With that being said, there’s always a lesson or two to be learned from adversity, and it’s always good to take a look at where things went wrong and how they can be improved. To that end, we’ve put together a list of events in the gaming world that garnered quite a response from the gaming community, and not in a good way. Let’s dive right in!

1. GTA 6 Delayed To November 2026

We’re sure you saw this one coming and thought it best to get it out of the way early. It’s always a bummer when a highly anticipated title faces a delay, and that becomes a lot worse to bear when that title has been a very long time in the making.

While we’re not going to hold a grudge against Rockstar for this one, as we suspect that the delay is only going to make the final game even better, it still rankles to know that there’s still such a long way to go before we get to dive into what we’re sure is a banger from the studio.

2. Microsoft’s Xbox Hardware Price Hikes

The Xbox hasn’t had a great run in the last few years, and Microsoft certainly didn’t help its case when it hiked the prices on Xbox consoles and a few games in May of last year. While we’re not going to get into the politics that are rumored to be behind the decision, it certainly wasn’t great news for Xbox fans in the market for a new console, with the flagship Series X’s prices going up by around 22% – a significant increase on a console whose popularity has been gradually eroding away.

However, Microsoft might not be entirely to blame for the situation; it was a choice that still didn’t sit well with many, never mind the fact that the PlayStation also saw its prices increase as a response.

3. Price Hikes On PlayStation Hardware In Some Regions

In Europe, the UK, and Australia, Sony hiked prices on the PS5 Digital Edition by around 10%, the reason given being economic turmoil around the world. It’s probably not as bad as the hike on Xbox consoles but is still quite an increase on an already pricey machine despite the excellence it brings to the table.
We’re just glad that the PS5 Pro remained unscathed through it all, and Sony probably deserves a bit of praise for managing to keep things under control for the most part.

4. Game Pass Price Increase

It wasn’t just consoles that saw unpopular price hikes, with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate becoming dearer by quite a significant margin, prompting backlash from existing and potential subscribers. Despite Microsoft issuing a statement saying that such occurrences were “never fun for anybody”, it didn’t help with stopping a string of cancellations as frustrated gamers decided to speak up against the price hikes with their wallets.

We’re just glad we didn’t have to deal with the consequences of the decision, as things certainly got nasty.

5. Sony’s PS Plus Pricing Hike

Sony’s PS Plus wasn’t safe from global economic conditions either, and the service saw price hikes in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Once again, Sony must be commended for restricting the fallout of turbulence in global supply chains, but the price hikes were still quite unpopular among gamers.

It’s interesting to see how Sony managed to keep things in control in comparison with Microsoft, but the price hikes did raise concerns about the value of gaming on consoles versus the same costs on a PC. That’s an interesting facet of this equation that does merit close observation over the next couple of years, and the Steam Machine’s debut might be quite a twist in this tale.

6. AI In Video Games

Generative AI made things quite complicated for a few studios in 2025, with many players and critics calling out its use in video games as a step in the wrong direction. A great example would be ARC Raiders, where lines of NPC dialogue being handled by AI received quite a bit of backlash and review bombing on what was an otherwise solid game. And we suppose there’s no need to mention the controversy surrounding The Alters, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and Fortnite.

7. Call of Duty Black Ops 7

While disappointment with the annual Call of Duty franchise has become something of a recurring tradition, it wasn’t really surprising to see Black Ops 7 fall as flatly as it did. The story, gameplay, and overall presentation failed to gain the momentum needed to stop the franchise’s slump, and the game has been among our worst shooters of 2025 thanks to the likes of ARC Raiders.

Some might be holding out hope that the franchise can turn things around with subsequent instalments though, but that’s looking pretty unlikely now.

8. Mario Kart World’s Hefty Price Tag

Mario Kart World was certainly incredible, and a great title to show off what the Switch 2 could do. But its pricing left a bitter taste in the mouth of those who bought it, and perhaps even put off some players who might have otherwise chosen to dive in.

While an $80 price tag on an excellent game might be palatable to people who want quality, it did raise concerns about a new pricing standard that could isolate quite a few gamers whose budgets might not allow them to pick up great games consistently.

9. Industry Wide Layoffs

There’s a long list of studios that have been shut down, and teams that have faced layoffs over a variety of factors. Studios like Monolith, whose Nemesis System is now probably locked away in a vault somewhere, are great examples of talented teams who were unfortunately let go thanks to a variety of factors.

2025 also saw layoffs across Electronic Arts, Supermassive Games, People Can Fly, Amazon Games, and several others, with thousands of developers ultimately losing their jobs. Here’s hoping that all of the talented folks who were affected it managed to land on their feet.

