Biggest Controversy of the Year:
Despite churning out some fun and emotionally involving experiences, the games industry is like any other: Competitive, crazy and full of controversy. Whether it’s the backlash certain games face from fans due to their creative direction, the post-launch support of a product failing time and again, a change in release schedules and delays, or just outright negativity against a product’s policies altogether, the games industry’s event cycle reads like a digital soap opera. Which was the Biggest Controversy of the Year though?
Nominees:
– Xbox One DRM and Policies
– Fez creator goes nuts on Twitter, cancels Fez 2 and leaves industry
– DmC: Devil May Cry – Dante’s new look
– SimCity Launch Issues and always-online connectivity
– Battlefield 4 launch issues and bugs
– Rayman Legends delayed on Wii U for multiplatform release, despite being finished
– The WarZ Launch
Winner: Xbox One DRM and Policies
This is a no-brainer. Never has there been sheer and outright backlash against a product like that against the Xbox One. It wasn’t just the fans either – Microsoft unveiled the console in May and outright proceeded to alienate every single segment possible. Indie devs were turned off by the lack of self-publishing; players hated the 24 online authentication procedure; used game sellers and publishers were put on the spot; security hounds hated the idea of an always-on Kinect; and so on and so forth. The real kicker? Microsoft proceeded to backtrack on every single one of these policies in the follow-up to its November launch. Every. Single. One. There may never be a controversy so long-running and on this level again, even if the petition to change Dante’s look in DmC: Devil May Cry nearly reached the White House.
