There were plenty of high points for the games industry in 2022, especially with highly anticipated games finally arriving like From Software's Elden Ring. Sony continued its strong first party run in 2022 with God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West, while Nintendo and Microsoft also gave fans unique experiences with the launches of games like Splatoon 3, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Grounded, and the surprising Pentiment. Unfortunately, there were also more than a few disappointments this year, as some games just didn't live up to the hype and ended up falling short of expectations.

It's worth mentioning that many of the games listed below are not bad games. In fact, many could be considered fun or solid overall. The reason these games are here is due to the fact that there's some element to them that missed the mark either due to a rough launch, missing features, or just not being what fans were hoping for. In no particular order, here are the 10 most disappointing games of 2022.

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Babylon's Fall

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Action titles from PlatinumGames typically have a positive track record, though Babylon's Fall seemingly fell flat on its face even before the game launched in full. Fans were initially left unimpressed and disappointed by the Babylon's Fall E3 2021 trailer, prompting Platinum to make changes based on fan feedback. Unfortunately, the game launched to mostly negative reviews due to the push to the games as a service model as well as highly repetitive gameplay, which involves running down similar-looking corridors and enemies lacking variety. Other players have noted that the game can be fairly confusing as parts of the title are not explained well or at all.

It didn't pick up after launch, as player numbers continued to fall off a cliff, with reports that a lone player was logged in to the Steam version back in May. While the studio initially re-evaluated the game's future and extended Season 2, the decision was ultimately made to pull the plug on the servers, with an end-of-life date in February 2023. Things have gotten so bad that physical stores like GameStop are removing Babylon's Fall from its stores.

Chocobo GP

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While many fans would argue that there's always room for arcade, kart-style racers, Chocobo GP pushed things too far in the wrong direction. Acting as a spin-off to the Final Fantasy series as well as a sequel to the Chocobo Racing title from 1999, the kart racer was intended to be a sort of celebration of the franchise and its 35th anniversary.

While the gameplay is solid, the game really falls apart by leaning too heavily into monetization, which fans seemed to compare to a freemium mobile title. While the game launched as a full-priced title, players were still encouraged to purchase a season pass, randomized Prize Packs for unlocking new characters, and in-game currency. While fan backlash prompted Square Enix to drop microtransactions during season 2 of Chocobo GP, the move largely came as too little, too late.

CrossfireX

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On paper, CrossfireX is a game that should have worked. Combining the already popular multiplayer shooter from Smilegate with a campaign created by Max Payne and Control developer Remedy Entertainment, CrossfireX certainly seemed to have a lot going for it prior to release. Unfortunately, the CS:GO style game fell off the rails pretty quickly after fans got their hands on it.

While stuffed with microtransactions, the biggest issue with CrossfireX is that launched with a ton of major issues. In addition to a variety of bugs, glitches, and connection problems, the multiplayer side of CrossfireX featured sluggish controls on top of a lack of total maps. Worse yet, the game's anticipated campaign turned out to be just two short-lived operations that feel more akin to military shooters from the early 2000s with outdated UI, questionable AI, and a story that just wasn't all that compelling. Smilegate eventually went on to apologize for the CrossfireX launch issues, but it hasn't changed the game's ultimate fate.

Diablo Immortal

The Adventurers in Diablo Immortal

While the initial reveal of Diablo Immortal was less than ideal, the game itself seemingly found an audience as the launch drew closer, but then all the goodwill was lost with its release. The mobile-only title has reportedly made over 300 million dollars since it launched over the summer, a staggering number that was largely due to the game's overreliance on microtransactions. Being free-to-play, Blizzard has filled the game with items to spend real currency on, such as battle passes, legendary crests, and other important resources for earning cosmetics or legendary loot.

While many initially praised the gameplay, things soured pretty quickly for many players as they discovered that the grind became much harder in the later stages for those who didn't actually want to spend money. Some players have even gone as far as to test the microtransaction system, discovering that it can cost over $100,000 just to fully level gear in Diablo Immortal.

Ghostwire: Tokyo

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Coming off of the fan-favorite Evil Within franchise, Tango Gameworks moved on to something a bit different with the more action-centric title, Ghostwire: Tokyo. Using a first-person perspective, players use abilities and spells to fight spirits in a neon-drenched Tokyo. While most seemed to appreciate the interesting story and setting in a ghost-infested city, Ghostwire Tokyo seemingly fell short with its gameplay loop.

After a while, Ghostwire Tokyo loses that initial charm as the combat's lack of depth really starts to rear its head. On top of that, the core loop of cleansing gates becomes fairly one-note and repetitive, as the mechanics never really change and highlights how underutilized the open world actually is. Accentuating these issues is the lack of enemy variety and challenge, as well as a control scheme that comes off as slow and imprecise at times. While Ghostwire: Tokyo has plenty of good ideas, the end result never really came together in the way that fans had hoped.

