Top 10 WORST Early Access RIPOFFS!
Early access can bring you some of the best experiences - but it's always a roll of the dice. Welcome to http://WatchMojo.com and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 WORST Early Access RIPOFFS!
Special thanks to our user “Laballs” for suggesting this topic using our interactive suggestion tool at http://WatchMojo.comsuggest
#10: “TUG” (2014)
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While “TUG” or “The Untitled Game” was good for a few hours of unfinished fun, it ended up being a huge disappointment and yet another Kickstarter ripoff. “TUG” started with promise, complete with a level-headed development team, a great Kickstarter campaign, and big ambitions. They kept their fans up to date on recent updates, and stayed in touch throughout the development process. Then the updates slowed. Then they were almost non-existant. Then the team dropped off the face of the Earth. They have since announced plans on making “TUG” free to play in the future, which irritated many backers, and when coupled with the months of silence since the announcement, the community has been left seething and confused.
#9: “Time Ramesside (A New Reckoning)” (2015)
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“Time Ramesside” follows the adventures of a man who discovers a new way to harvest energy from living things. At least, we think that's what it's about, because the game is such an incomplete disaster that we can't even tell what we're doing. The game was designed by one man, and unfortunately, he is known in the gaming community for allegedly being a fraud. This game screams scam, as players have no sense of direction, enemies follow no set rules and often glitch out, and the game is clearly not designed with any sense of care. If that wasn't all, evidence has surfaced of forum users being banned for voicing their negative opinions. Are there any good ones?
#8: “The Dead Linger” (2012)
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This really could have been a good game, complete with an explorable and procedurally-generated world set in the zombie apocalypse. Unfortunately, we'll never know, as it has since been cancelled, and everyone left ripped off. While fans were given three years to play the incomplete game, the constant engine changes and perceived lack of progress began to irritate even the most devout of followers. They had a right to be worried, as in November 2015, Sandswept Studios indefinitely halted the game’s development, citing a lack of necessary funds. Like the enemies in the game, “The Dead Linger” is officially a rotten shell of its once promising self.
#7: “Godus” (2013)
Following the trend of using Kickstarter in order to crowd source independent games, the infamous Peter Molyneux and his studio, 22Cans, were able to raise roughly £530,000 for “Godus.” Quite a chunk of change, yeah? Peter thought so too, because he basically took the money and ran. Over time, the staff of 22Cans was significantly reduced, and Molyneux all but abandoned the project, leaving Steam users in a fury due to his lack of involvement, with many calling him a liar and demanding refunds. To make matters worse, Molyneux all but admitted to lying about the game’s potential in order to raise more money. Not a surprise really, he has quite a track record of overhyping his games.
#6: “Towns” (2012)
When you release a beta version of your game, it's probably best to let your customers know that it's actually an unfinished product. This was the situation that SMP found themselves in when they released “Towns” via Steam Greenlight as a beta product to unsuspecting consumers. It was soon evident to those unfortunate buyers that “Towns” was not actually a finished game, and many people were understandably upset. To make matters worse, those that purchased the beta version and stuck around throughout the various updates (for whatever reason) were never given a completed product. SMP soon suffered from burnout and abandoned the project, while they're successor, Florian Frankenberger, never finished development. That was money well spent.
#5: “Spacebase DF-9” (2014)
This game has players maintaining a space station full of life while fending off alien attacks, and no, it is not nearly as exciting as it sounds. It's also not complete. After the concept was praised and voted on by eager fans, development soon began, and excited players were given early access to the game. Sooner or later, they were given the reigns to the game itself. Double Fine eventually abandoned ship and ended development, giving the public its source code instead. Yes, players who wish to see a completed product actually have to finish the game themselves. And yes, they actually are doing so, as a number of community patches have been released. That's dedication, right there.
#4: “StarForge” (2014)
“StarForge” is a great example of a promising title that was painfully let down by an incompetent and care-free development team. While players are more than aware that Alpha games will not exactly be masterpieces, “StarForge” is just filled to the brim with horrible performance issues and dreadfully boring gameplay. It was also plagued with long update times, constant changes in price, misleading product descriptions, and a general lack of progress or care in the hearts of the developers. And was the full release version worth all the blood, sweat, and tears? You can probably guess.
#3: “The Stomping Land” (2014)
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When it was first announced, “The Stomping Land” sounded like an original and exciting title, as you would play in an open world filled with dinosaurs. Dinosaurs! What's not to love!? Well, a lot of things. For one, the game tricked players with an Early Access trailer showing off features that were never in the released alpha. While this is normal for an early access title, fans were understandably pissed, especially when coupled with the game’s crappy performance. The piece de resistance came when the developer, who regularly provided updates via the game's forum, went AWOL and abandoned all contact with the game's fanbase. It was soon completely pulled from Steam, and everyone’s money went with it.
#2: “Earth: Year 2066” (2014)
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Listed in the store page as a “first person apocalyptic open world game,” “Earth: Year 2066” was more of a bug-filled, desolate, barely-functioning mess. The developers even got into it with Jim Sterling once he criticized the game, and they began taking down negative posts in the Steam forum. It was a total disaster of both a game and how to handle relations with your players, and the game was eventually taken off of Steam due to misleading product descriptions and marketing. Luckily, buyers were able to apply for a full refund within a certain window of time, which is almost unheard of on Steam. The game and resulting drama were just that bad.
#1: “Infestation: Survivor Stories” (2012)
Previously known as “The War Z” Where do we even start? When the alpha was released for $30, it was certainly no masterpiece. It had terrible animations, frequent glitches and abundance of cheaters, oh but it’s micro-transactions were working fine because: priorities. Amazingly this game did get a final release, yet it was completely devoid of advertised features, and the head developer blamed the PLAYERS for misreading the information rather than admitting his deception. Negative reviews were also pulled and their writers banned, despite already paying for access to the game. This resulted in Steam temporarily pulling the finished product and issuing refunds, a move that was unprecedented at the time. Do you agree with our list? What early access games do you feel ripped you off? For more fulfilling top tens published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
