Top 10 Worst Years In Gaming History

1. 1983

   

   1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. It was the 1983rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 983rd year of the 2nd millennium, the 83rd year of the 20th century, and the 4th year of the 1980s decade. The first commercially available... read more

   As horrid as anything goes, the video game crash is what makes it still impossible to beat such a horrendous year in gaming history.

   Ah, the horrid crash that brought forth some of the worst titles yet.

   I don't know how anything else can top this one.

2. 2006

   

   2006 was a common year beginning on Sunday in the Gregorian calendar. It was the 2006th year of the Common Era and Anno Domini designations. This year marked the sixth year of the 3rd millennium, the 21st century, and the 2000s decade.

   2006, while it was a great year for me, was a horrible year for gaming in general. While there were some solid gold hits like Bully, The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Okami, Pokemon Diamond & Pearl (released in Japan in 2006 and worldwide in 2007), Tomb Raider: Legend, and The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, there were also games that bombed horribly, like the infamous Sonic 06.

   I just couldn't wait for the Wii to come out.

   I can show you reasons why 2006 sucked.

   1. Sonic the Hedgehog's 15th anniversary was terrible. There was Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis for the Game Boy Advance and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Nice job, Sega. You ruined Sonic's franchise by letting him have an unhappy anniversary.

   2. Tiger Telematics went defunct.

   3. Crash Boom Bang!

   4. Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots was released on the Game Boy Advance and it's horrible.

3. 2016

   

   2016 (MMXVI) was a leap year that began on a Friday in the Gregorian calendar. It was the 2016th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations. It also marked the 16th year of the 3rd millennium, the 16th year of the 21st century, and the 7th year of the 2010s decade.

   When the hype train went too far and started to crash and burn the whole industry.

   Almost no good games came out in 2016. It was full of games with microtransactions all over the place.

4. 2014

   

   2014 (MMXIV) was a common year that began on a Wednesday according to the Gregorian calendar. It was the 2014th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations. It was also the 14th year of the 3rd millennium, the 21st century, and the 5th year of the 2010s decade.

   I was working on making a list of the top three games for each year starting with 2000 all the way to 2019. I literally struggled to even come up with games to put on the 2014 list, much less good ones.

   Almost no good games this year. The only good games were remasters of games from 2013. Everything that could have been good was pushed to 2015 instead.

   Sad year for gaming.

   2014 was overall a good year for me. However, there were only a few good games I can think of from this year, such as Mario Kart 8.

   Overall, this year was pretty bad for gaming.

5. 2011

   

   2011 (MMXI) was a common year that began on a Saturday in the Gregorian calendar. It was the 2011th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations. This year marked the 11th year of the 21st century and the second year of the 2010s decade.

   I feel like, for me, 2011 was a bit of a mixed bag for gaming in general, similar to 2006, as the seventh generation was just about to come to an end. You also had some awful, rushed-out-the-gate titles, such as "Postal 3."

   For Nintendo fans, it was a good year, except that a lot of the titles were criticized by some. For example, "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword" was panned for its controls, while "Pokémon Black and White" were criticized by older Pokémon fans for the newer designs.

   It seemed that everywhere you looked, there was toxicity among gaming communities due to their inability to embrace changes, whether good or bad. Overall, 2011 felt a bit like a downgrade from 2010 in terms of gaming.

6. 2015

   

   2015 (MMXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2015th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations. It was the 15th year of the 3rd millennium, the 21st century, and the 6th year of the 2010s decade. Major global events in 2015 included the Paris Climate... read more

   While the death of Iwata and Konami's suicide is definitely sad, this was the year that brought us The Witcher 3, Fallout 4, Rocket League, and much more.

   If anything, this was a comeback, especially after the pile of crap 2014 was.

   I wish 2015 came before 2017 because 2016 was the year that I lost interest in logos.

   Also, don't come to me saying, "People lose interest every year," because I already know that by now.

7. 2013

   

   2013 (MMXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. It was the 2013th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 13th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 4th year of the 2010s decade.... read more

   The year in which Ride to Hell: Retribution got released.

   Being that it on its own is capable of easily winning 2013 a "worst year in which a game was released" list, it should, at the very least, get the second spot.

8. 2019

   

   2019 (MMXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. It was the 2019th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 19th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 10th and last year of the 2010s decade.... read more

   Rinse, market, sell, repeat. Rinse and repeat the rinse, market, sell, and repeat over and over.

   Best year ever if you like bugs, glitches, broken games, and games that don't even work. What a shameful way for companies and corporations to end a decade of gaming.

   November 15, 2019. The day that Pokemon died.

   While I think Pokemon Sword and Shield are decent games, I kind of get why the game was hated before the DLCs rolled along and made the game better. It was way too short and easy, and don't get me started on the whole Dexit controversy.

9. 2003

   

   2003 (MMIII) was a common year that began on a Wednesday, according to the Gregorian calendar. It marked the 2003rd year of the Common Era and Anno Domini designations. The year was the third of the third millennium, the 21st century, and the fourth of the 2000s decade.

   Virgin A.I. Game Developers vs. Chad Finland Game Developers.

10. 2017

    

    2017 (MMXVII) was a common year that began on a Sunday according to the Gregorian calendar. It was the 2017th year of the Common Era and Anno Domini designations. The year was also the 17th of the 21st century, the 17th of the 3rd millennium, and the eighth year of the 2010s decade.

    I think this is when Fortnite (the abomination) was made.

The Newcomers
11. ?

    2024

    

    2024 (MMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. It was the 2024th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations.

    It was the 24th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 5th year of the 2020s decade.

