The 10 Most Disappointing Games of 2024

Ryan Reynolds once famously said, “When you have expectations, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.” Whether he meant it as a joke or not, there's undeniable truth in that statement —especially for us gamers. We’re constantly teased with promises of revolutionary gameplay, breathtaking graphics, and "game of the year" potential, only to be let down far too often.

To be fair, 2024 wasn’t all bad. We saw standout gems like Space Marine 2 and Black Myth: Wukong that made the year memorable. But for every hit, there was a miss — a game that stumbled under the weight of its own hype and ultimately failed to deliver. So, if you’re in the mood for a little cynicism or just want to gawk at the gaming disasters you were lucky enough to avoid, we’ve compiled a list of the most disappointing games of 2024. Get ready for a mildly entertaining journey through a graveyard of broken gaming promises and what-could-have-beens.

Ranking of disappointing games 2024

Before diving into the list, a quick disclaimer: while we label these games as letdowns, they’re far from being unplayable disasters. Most of the titles we have here are okay-ish, but with more time and love, they could’ve even been good. Unfortunately, due to rushed development, buggy mechanics, or a lack of originality, they left us feeling underwhelmed rather than excited. 

That said, if you’re enjoying any of these titles — and we’ll admit, we had fun playing some of them — don’t let us stop you. Fun is fun, no matter what anybody else says!

Foamstars

Speaking of fun — if you’re someone who enjoys a wild, fast-paced twist on classic competitive game modes like team deathmatch, then our first pick might be just what you’re looking for. Enter Foamstars, Square Enix’s take on multiplayer arena shooters, but with a twist: guns that shoot colorful, sticky foam instead of bullets.

If you’re getting Splatoon vibes, we applaud your Spidey Sense! And if you think that the idea of shooting and snowboarding on foam sounds like a blast - you're right again! In many ways, Foamstars is a solid game with a fun concept. Unfortunately, upon release, it was bogged down by limited content, offering only six heroes and a handful of maps. To make matters worse, the game suffered from performance issues and extremely aggressive monetization, with some skins priced higher than the game itself. While Square Enix attempted to salvage the title by shifting to a free-to-play model, the player backlash has kept Foamstars from making a strong recovery.

Planet Coaster 2

Next on our list is Planet Coaster 2 — and we’re not exaggerating when we say this one makes us particularly frustrated. Not because it’s a “build-your-own-amusement park” game — far from it!  We’ve been fans of this genre ever since RollerCoaster Tycoon had us sending digital park-goers hurtling off incomplete coasters. Instead, what gets under our skin is that PC2 had the potential to be amazing but was ultimately held back by a handful of lackluster features and an overall lack of originality.

As a sequel, we expected Planet Coaster 2 to introduce exciting innovations, but instead, it ended up feeling more like an update than a genuine evolution. Sure, the addition of pools is a fun touch! However, other mechanics, such as researching new attractions or setting up generators to power the park, are so shallow they’re practically kiddie pools. The biggest offender, though, is the unintuitive user interface. Whether you’re using a mouse or a gamepad, navigating the menus and building tools is simply frustrating - and for a game that’s all about creativity and construction, having a clunky building system is a big no-no.

South Park: Snow Day

If the first two entries didn’t convince you we’re talking about disappointing video games of 2024, this one certainly will. Imagine building a successful franchise with two games celebrated for their clever gameplay, sharp storytelling, and faithfulness to the source material — only to toss all of that away for a dumbed-down, uninspired third installment. Impossible? Sadly, South Park: Snow Day makes it a harsh reality.

There’s hardly anything redeeming about South Park: Snow Day. The real-time combat is clunky and boring, with zero strategic depth from the previous games. A laughably small selection of weapons and skills doesn't help either. And don't even get us started on the repetitive missions centered around mindlessly brawling with other townsfolk. But you know what? We could still forgive that, except for the game's biggest crime - it’s just not funny. The biting, offend-everyone satire that defines the franchise is simply gone. Even characters like Cartman, who could weaponize his obnoxiousness, or slightly deranged Randy with his obligatory "fight me bro!" feel muted and well-behaved. They didn’t just kill Kenny this time — they killed the very spirit of South Park.

Dragon’s Dogma 2

Oh, we can already see the comments: "Dragon's Dogma 2 is amazing! I've sunk hundreds of hours into it!" And honestly, we’re thrilled for you if you enjoyed it. But here’s the thing — after the groundbreaking success of the original DD, we expected the sequel to take the best parts of its predecessor, fix the flaws, and deliver something truly revolutionary. Unfortunately, that’s not quite what we got.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a game much bigger in scope, but that scale only magnifies its problems. Fast travel is poorly implemented, relying on rare items to function. To add insult to injury, Capcom never fixed it but instead tied these items to an aggressive monetization system - a decision that sparked some serious controversy upon the game's release. The combat starts strong, but it quickly falls into monotony due to a lack of enemy variety — most of which are recycled from Dragon's Dogma 1. Honestly, Capcom, just call it DD 1.5, and we will be happy. But as a full-blown sequel, DD2 sadly earns its place on this list of letdowns.  