10. MindsEye

Boy, was this one an annoyance. We went into MindsEye expecting great things from Build A Rocket Boy but were left with a bitter taste in our mouth after its lifeless world, lackluster story, and uninspired combat. This was a game that should have been so much more, and was perhaps the most egregious fail that 2025 brought to the gaming world.

The studio’s response to the criticism aimed at their debut title was also quite lacking, showcasing a poor attitude that did it no favors, and perhaps can act as a lesson to other studios whose offerings fail to get off the ground at the outset.

11. Monster Hunter Wilds PC

This one’s another instance of a disappointing end to a very long wait. With Worlds being as good as it was, Wilds should have been a sequel that took the popular franchise from the developer to new heights. And while the game did manage to put up a good show on consoles, its PC performance left players quite irate with the studio thanks to its poor optimization.

Frame rate issues, poor VRAM optimization, crashes, stutters, and so many more problems ruined what should have been an incredible time hunting monsters in visually stunning environments. This one’s a classic example of a game that should have been more popular right off the bat but was let down thanks to its problems. We’re happy it managed to get back on track though, somewhat.

12. Where Winds Meet’s UI Issues

If you’ve been with us for a while, you already know that Where Winds Meet has been quite a surprise for all of us who got to play it. However, its UI is one area that could certainly use some polish. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that it’s so confusing it runs the risk of making its players miss important parts of its gameplay loop, and needs to do better and communicate all of the myriad systems it contains.

This isn’t a game-breaking problem but it does need to be addressed nonetheless considering the amazing quality of everything else on offer in the experience.

13. Valorant’s Text Verification

Valorant might be among the best esports shooters out there, but that might have worked against the game in this particular instance. With Riot Games aiming to minimize cheating within the game and requiring users to use multi-factor-authentication to be able to play the game, it was obvious that there was going to be a bit of backlash.

With accounts being tied to specific mobile numbers and stringent checks against shady practices, players with multiple accounts who actually played the game without resorting to malpractices were forced to adhere to the new rules. Although necessary, it could still be seen as uncomfortable. We’re all human, after all.

14. Lacking Features At Launch

Several titles released with content that wasn’t available at launch, causing dissatisfaction among players thanks to how crucial they were to their overall enjoyment of the game in question. Borderlands 4’s excellent visuals might have tempted many of its players to take a break and grab some awesome shots of its world, but the lack of a Photo Mode at launch made that an area of frustration.

Ghost of Yotei should have had a New Game+ mode from the very start but that wasn’t the case. Its distinct lack of enemies out in its open world after you finished its story should have been a reason to have the option to get right back into the action but at least it’s there now for those who want it. Several other titles had notable omissions that had us scratching our heads at why they weren’t in the game in the first place.

15. Cancelled Projects

Sony pulled the plug on Bend Studio and Bluepoint Studio’s live-service projects in its pivot towards more profitable (and probably safer) ventures, while Microsoft also cancelled Everwild and Perfect Dark, both of which seemed like solid additions to their respective lineups of titles.

It’s always disappointing to see games with potential be denied the chance to show what they have but it is what it is.

And that’s a wrap on some of 2025’s failures that had gamers shaking their heads at dismal decisions and poor execution of great ideas. Here’s to hoping that 2026 manages to make lists like these a lot shorter!

This was in response to the Xbox profile announcing that cloud gaming had arrived in India alongside expansions to servers in Brazil and Argentina. Spencer said, “One way we measure progress is by looking at engagement, and the momentum is encouraging: Game Pass cloud hours are up 45 percent compared to this time last year, and console players are streaming 45 percent more on console and 24 percent more on other devices. “

Which sounds all well and good, but how many were utilizing Xbox Cloud Gaming to begin with? How much time were they originally spending? These are currently unknown. Nevertheless, Spencer felt that “Progress is also about more choice for players—play what you want, where you want—and that’s what drives us forward.”

It’s also worth noting that cloud gaming is available to a wider spectrum of Game Pass subscribers than before. Previously exclusive to Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and Essential can now access the same, albeit at lower quality and slightly longer wait times. Microsoft is also working on a free cloud gaming tier supported by ads, though it has yet to provide specifics.

Fryer spoke about the leadership of Microsoft making these decisions while not quite being in touch with the gaming market at large. This, she noted, as being one of the biggest challenges that Xbox is faced with today. “I’m not sure that their leadership understands what makes Xbox great,” she said. “I’m not sure that they’re listening to their fans. They keep doubling down on decisions that make it clear that they’ve been in a bubble, and all this feedback doesn’t seem to reach them any more.”