    How is this not #1? This Smiling Critters crap is everywhere, and there are so many layoffs. A Skibidi Toilet video game is upcoming, and Palworld butchered Pokemon.

    AI bros, casual gamers, and whales are truly worse than other types of gamers.

    The SAG-AFTRA strike in the gaming industry has started.

12. ?

    2023

    

    The year 2023 (MMXXIII) was a common year that began on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. It was the 2023rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations. It also marked the 23rd year of the 3rd millennium, the 21st century, and the 2020s decade.

    Every game from 2023 has to mention AI.

The Contenders

13. 2018

    

    2018 (MMXVIII) was a common year that began on a Monday in the Gregorian calendar. It was the 2018th year of the Common Era, the 9th year of the 2010s decade, the 18th year of the 21st century, and the 18th year of the 3rd millennium. Notable global events included the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang... read more

    Steam especially has the worst games, filled with indie trash. But a lot of big-name companies have been squeezing out some real stinkers too.

    I'm hoping 2019 will be better.

    Fortnite. Just Fortnite, the game that ruined gaming.

    2018 was a bad year for gaming in my opinion. Not just Fortnite, but so many terrible video games all around. The year itself was meh, but it had really bad video games.

14. 1995

    

    Virtual Boy, Sega Saturn, Tiger R-Zone, the Nintendo 64 got delayed to 1996... but the PS1 was released.

    But still, by far the worst year for hardware. And 1995 only has like three notable games: Chrono Trigger, Donkey Kong Country 2, and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.

    I thought that said "1985" and I was like, "WHAT? That year saved video games." But ten years after, 1995 was a lukewarm year.

    Grossout ad for Yoshi's Island, Virtual Boy, Atari burning itself down, and the N64 being delayed.

    Yeah, next year did make up for it.

15. 2021

    

    2021 (MMXXI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 21st year of the third millennium, the 21st year of the 21st century, and the 2nd year of the 2020s. The year was notable for hosting many major events that were originally scheduled for 2020, such as the Tokyo Summer Olympics... read more

    This year basically felt like 2014 over again, with a ton of lackluster titles, such as Pokemon Unite. Even though a lot of my friends actually enjoy the game, I chose not to play it because it's Tencent.

    Generic shooter games and League of Legends at its worst also contributed to the disappointment.

    Honestly, the only enjoyable games I had from this year were probably Monster Hunter Rise, Metroid Dread, and Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (despite its flaws).

    2021 just plain sucked.

    2021 was undoubtedly a terrible year for gaming. Poppy Playtime, the worst horror game ever, came out. Another GTA game came out and ruined the GTA franchise's reputation. Even FNAF is a better game than Poppy Playtime.

16. 1984

    

    1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. It was the 1984th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 984th year of the 2nd millennium, the 84th year of the 20th century, and the 5th year of the 1980s decade.... read more

    This year was just a continuation of the crash of '83.

17. 2012

    

    2012 (MMXII) was a leap year that began on a Sunday in the Gregorian calendar. It marked the 2012th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD), the 12th year of the 3rd millennium, the 21st century, and the 3rd year of the 2010s decade. Major global events in 2012 included the London Summer Olympics... read more

    The year Nintendo went from a good company to a bad company, thanks to Mario Party 9.

    Nothing stands out to me this year.

18. 1999

    

    This was the release of Superman 64, and it sucks so bad. 1999 was a good year, but it's all Superman 64's fault.

19. 2022

    

    2022 (MMXXII) was a common year that started on a Saturday in the Gregorian calendar. It was the 2022nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations. This year marked the 22nd year of the 3rd millennium, the 21st century, and the 3rd year of the 2020s decade.

    Poppy Playtime, a brain-rotting horror game, and so many more bad games from 2022!

    Not many good game releases, other than a couple of exclusives and Elden Ring.

20. 1982

    

    1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. It was the 1982nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 982nd year of the 2nd millennium, the 82nd year of the 20th century, and the 3rd year of the 1980s decade.... read more

21. 1989

    

    The year The Wizard and those godawful Nintendo cartoons (Mario, Zelda, and Captain N) came out.

    The year that the super creepy NES advert (YOU CANNOT BEAT US!) came out and scarred many kids watching.

    I think it came out this year. If not, then please correct me if I'm wrong.

22. 2020

    

    2020 (MMXX) was a leap year that began on Wednesday in the Gregorian calendar. It marked the 20th year of the third millennium, the 20th year of the 21st century, and the first year of the 2020s.

    The year was globally defined by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic caused widespread disruptions... read more

    The year The Last of Us 2 won the most undeserving Game of the Year award.

23. 1987

    

    1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. It was the 1987th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 987th year of the 2nd millennium, the 87th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year of the 1980s decade.... read more

    The company known as LJN started to publish games that year... until 2000.

24. 1992

    

25. 2007

    

    2007 (MMVII) was a common year that started on a Monday in the Gregorian calendar. It was the 2007th year of the Common Era and Anno Domini designations. It was also the 7th year of the 3rd millennium, the 21st century, and the 8th year of the 2000s decade.

26. 2002

    

    2002 (MMII) was a common year that began on a Tuesday in the Gregorian calendar. It was the 2002nd year of the Common Era and Anno Domini designations. It was also the 2nd year of the 3rd millennium, the 21st century, and the 3rd year of the 2000s decade.

27. 2000

    

    The year 2000 (MM) was a century leap year that began on a Saturday in the Gregorian calendar. It marked the 2000th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations. It was the final year of the 2nd millennium and the 20th century, as well as the first year of the 2000s decade.