To be honest, DAI wasn't the only horrific game launch of 2014. Things were also not so bad til they hit patch 2.
I think Ubisoft had the worst offenders last year.
Starting with the overhyped Watch Dogs previous year, which ended up getting fixed by modders. No surprise there but the game didn't deliver on what was promised. Just more of the same.
What can we really say about Assassin's Creed Unity? Built on the AnvilNext engine, this thing actually took the franchise backwards. I think it's a perfect example of too many developers with their hands in the cookie jar.
Then of course, there is Destiny. Did anyone really think Activision would give Bungie the time and creative freedom to make this work as intended? I didn't.
And then of course, there is Blizzard with Warlords of Draenor.. After all this time, you figure they would have realized that upgrading their servers might be a good idea for a new expansion. How many original team members do they have left in that company? The last time I counted, there wasn't that many folks I recognized and I've followed Blizzard since Lost Vikings. Another Activision fubar? very fuckin likely.
And then there is Microsoft with Halo Master Chief edition. A guaranteed cash cow for those who are console players, and the thing was unplayable in multiplayer which was the entire point of the re-release, no?
And then Ubisoft again, with Drive Club. I'm not a big racing fan but they had a really cool idea here. A large community of drivers who get together to drive all over the United States. How cool would that have been to race with a group of friends against groups of other people in real world places? DLC would have been a no brainer. You add in other countries , and more cars as expansions/DLC later on to add value. But instead you got locked into 4 player coop maximum with a driving version of capture the flag and fetch events in what ended up being generic road maps.
and then there are the honorable mentions in the "PC port" department.
Why did Microsoft think PC gamers wanted a watered down port of Ryse, Son of Rome ? I really doubt anybody asked for it.
Enslaved from Namco. really? why?
Resident Evil 6 from Capcom Why did they bother putting this on PC? It was horrible on console.
Dead Space 3 Why is the fps locked at 30 with vsync forced on for the PC version?
The list keeps going.