Referring to the recent video released by Microsoft over the changes being made to the pricing structure and tiers of Game Pass which noted that players would have more choice than ever before, Fryer also said, “They got it right. They did give their fans the freedom to choose, and they have. They’ve left.”

She also points to the price hikes that have affected Xbox Series X/S consoles in the US, which have also been noted by others in the industry as being done with a profit motive rather than in response to the trade tariffs imposed by the US. These decisions, according to Fryer, came from a “yes man culture” that has seemingly been cultivated in Microsoft’s upper management tiers.

“Xbox didn’t reinvent [itself] by replacing the old engine with a better one,” she continued further in the video. “They just abandoned what they had and started chasing what they didn’t understand…With this last increase to Game Pass, Xbox threw away one of their last advantages: they were the best deal in gaming. These price hikes feel like a betrayal. Greed over gaming.”

The price for Game Pass Ultimate going up to $30 per month has raised quite a few eyebrows throughout the industry. Earlier this week, former head of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Lina Khan, had criticised Microsoft for the price hike, noting that events like industry consolidation with Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard led to Microsoft becoming “too-big-to-care” about raising prices of its services.

“Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been followed by significant price hikes and layoffs, harming both gamers and developers,” wrote Khan. “As we’ve seen across sectors, increasing market consolidation and increasing prices often go hand-in-hand. As dominant firms become too-big-to-care, they can make things worse for their customers without having to worry about the consequences.”

For more details about the new pricing for Game Pass Ultimate, as well as about the new Game Pass Essential and Game Pass Premium tiers, check out our coverage. Interestingly, some regions in the world have seemingly had the price hikes delayed.

These include the addition of Hogwarts Legacy, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Skull and Bones and many other Ubisoft-published titles exclusively for Ultimate. Premium gains access to titles like Abiotic Factor, Against the Storm, Ara: History Untold, Diablo 4 and more, many previously available only in the Ultimate tier.

As for Essential, the lowest tier, it receives four new titles – Cities: Skylines Remastered, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Hades, and Warhammer 40,000 Darktide. All titles in the Premium and Essential tiers are playable for Ultimate subscribers.

This marks the second notable price increase for Game Pass Ultimate, with Microsoft raising prices from $16.99 to $19.99 in July 2024. Of course, this follows recent price hikes on all Xbox Series X/S hardware in the United States, which you can read more about here.

In exchange, subscribers will receive more than 75 day-one titles yearly, including everything published by Xbox Game Studios. You’ll also get benefits like Ubisoft+ Classics and EA Play with Fortnite Crew coming November 18th. Online multiplayer and “unlimited” cloud gaming at the best quality are also promised, along with the opportunity to earn up to $100 yearly in the Microsoft Store.

Game Pass Premium will retail for $14.99 monthly and offers access to more than 200 games. However, subscribers gain access to Xbox-published titles within a year of their release. Online multiplayer, “unlimited” cloud gaming with shorter wait times (but not the best quality), is also promised alongside earning up to $50 yearly in the Store.

Finally, Game Pass Essential offers access to over 50 titles with online multiplayer, unlimited cloud gaming, and earning up to $25 yearly in the Store for $9.99 every month.

“I’m not working in any of these companies anymore, and so I don’t assume that everything I knew while I was in the industry still holds true today,” said Hines. “At the same time, I’m involved enough to know I saw what I considered to be some short sighted decision making several years ago, and it seems to be bearing out the way I said. Subscriptions have become the new four letter word, right? You can’t buy a product anymore.”

“When you talk about a subscription that relies on content, if you don’t figure out how to balance the needs of the service and the people running the service with the people who are providing the content – without which your subscription is worth jack s*** – then you have a real problem. You need to properly acknowledge, compensate and recognize what it takes to create that content and not just make a game, but make a product. That tension is hurting a lot of people, including the content creators themselves, because they’re fitting into an ecosystem that is not properly valuing and rewarding what they’re making.”

Interestingly, former Xbox executive Shannon Loftis agrees with Hines. Loftis, for context, has worked with the company in a host of positions, ranging from VP of Xbox Game Studios, studio head of World’s Edge Studio, general manager of Global Games Publishing, and even general manager at Xbox Entertainment Studios. In a LinkedIn comment, she wrote about how the adoption of Game Pass came at the expense of game sales.

“As a longtime first party Xbox developer, I can attest that Pete is correct,” wrote Loftis. “While Game Pass can claim a few victories with games that otherwise would have sunk beneath the waves (human fall flat, e.g.), the majority of game adoption on Game Pass comes at the expense of retail revenue, unless the game is engineered from the ground up for post-release monetization. I could (and may someday) write pages on the weird inner tensions this creates.”

