2019 Games That Haven't Aged Well

2019 was a good year for games, with plenty of amazing titles competing for Game of the Year at The Game Awards. Despite the wealth of fantastic choices, there were quite a few stinkers that didn't make it to the ceremony. These dreadful games were plagued with bugs, haunted by bad reviews and, in some cases, even betrayed and frustrated fans. Hell hath no fury like a gamer scorned and these 2019 titles deserve their fair share of derision.

WWE 2K20 was supposed to give players a fun and challenging wrestling experience with unprecedented options for customization. Instead, it handed out headaches. Lots and lots of headaches. Players found themselves unable to play the game due to its glaring glitches. Even if the game had avoided the onslaught of technical issues, the mechanics and narrative left much to be desired. Fans were less than pleased with the writing, the loot boxes, the topsy-turvy skill tree, and that little patch that wiped their save data. Even when the devs tried to fix it, WWE 2K20 kept getting worse.

You know a game has problems when it inspires headlines like "How Anthem could be BioWare's funeral." Anthem did not receive fanfare upon release. Instead, it led fans to question BioWare's future. With no romance options and a lack of memorable characters, the game doesn't feel like a BioWare title. It plays more like a Destiny clone, despite entering production first.

Anthem failed to give BioWare fans what they wanted, and everyday gamers were unimpressed with its lackluster E3 debut, confusing release, and connection to notoriously money-hungry publisher Electronic Arts. To this day, Anthem suffers from an embarrassingly small player base. With Anthem 2.0 on the horizon, its hard to say whether even a full reboot can save the fledgling franchise.

Pokemon Masters didn't have the same success as its cousin, Pokemon Go. This mobile game boasted an intimate adventure with all the protagonists and memorable characters of games past. It drew a lot of hype, and the modest sum of $26 million in the first week, but this success may have doomed it to failure.

A wealth of bugs frustrated players and the lack of content and abundance of microtransactions left them feeling ripped off. This backlash prompted an apology from producer Yu Sasaki. "We've taken your feedback to heart. At this time, we'd like to look back at the game's activity since launch and update you all about its future direction," said Sasaki. 2020 might be a stronger year for Pokemon Masters if the devs make good on their promises to do better.

Fallout 76 may have released in late 2018 but 2019 saw the game bomb. Hard. It seemed like every week ushered in a new problem. Bethesda drew the ire of the internet when they rolled out their insanely expensive Fallout 1st subscription. Fans railed against the price tag and then raged about the fact that the perks they paid for didn't even work properly. Bethesda broke promises left and right, it seemed. Private worlds weren't really private, items were stolen, and legendary armor glitched out and broke. 

The Wastelanders update might have saved Fallout 76 from its disastrous reputation, yet, Bethesda delayed the highly anticipated launch to 2020, stating it needed more polish. With its checkered past, the addition of NPCs and a new main quest might not be enough to save Fallout 76 from extinction.