Gotham Knights

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Gotham Knights isn't a bad game by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, many players have found a solid and fun title set in the Batman universe. Unfortunately for the game, it has the misfortune of following the massively popular Arkhamverse titles, the last one having been launched back in 2015. While fans have been eagerly anticipating a new Batman title, Warner Bros has been clear that Gotham Knights is not part of the Arkhamverse and is meant to be its own self-contained title. Still, that hasn't stopped fans from comparing it to Rocksteady's games and picking it apart.

While that may not be fair on the surface, Gotham Knights isn't a flawless experience beyond those comparisons. While most have said the story is a high point along with the customization options, the game seems to falter in other areas that are equally important. Many have issues with its treatment of boss fights, the combat in general, some of the stylistic choices of the game, how many of its looter features feel like a half-measure, the rather ugly UI, and much more. Compounding that disappointment is the fact that the "next-gen" only Gotham Knights is locked to 30FPS on consoles, another element that makes the overall package a bit rougher around the edges.

Overwatch 2

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Overwatch 2 continues much of what made its predecessor popular, though for many fans, that's the most disappointing part of the game: its reluctance to push the series forward. There is an Overwatch PvE component coming sometime in 2023 which may address this fact, but for now, players only have the multiplayer side to judge. Overwatch 2 remains pretty much the same experience as fans remember, with criticism that it feels more like a massive update than a sequel ringing true.

Some of the biggest changes, like going free to play and reducing team sizes from 6 to 5, have had some growing pains with the community as well. Various bugs have forced Blizzard to remove popular heroes for extended periods of time like Bastion and Mei, and most people weren't thrilled that the game's first post-launch hero Kiriko was locked inside the battle pass. In fact, the community has generally been unhappy with the game's microtransactions where skin prices can run as high as $20 or more than a bundle it's included in.

The launch of Overwatch 2 also shouldn't be overlooked and was largely considered a disaster as the servers not only melted down, but the game was hit with a DDoS attack that further complicated the ability to access the game. It took days for some players to even be able to log in, and others found that the content they had purchased from the Watchpoint Pack was missing or cosmetics they brought over from Overwatch 1 didn't sync correctly or was missing entirely. Not to mention, many dislike how Blizzard is requiring players to register phone numbers, discounting prepaid phones. While the game has since stabilized, it was a rough few weeks for many players at launch.

Rainbow Six Extraction

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Attempting to build off of the immense popularity of its competitive multiplayer sibling Siege, Rainbow Six Extraction attempted to take the popular limited-time mode called Outbreak and turn it into a full, premium experience. While Ubisoft has achieved that, pairing up a team of players to tackle procedurally generated levels against AI opponents, the biggest issue the game has seems to be a lack of interest and content.

After multiple delays and a last-minute name change away from the word Quarantine, Rainbow Six Extraction launched to minimal fanfare, even with solid gameplay co-op shooter mechanics. Unfortunately, Extraction hasn't had the same staying power as Siege, launching with limited content, multiple progression systems requiring grinding to unlock things like new equipment, and challenges which, over time, start to feel a bit too similar. While Ubisoft initially indicated more content would be added through in-game events and DLC, the pace at which new and meaningful stuff has been added, such as operators, has been much slower than most expected. There is an audience and more content is coming, though the game hasn't likely gone the way most people envisioned.

Roller Champions

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Another game that was doomed by a lack of marketing or pre-launch buzz, Roller Champions is a free-to-play title that attempts to give players a Rocket League-like experience. Instead of rocket-boosting cars, 2 teams of 3 skate around an oval track attempting to secure a ball and score by throwing it through a basket. The more laps made with the ball, the higher the score becomes, though the more danger there is from being knocked out by the enemy team.

That's pretty much the gist of the game, and while the live service style does allow for mini and limited events, there's really not much else there in terms of gameplay. The arenas have a touch of personality based on the location, but ultimately players will be inside an oval skating fast until the score cap is reached. While it's fine for a while, many have become disappointed with how repetitive the game can become and how limited the character customization is. Things became so stale that even rumors began circulating over the summer that Ubisoft was canceling Roller Champions, a report that the company denied. While the mechanics are solid, the biggest issue with Roller Champions is how repetitive and forgettable it is.

Saints Row

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The Saints Row franchise has been regarded by many as an alternative to the more serious Grand Theft Auto series, so when a new installment was announced after about seven years of being on hiatus, there was a definite sense of excitement from longtime fans. However, things didn't go quite as expected after the announcement as fans heavily criticized the design choices Volition had made for the Saints Row reboot, in what many believed was abandoning the more wacky style of past games in favor of a more generic cast of characters.

While trailers highlighting the absurd level of detail fans could customize in the game seemed to satisfy those who were worried, the end product was a clear misfire for many. Saints Row reviews were decidedly mixed over things like outdated gameplay mechanics, a lackluster story, and humor that just didn't live up to the legacy of the series. For many, the biggest issues with Saints Row were the staggering amount of bugs and glitches, including a co-op experience that was largely broken at launch with connection issues and errors. To its credit, Volition seems intent on fixing these problems, releasing a couple of big updates already, though the damage has likely been done at this point.

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