From Concord to Skull and Bones, 2024 saw some of the biggest gaming disappointments. Discover the 5 worst games of the year.

With 2024 coming to a close, the gaming world has seen a lot of new releases, each bringing something new to the table. While some brought excitement and anticipation, others quickly became a disappointment. Not all of these highly anticipated games lived up to the hype, with several failing to deliver on promises made years ago.

The game failed to capture the attention of the players. | Image Credit: Firewalk Studios

While it may seem like Sony’s Concord takes the crown as the biggest flop of the year, due to its multitude of issues, there are still other titles that angered fans even more. These games didn’t just disappoint, they failed to make a meaningful impact, struggled with basic gameplay features, or even managed to underperform compared to their predecessors.

With so many anticipated releases in 2024, it’s clear that Concord might not be the only game to leave players frustrated. Let’s take a look at the five worst offenders of 2024 that annoyed fans.

XDefiant

The game’s poor mechanics and technical issues ruined the experience. | Image Credit: Ubisoft

Ubisoft’s XDefiant promised to be a live-service competitive shooter that will fuse various universes from the studio’s catalog into one fast-paced experience. Unfortunately, the game failed to manage that and was plagued by issues that kept it from achieving the potential it had initially shown.

The game was not only filled with technical issues but the abundance of microtransactions, and frustrating progression systems hindered the fun for many. What was meant to be a ‘CoD killer’ killed itself. Eventually, the game lost the players’ attention, leading to its closing down in June 2025.

Dustborn

The game suffered from a lot of poor decision-making. | Image Credit: Red Thread Games

Red Thread Games’ Dustborn arrived with high expectations from fans and critics It was meant to offer a compelling narrative set in a dystopian future. However, its high ambitions were undermined by its very poor pacing, unrefined combat, and dialogue that failed to engage players in meaningful ways.

The narrative, which could have been the highlight, ended up feeling disjointed, leaving many players disengaged. The lackluster gameplay and failure to deliver on its promise of innovation resulted in a title that was quickly forgotten, leaving fans disappointed and frustrated.

Star Wars Outlaws

From its uninspiring world to various bugs, it failed to meet its expectations. | Image Credit: Ubisoft

Star Wars Outlaws had all the makings of a groundbreaking open-world Star Wars experience. However, the reality was far from what fans were hoping for. The game was filled with technical issues, including bad AI behavior and clunky controls, which made an already uninspiring experience even worse.

Players’ discontent with the game became clear through poor sales numbers and negative reviews, with many calling out the game’s technical shortcomings, uninspired design, and overall lack of polish. What could have been a thrilling adventure through the galaxy turned out to be a big missed opportunity.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

The transition to live service was a bad choice for the title. | Image Credit: Rocksteady Studios

Warner Bros. and Rocksteady’s long-awaited Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was a crushing blow to fans who had high hopes for the next installment in the beloved and iconic Batman: Arkham series. However, what players got was an overly linear, repetitive, and microtransaction-riddled mess.

The game even failed to capture the chaotic fun the Suicide Squad should have. The addition of a “live-service” model, forcing players into constantly grinding for skins and upgrades, soured the experience further. This resulted in lost interest not only from fans but also from the studio as it will be shut down next, though players can play it offline.

Skull and Bones

The 11 years of development and delay sank pretty quickly. | Image Credit: Ubisoft

Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones was one of the most anticipated games of the year. It promised to bring pirates to life in an immersive multiplayer experience, inspired by the naval gameplay of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Not only di the game spend years in development (11 years), but it also failed to even take the already established gameplay mechanics.

To make matters worse, the pricing model, combined with repetitive open-world exploration and a lack of meaningful content, led to massive backlash. Despite the hundreds of millions spent on development, the game sank to the bottom of the sea, leaving fans frustrated and Ubisoft’s reputation in shambles.

As gamers continue to demand more from developers, these releases serve as a reminder that a great concept can be ruined by poor execution and broken trust.

In the end, fans are hopeful that future games will learn from these mistakes and offer experiences that both developers and they can truly enjoy.