Top 10 Hated Video Game Companies Fans Used To Love
#10: Naughty Dog
Top 10 Naughty Dog Games
Naughty Dog has given PlayStation some of its most beloved exclusives, like the globe-trotting “Uncharted” and the emotional, terrifying “The Last of Us.” While there are definitely a large number of fans that are still sticking by them, there’s no denying that the number has diminished a bit over the years. Reports of forced crunch built into its workplace DNA is certainly unsettling for those who care about the wellbeing of people making their games. Even just looking at the studio’s most recent work, saying that “The Last of Us Part II” divided the fanbase would be the understatement of the decade. The story’s direction rubbed many the wrong way, though that didn’t stop it from winning a slew of awards.
#9: Square Enix
Top 10 Square Enix Video Games
We love “Final Fantasy” as much as the next player. But our faith in the franchise’s publisher has definitely declined over the years. For starters, they’ve definitely been keen to milk the series through a slew of ports, remakes, and rushed entries like the first version of “Final Fantasy XIV.” The studio’s faults have been more close together recently. It apparently fired “Balan Wonderworld” producer Yuji Naka six months before the game released because he wanted to improve the game’s quality. It sold a handful of studios and beloved IPs like “Tomb Raider” with plans to invest in blockchain, which none of us want. Then there’s the whole debacle that was the “Avengers” game. Be better, Square.
#8: CD Projekt Red
Top 10 Video Game Companies Fans Hate the Most
CD Projekt Red’s game catalogue may be smaller than most others, but they won over a ton of fantasy fans with “The Witcher” series. When “Cyberpunk 2077” was announced, we couldn’t wait to see what they could do with sci-fi. Unfortunately, the lead-up to the release was paired with multiple disasters. The studio crunched its employees hard leading up to the launch despite past promises to never do, which is already bad enough. Players who picked up a copy on consoles were met with a broken mess that was nowhere near what was advertised. CD Projekt Red reportedly knew this would happen too, as outlets were only sent PC codes to review. Additionally, many employees spoke of how higher-ups knew how buggy the game was.
#7: Gearbox
“Borderlands” is a great series for getting together with friends, shooting a bunch of crazy enemies, and enjoying some potty humor. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like Gearbox can do much else right. Following the first “Borderlands,” it mishandled the “Duke Nukem Forever” launch, though that project was cursed long before. What could’ve helped was “Aliens: Colonial Marines,” but that was an even bigger mess. Not only did Gearbox lie to Sega about development, outsourcing while collecting money from the publisher, but its misrepresentation led to a class action lawsuit. Then there was the slow, painful death of “Battleborn,” murdered by “Overwatch.” Beyond games, CEO Randy Pitchford has been the subject of multiple controversies, including pay disputes with ClapTrap voice actor David Eddings.
#6: Bethesda
Every Upcoming Bethesda Game To Get Excited About
Somewhere along the way, the bugs we once found silly grew to be annoying. But it isn’t just the quality of Bethesda’s games that has suffered. Bethesda has seemed intent on burning bridges with its fans. It tried to get players to pay for mods, which should undeniably be free. It kept re-releasing “Skyrim” instead of focusing on other games. And when it did focus on a new game, “Fallout 76,” basically everything went wrong. It was a stunning combination of poor game design and an inability to include what fans actually wanted. Post-launch, it was surrounded by controversies with its Power Armor edition and an overly-priced subscription service. We’re still excited for future releases, but only because things can’t get much worse.
#5: Electronic Arts
Top 10 Electronic Arts Games
Maybe you’re surprised to see one of the most hated gaming companies only at #5. But it’s honestly been so long since anyone liked EA that it didn’t feel right placing it higher. The terrible business practices of EA include poor employee treatment, the closure of talented studios, and loot boxes so predatory that they sent a ripple effect throughout the world, forcing various governments to change their gambling laws. There was a time when we genuinely enjoyed EA’s releases. There are several developers under its umbrella whose games we still enjoy. But as EA continues to crunch employees and release big franchise entries with little to no changes, it doesn’t seem like it’ll ever be thought of fondly again.
#4: Riot Games
The eSports scene has done a lot to legitimize gaming to the larger world. Riot Games’ “League of Legends” has been at the forefront of multiple tournaments. When the game released in 2009, the MOBA genre was in its infancy and there were a lot of players who were captivated by that. Behind the scenes, however, Riot Games is reportedly embroiled in awful workplace behavior. Multiple accounts have come out in the last few years documenting a culture of workplace discrimination, harassment, abusive behavior, and generally toxic sexism. This naturally has led to lawsuits. Riot Games was, at one point, impressive for how much it impacted the gaming world in such a short time. But now, those in charge should be ashamed of themselves.
#3: Konami
Top 10 Unbelievable Konami Fails
Konami released some of the best arcade games in the 80s and 90s. Today, it owns some truly incredible franchises like “Castlevania,” “Silent Hill,” and “Metal Gear Solid.” That used to excite us, but now it just makes us sad. In recent years, Konami has been more interested in producing mobile and pachinko spin-offs for its franchises than any full-fledged games. It was responsible for a very public falling out with “Metal Gear” creator Hideo Kojima, which resulted in the cancellation of what could have been the most exciting “Silent Hill” ever. It has also mistreated employees in the past, allegedly refusing to give them health insurance or let them use their work with Konami on their resumes. What a bunch of jerks.
#2: Ubisoft
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier - Ubisoft Preview
If you win a worldwide Twitter poll as the most hated gaming company, you know you’ve done something wrong. Ubisoft found itself as the unfortunate champ in 2021 after a wave of bad press over a couple of years. It tried to hop on the NFT bandwagon to disastrous results. In 2020, it was hit with ton of sexual misconduct allegations, leading to many higher level employees being dismissed. Even if its business practices didn’t range from questionable to disgusting, the state of its games would be enough to turn fans away. Ubisoft’s open-world formula has been built into franchises like “Assassin’s Creed,” “Far Cry,” and “Watch Dogs.” And it has grown incredibly stale.
#1: Activision Blizzard
Top 10 Worst Things Activision Blizzard Has Done
There are a frankly absurd amount of reasons that fans have turned against Activision Blizzard. The tired, yearly releases of “Call of Duty” from Activision and the fumbling of games like “Warcraft III: Reforged” from Blizzard are certainly irksome. But what it really comes down to is how well the studios treat their employees… which is not well at all. In 2019, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick continued to grow wealthier while hundreds of employees were laid off. After that, and somehow more alarming, were the plethora of reports of sexual harassment, discrimination and deeply-embedded “frat boy” culture, leading to a massive lawsuit and employee walk-outs. No game is worth a fan’s loyalty at the cost of such severe mistreatment.
