Video game development is an extremely difficult and laborious process. Years of word, sweat and tears don’t necessarily mean that your game will have a good reception. However, the worst thing that can happen to any new game is problems and issues at launch. No one likes booting up a game for the first time and experiencing bugs or encountering a broken game.

That being said, some developers and studios have managed to rebound and bounce back from bad and disastrous launches, thereby redeeming their games in the eyes of many and turning those games from bad to being must-plays.

Here are the best examples:

Total War Rome 2

You won’t really see this mentioned on many lists because it’s more niche than the rest of the games in this list. However, its journey is just as incredible or perhaps even more so than all of them. When Creative Assembly launched Total War Rome 2 in 2013, it was a broken mess that was almost unplayable, completely breaking all the goodwill from the studio’s past games such as Medieval 2 and the original Rome.

However, the developer didn’t give up on the game and kept improving it. The dedication and hard work was so incredible that Total War Rome 2 received its final major update and DLC expansions in 2018…

… a whopping FIVE years after the game originally launched. Even if there are other examples, it’s almost unheard of for a game that was so poorly received at launch, to still be receiving major updates and even DLC expansions HALF A DECADE after the game launched.

Say what you want about how the Total War games have declined over the years or whatever, but one thing no one can deny is how dedicated and passionate the folks at Creative Assembly can be.

Cyberpunk 2077

One of the most infamous bad launches in recent memory is probably Cyberpunk 2077 by CD Projekt Red. The game garnered so much hype, that became one of the most highly-anticipated games in video game history. Unfortunately, when the game initially launched in 2020, the game was so buggy, especially on last-gen consoles like the PS4 and Xbox One. So much so that they had to remove those versions of the game from digital platforms because they were so broken.

However, in the several years since the game’s launch, CD Projekt Red steadily improved the game, which culminated in the massive Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 update in 2024, alongside the release of the Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty DLC. This ultimately turned the game into one that’s finally worth playing and almost justified the hype of what once could have been.

No Man’s Sky

When it was announced, Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky was deemed to be one of the most ambitious games ever made. It boasted to feature a procedurally-generated universe with an almost unlimited number of planets to be explored. Unfortunately, all of that was empty shots of hot air because the game was as empty and deserted as a well, desert wasteland, when it launched in 2016.

However, just like the aforementioned Cyberpunk 2077 and most of the games on this list, the developer continues to improve the game and in this case, add a lot more meaty content into the game, almost fulfilling the potential of the game’s original ambition.

Final Fantasy XIV

Final Fantasy XIV AKA Final Fantasy 14 is another remarkable story. It’s one of the few games out there that was completely rehauled from the ground up and received a brand-new relaunch.

When the MMO was originally launched in 2010, the backlash to the game was so bad that Square Enix had to shut down the game and release a brand new version of the game with Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn in 2013. This version of the game is now one of the most successful MMOs of all time, boasting 30 million players worldwide and over five major expansions.

Star Wars Jedi Survivor

Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi Survivor is the newest game on this list, and while it arguably didn’t have as bad of a launch as the rest of the games on this list, it was still a pretty bad one. The game launched in April 2023 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, but many players complained of buggy performances and terrible framerates. That being said, I personally Platinum-ed the game and didn’t encounter any problems (that was my own experience), so the issues clearly weren’t as widespread.

However, the launch was bad enough that many gamers were attacking the game for being released in such a state, so much so that the game also suffered when it didn’t even receive any awards or recognition for the rest of the year. After patches and updates, the game is now in a much better state, so everyone can now appreciate it better.