarded planning and stealth as much as reflexes and trigger speed, and included a non-game mode called "Doodle City", where players could make artwork using the polygons. Production estimates vary, but consensus is that there were no more than 1500 units made.^[273]

Jack the Giantkiller

In 1982, the President of Cinematronics arranged a one-time purchase of 5000 printed circuit boards from Japan. The boards were used in the manufacture of several games, but the majority of them were reserved for the new arcade game Jack the Giantkiller, based on the classic fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk. Between the purchase price of the boards and other expenses, Cinematronics invested almost two million dollars into Jack the Giantkiller. It completely flopped in the arcade and many of the boards went unsold, costing the company a huge amount of money at a time when it was already having financial difficulties.^[274]

Radar Scope

Radar Scope was one of the first arcade games released by Nintendo. It was released in Japan first, and a brief run of success there led Nintendo to order 3,000 units for the American market in 1980. American operators were unimpressed, however, and Nintendo of America was stuck with about 2,000 unsold Radar Scope machines sitting in the warehouse.^[275]

Facing a potential financial disaster, Nintendo assigned the game's designer,

Sundance was an arcade

• List of video games notable for negative reception
• List of best-selling video games
• List of films considered the worst
• List of television shows notable for negative reception
• List of video games considered the best

References