5 Most Disappointing Video Games Of 2025

On the whole, 2025 was a great year for video games. The dark fantasy RPG "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33" made a big splash and there were several underrated games that didn't get enough attention. However, there were also some hyped-up games that didn't live up to the buzz when players finally got their hands on them. These range from long-awaited installments in fan-favorite franchises to sequels and compilations that didn't do preceding entries justice.

To be clear, none of the titles listed here are among the worst games of 2025. Rather, these are games that launched with a certain amount of anticipation and ended up disappointing players for one reason or another. In walking away from playing these games, we weren't angry, we were just sad, because we wanted so much more from them. Here are the five most disappointing video games of 2025 that just didn't live up to fan expectations.

"Call of Duty" has become a yearly success for Activision, but the franchise is in a tight spot following the release of "Call of Duty: Black Ops 7" in 2025. Eschewing the period piece setting of its predecessor, "Black Ops 7" jumps ahead in time to 2035, veering into light science fiction. In addition to its futuristic single-player campaign, the game also revamps the franchise's multiplayer experience, with the developers opting to retool the mechanics to offer some fresh twists on familiar modes.

"Black Ops 7" feels like it could be the death of the "Black Ops" sub-series for the foreseeable future. The game features a thoroughly convoluted single-player campaign and a futuristic setting that no one really wanted, especially after the engaging '90s setting of "Black Ops 6." Similarly, the multiplayer experience hasn't been captivating fans, with the game reportedly losing much of its active user base in a matter of weeks. If "Call of Duty" is going to stay on top of the first-person shooter pile, it's going to have to learn some hard lessons from the response to "Black Ops 7."

It had been over 25 years since "Fatal Fury" fans saw a new entry in the fighting game series, with the last installment being 1999's "Garou: Mark of the Wolves." In the interim, its characters were relegated to guest appearances in other games — for example, Terry Bogard debuted in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate." That all changed with the announcement of SNK's "Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves," the long-awaited sequel to "Mark of the Wolves." The follow-up was a disappointment not because of the gameplay, but because of some bizarre character inclusions, with one in particular causing controversy.

Among the guest characters joining the fray for this entry was real-life soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, which was met with a lot of head-scratching. Ronaldo has links to the Saudi Arabian royal family (he plays for Saudi club Al-Nassr), which owns the majority of SNK through the MiSK Foundation, created by Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Both the studio's links to Saudi Arabia (which has been accused of violating human rights) and Ronaldo's own controversial history proved divisive within the gaming community and seemingly impacted sales, which led to SNK CEO Kenji Matsubara stepping down from his leadership role.

The history of "Mortal Kombat" was set to be celebrated with the compilation title "Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection," gathering the franchise's '90s and early 2000s games. "Legacy Kollection" also contains numerous home and handheld console ports of the games. This includes the obscure Sega 32X port of "Mortal Kombat II," "Mortal Kombat Advance" for the Game Boy Advance, and the WaveNet arcade version of "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3," which has long been considered to be "the holy grail of MK lost media," NetherRealm's lead QA analyst Stephanie Brownback said on BlueSky. The compilation also includes the single-player, story-driven games in the franchise, "Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero" and "Mortal Kombat: Special Forces."

"Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection" works better as a piece of interactive history than an entertaining revisit of the franchise's early days. This is underscored by an impressive documentary chronicling the stunning transformation of "Mortal Kombat," including developer interviews and behind-the-scenes footage and art. What's far less impressive is the title's lackluster online features and functionality. Input lag makes the controls frustrating, and then there's an unforgiving CPU opponent. If you're looking to dive into the untold truth of the "Mortal Kombat" franchise, "Legacy Kollection" has you covered, but the history lesson is better than the gameplay experience.

Another eagerly anticipated sequel released in 2025, "Mario Kart World" launched on the Nintendo Switch 2 in June. It's the most ambitious entry in the franchise to date, introducing an open-world approach with off-road capabilities instead of keeping gameplay confined to track-based racing. The game also offers more robust online functionality, including races with up to 24 participants, significantly increasing the gameplay's breadth. Despite these features, however, "Mario Kart World" was a letdown.

Part of the issue was that the price of Nintendo Switch 2 games killed the hype, with "Mario Kart World" starting at $80 on Nintendo's digital storefront. But that wasn't the only disappointing thing about the game. The online modes were roundly criticized as players began trying them out, as was the free roam mode. Post-launch updates only seemed to exacerbate the issue: The game was review-bombed by users in response to the changes made in patches, deflating enjoyment of Nintendo's most-hyped 2025 game.

Nintendo has a strong history of putting its best foot forward with its console pack-in titles and software showcasing what its new platforms are capable of. The Wii launched with "Wii Sports" and the Wii U launched with "Nintendo Land," both of which highlighted the hardware's creative strengths. The Nintendo Switch 2 has its own hardware showcase launch title with "Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour," designed to guide users through the new console's features. A single-player experience, in contrast to the Wii and Wii U's titles, "Welcome Tour" has players answer trivia questions, participate in minigames, and view exhibitions demonstrating the tech in action.

If this all sounds like an interactive demo rather than a fun experience, it's because that's really all "Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour" amounts to. The game basically exists to hype up the console's peripheral hardware and can only be completed if users have some of those peripherals interfaced with their Switch 2. To make matters worse, not only is "Welcome Tour" not bundled with the console it's promoting, but the digital-only title actually warrants an additional purchase. That means users are paying for an extended, interactive commercial for a console that they've already bought without much enjoyment to show for it.