LEGO Horizon Adventures

The world of Horizon and its robotic beasts seemed like a perfect playground for LEGO fans, so we had high hopes for LEGO Horizon Adventures. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the worst gaming flops 2024 had to offer, as it fell flat in ways that LEGO fans find unforgivable — it lacked fun and creativity. At its core, the game is painfully simplistic, offering little innovation to the tried-and-true LEGO games formula. Level designs are repetitive, alternating between predictable combat and platforming segments. As if that wasn't enough, the campaign is very short, wrapping up in just a few hours. But perhaps the biggest letdown is what isn’t in the game — Aloy can’t build her own robotic machines out of LEGO bricks, a feature that could have been a game-changer and a love letter to both Horizon and LEGO enthusiasts!

If you’re a LEGO fan, we’d recommend looking elsewhere — perhaps revisiting the Skywalker Saga. And if you’re a Horizon fan, trust us: replaying the original games is a much better use of your time than slogging through LEGO Horizon Adventures.

XDefiant

XDefiant was meant to be Ubisoft’s golden ticket into the profitable but hard-to-get-into world of online shooters. However, as you've probably surmised from our use of the past tense - things didn't go according to plan. The self-proclaimed “Call of Duty Killer” faced a series of setbacks, including a failed console certification in mid-2023 due to numerous technical and quality control issues. This delay pushed the game's release into 2024, causing it to lose the momentum and potential player base it had built up.

Sadly, Ubisoft's attempts to salvage their title proved futile, and XDefiant never truly recovered. This prompted the company to announce that the XDefiant servers will officially shut down in June 2025, marking an unceremonious end to the game barely a year after its official launch.

Star Wars: Outlaws

Let’s face it — no list of failed game releases 2024 had in stock for us would be complete without Star Wars: Outlaws, and for all the right reasons! How do you fumble a title with an iconic IP, years of open-world expertise, and a cheeky protagonist clearly inspired by Han Solo? Well, Ubisoft managed to show us exactly how: with a secret component - mediocrity.

Outlaws feels cobbled together from tried-and-true mechanics, yet it fails to excel at any of them. It is not for stealth enthusiasts, as they will find the system laughably bad and frustratingly inconsistent. Fans of high-octane combat won’t have much fun either, as gunfights are reduced to boring, straightforward shootouts with zero tactical depth. Even open-world aficionados are left out in the cold, as Outlaws presents mostly empty, lifeless environments. And then, there is Nyx, our cute companion who had all the potential to steal the show but instead was reduced to a glorified remote control for opening doors. In the end, Star Wars: Outlaws doesn’t just disappoint; it misses the mark so spectacularly that even Stormtroopers would be embarrassed.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Unless you went on a digital detox in 2024, you’ve probably heard about the controversy surrounding BioWare’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard — a game accused of focusing too much on your character’s sexuality. And let us tell you, these claims are absolutely true! But at the same time, they’re far from the game’s biggest issue. After all, we’ve seen great games like Catherine dive deep into romantic desires, or Cyberpunk 2077 let us customize every, ahem, bulging detail of our character.

So, what did The Veilguard do to earn a spot on our list? Frankly, it’s a little bit of everything. Despite the solid foundations built on the legacy of the previous Dragon Age games, this entry became a mishmash of generic ideas. With simplistic, action-oriented combat, forgettable quests and characters, and an art style that feels more suited to an MMO than a deep RPG, Dragon Age: The Veilguard fails to deliver. Can you still have fun with the game? Sure! But if you’re the franchise's fan, the letdown is impossible to ignore.

Skull and Bones

Alright, we see that this text is slowly turning into a list of disappointing games of 2024 that Ubisoft screwed up – and trust us, we didn’t plan for it to be this way! However, we just couldn’t leave Skull and Bones, the game that failed to live up to any of its promises, off our list. Let’s keep this one brief, though.

Skull and Bones, the first self-proclaimed AAAA title, was in development for over a decade and cost between $650 million and $850 million. Yet, upon release, it was plagued by technical issues, repetitive gameplay, and a lack of any meaningful progression. The result? Rapid decline in player numbers and an unbelievably huge disappointment in the gaming world. Enough said.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

Surprised? Well, we can’t blame you. After all, Microsoft Flight Simulator series has always been synonymous with a perfect blend of realism, stunning visuals, and infinite replayability. However, these features have also made the game notoriously large in size, often requiring hundreds of gigabytes to download. With Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, the goal was to reduce the game’s file size — a decision we wholeheartedly support. Unfortunately, the execution left us with more turbulence than smooth skies.

The solution Microsoft chose was straightforward: move the game to the cloud! Sounds fantastic, right? WRONG! Even with a stable and fast internet connection, players reported excruciatingly long loading times, sometimes exceeding 20 minutes! And even once you were airborne, the game would suffer from slow texture loading, stuttering, and frequent disconnections. You might think, "Well, I’ll just download the game and play offline." Sorry to clip your wings, but with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, that’s simply not an option.

Well, fellow gamers, here we are at the end of our list of the most overhyped games 2024 offered — and ultimately failed to deliver. Hopefully, you had more fun reading our list than we did compiling it. However, while we absolutely adore Ryan Reynolds, this time, we’re choosing not to follow his advice and instead hold onto hope that some of these titles might still make an amazing comeback.

What do you think? Should we keep our expectations high? Or, are our picks beyond salvation? And by the way, are there other terribly unimpressive games from 2024 that somehow flew under our radar? Let us know in the comments below!