5 big-budget games that shockingly failed in 2025

2025 has been a year of several wonderful games, and titles like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Ghost of Yotei were the main highlights. However, the year also featured some highly-anticipated games that were pretty abysmal. Such games are the perfect reminder that massive budgets cannot guarantee success.
The best example would be MindsEye, which failed to resonate with audiences and was massively unsuccessful. Listed below are five big-budget titles from 2025 that ended up failing.

Big budget 2025 games that failed

1. MindsEye

Developed by Build a Rocket Boy and led by former Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies, MindsEye was marketed as a GTA killer. However, its launch was a technical disaster, and the game was plagued by bugs, janky AI, and poor mission design.
With a devastating Metacritic score, the game was widely criticized for its lack of polish and personality. The failure was so severe that it was called one of the worst launches of the decade, resulting in widespread refunds on Steam and PlayStation.

2. Black Ops 7

Call of Duty released back-to-back Black Ops titles in 2024 and 2025, and this decision backfired spectacularly with Black Ops 7. The game was torn by critics and fans for its reinvention of the campaign mode. They essentially made the story always-online and co-op focused, removing the classic cinematic pacing.
Added to this, the inability to pause, even in solo play, and a lack of checkpoints turned the campaign into one of the worst in the franchise's history.

3. Monster Hunter Wilds (PC Version)

While Monster Hunter Wilds was a content-rich success on consoles, its PC port became a symbol of technical failure. Even months after launch, the game remains poorly optimized, suffering from heavy stuttering and blurry visuals regardless of hardware.
The reliance on aggressive upscaling, like DLSS, to even achieve playable frame rates led to extremely bad player feedback. Despite being a commercial hit initially, sales dropped off after the word of the technical issues spread.

4. Avowed

Obsidian’s Avowed suffered from an identity crisis throughout its long development. Originally teased as a dark, Skyrim-like open world, the final product was scaled down into a colorful, zone-based RPG that many felt lacked soul.
Following multiple creative reboots and a director change, the game was quite disappointing. Even though it is technically playable, the shallow dialogues and repetitive combat failed to engage the audience.

5. FBC: Firebreak

Remedy Entertainment usually releases some of the best games; however, they failed to do so with FBC: Firebreak. The game was basically sold as a multiplayer co-op successor to Control, but simply ended up being a generic shooter without any inventive content.
FBC: Firebreak didn’t have the narrative magic of the Remedy Connected Universe, resulting in a lot of disappointment. With a very low active player count on Steam after release, it struggled to justify its existence alongside the more prestigious titles from Remedy.


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