In the same interview, Hines also spoke about a host of other subjects, including the poorly-received marketing decisions surrounding Arkane’s Prey. Hines noted that he even “p****d some people off internally over that because I fought so hard against using that name. I’m the head of the spear, but I had a lot of people across my team – brand, PR and community – and we feel like we’re burdening it with a name where we spend more time explaining why it’s called Prey than we do talking about the game. I regret that I lost that battle. But nobody on this planet could have put more of a good faith effort into changing minds on that.”

Ultimately, he noted that the marketing surrounding Prey could best be described as “wasted excitement”, since Bethesda would have been better served by marketing the title better with regards to its title, as well as its gameplay, story, and themes.

“There’s a lot of debates going on,” said Layden while talking about games being available for “free” at launch through Game Pass. “Is Game Pass profitable? Is Game Pass not profitable? What does that mean? That’s really not the right question to ask anyway.”

“You can do all kinds of financial jiggery-pokery for any sort of corporate service to make it look profitable if you wanted to. You take enough costs out and say that’s off the balance sheet and, oh look, it’s profitable now. The real issue for me on things like Game Pass is, is it healthy for the developer?”

Rather, Layden believes that Game Pass might be directly reducing the value of games, because these kinds of services might not be “inspiring” for developers, since they don’t tend to involve other aspects of business like profit sharing.

“They’re not creating value, putting it in the marketplace, hoping it explodes, and profit sharing, and overages, and all that nice stuff,” explained Layden. “It’s just, ‘You pay me X dollars an hour, I built you a game, here, go put it on your servers’.”

“I don’t think it’s really inspiring for game developers.”

Interestingly, Layden is specifically talking about services like Microsoft’s PC and Xbox Game Pass, where the company tends to release many of its first-party games on day one. He also brought up the fact that games might often feel like they’re losing their value if they come to a subscription service on day one. Layden points to Grand Theft Auto 6 as a game that would not go on a subscription service at launch, since the title is bound to generate tremendous amounts of revenue through sales of copies.

“No lesser light than Strauss Zelnik himself has said GTA is never going on a subscription service day one,” said Layden. However, he does note that indie games might benefit more from coming to Game Pass on day one to capture a large audience right out of the gate. However, he believes that it’s “bad for the business” in the long term. “You can’t unring the bell, right?”

Generally speaking, Layden is not a fan of subscription services like Game Pass, and points to the music industry for examples of why it might turn out bad. While people rarely buying music anymore means that musicians make less and less money from their creations, they at least have other sources of revenue, like concert tickets. “The problem with gaming is all we have is launch,” he said. “That’s it. No one wants to pay money to come into the studio and watch people code,” drawing comparisons to concerts.

“I’m not a big supporter of the ‘Netflix of gaming’ idea,” he said. “I think it is a danger.”

Microsoft reportedly has separate P&Ls (profit and loss statement) for its first-party releases than for Game Pass since these games tend to have other means of making revenue. For example, aside from game sales, several modern releases feature microtransactions, expansion packs, and battle passes through which they would make money.

“Over 18 months ago, I checked with Xbox about what’s included in the Game Pass P&L,” explained Dring. “Basically, I was looking to see if Game Pass’s costs factor in the impact on unit sales of their internal studios. I was told that first-party games have their own P&L separate from Game Pass as they make money via other means. I felt this piece of internal accountancy might mean Game Pass is profitable, but it sure does put pressure on the margins for its internal games and POSSIBLY means some studios don’t make as much profit (or any profit at all).”

It is worth noting that these P&Ls also didn’t take into account the fact that Microsoft has started selling its games on other platforms, like PS5. With separate sales from releases on other platforms, first-party studios make even more money for Microsoft, which, once again, is kept track of separately from the money spent on and made from Game Pass.

“But regardless of all that. Sources have reached out to tell me that even when you include lost revenue associated with first-party party games (not just unit sales, but microtransactions), Game Pass is still profitable,” wrote Dring. “So… that’s great!”

Dring’s statement was a follow-up to previously confirming that Microsoft doesn’t usually consider the “lost” revenue when taking Game Pass financials into account.

“So costs associated with the Game Pass business is fees paid to third-parties, marketing, service costs… and by that measure, it’s profitable,” posted Dring. “What they don’t count is the lost revenue that Xbox’s first-party studios are seeing as a result of the service. I have to imagine if first-party studios received similar compensation, that profitability might not be correct.”

In this previous statement, Dring noted that first-party games are likely not paid to bring their titles to Game Pass in the same way that third-party publishers often are. This would likely otherwise play a big role in making the service unprofitable since first-party Xbox titles are released on day one for Game Pass.

Earlier this year, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer had spoken about how Game Pass as a service makes more sense for the type of gamer that tends to play several titles, rather than those that only play one or two games a year.

It is important to note that Dring also points out that Microsoft doesn’t count revenue that is being “lost” because of the company’s first-party game releases coming to Game Pass on day one. He notes that, if first-party studios are getting paid similarly to third-party publishers and studios to bring their titles to Game Pass, the service likely wouldn’t be considered as profitable.

“So costs associated with the Game Pass business is fees paid to third-parties, marketing, service costs… and by that measure, it’s profitable,” posted Dring. “What they don’t count is the lost revenue that Xbox’s first-party studios are seeing as a result of the service. I have to imagine if first-party studios received similar compensation, that profitability might not be correct.”

Later in the thread, Dring also noted that Microsoft itself told him that costs associated with first-party releases on the subscription service are not included in the company’s accounting of the profitability of Game Pass.

While Microsoft might see the service as profitable and still worthy of investing in, especially when it comes to bringing in third-party titles, others that have worked at the company don’t believe that it might be completely sustainable. Former Arkane Studios founder Raphael Colantonio spoke about this just last week, pointing out that even Microsoft doesn’t have “infinite money” to keep running the service without wanting a profit.

Responding to a post by Baldur’s Gate 3’s director of publishing Michael Douse about the idea of “infinite money” not making sense, Colantonio posted, “I agree, and I’m fed up with all the BS they feed us at first like ‘Don’t worry, it doesn’t impact the sales’, only to admit years later that it totally does. ‘No s*** it does! Really?’”

Back in April, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer spoke about the service, and how while it may not appeal to all gamers, it certainly exists as a “healthy option” for certain people. He noted that, if you only play one or two games a year, Game Pass likely doesn’t sound too appealing for you. However, if you’re interested in trying out several new experiences, the service might be a good option.

“For me, I look at Game Pass as a healthy option for certain people. It’s not for everybody.” said Spencer. “If you play one or two games a year, Game Pass probably isn’t the right business model for you, you should just buy those two games, and that would make total sense. But I want you to have the choice.”​

Spencer also spoke back in February about how Microsoft doesn’t want to replace the idea of video game ownership with subscription services like Game Pass.

Yoshida expanded on this idea by mentioning that big companies – who typically tend to be averse to funding games that are based on big, risky ideas – would try to steer developers under them to safer genres or gameplay styles to appease a player base that might end up existing primarily on subscription services.

“If the only way for people to play games is through subscriptions that’s really dangerous, because what [type] of games can be created will be dictated by the owner of the subscription services,” said Yoshida.

“That’s really, really risky because there always must always be fresh new ideas tried by small developers that create the next wave of development. But if the big companies dictate what games can be created, I don’t think that will advance the industry.”

Yoshida also believes that Sony’s approach to a subscription service, through some of the higher tiers available for PlayStation Plus, might be “healthier” for developers and the overall industry. While he does acknowledge that his time working for Sony might have biased him a bit in the company’s favour, Yoshida also says that, through PlayStation Plus, Sony avoids over-promising, while also encouraging players to buy games rather than to wait for the games to come to the service.

“I believe the way Sony approached [subscriptions] is healthier. You know, not to overpromise and to allow people to spend money to buy the new games,” Yoshida said. “After a couple of years there won’t be many people willing to buy those games at that initial price, so they’ll be added to the subscription service and there’ll be more people to try [those products] in time for the next game in the franchise to come out.”

When it comes to Sony’s competitors in the console market, Yoshida praises Microsoft for its efforts in bringing backwards compatibility on Xbox Series X/S. “They must have put a lot of engineering effort in to achieve what they have done,” he said. As for Nintendo, Yoshida praises the company’s strategy, as well as the technology behind the Switch and its Joy-Con controllers. “[That’s] so smart,” he said. “It’s in their DNA to cater to the needs of family and friends.”

While Yoshida might have a point about Game Pass, Microsoft has considered it to be quite successful. During an earnings call back in January, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella spoke about the subscription service’s growth, revealing that its subscriber base had grown by more than 30 percent.

“All-up, Game Pass set a new quarterly record for revenue and grew its PC subscriber base by over 30%, as we focus on driving fully paid subscribers across endpoints,” said Nadella in the earnings call, who went on to praise the critical response for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.