Before the days of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar Games was once known as DMA Design. Back then, they were mostly known for developing the highly successful Lemmings titles, which allowed the company to grow and expand their ambitions with more experimental titles such as Body Harvest for the Nintendo 64.
Of course, the game that really put the company on the map was the aforementioned GTA, whose anarchic attitude solidified their new identity and direction. While Rockstar has broken boundaries in both game worlds and storytelling, they've made a lot of mistakes along the way, with the following examples being the most egregious.
10 Earthworm Jim 3D Was Decidedly Un-Groovy
When Dave Perry sold the rights to the Earthworm Jim franchise, his 3D debut was assigned to British developer VIS Entertainment. Unfortunately, the development of the game was protracted and arduous, with the lack of any involvement from the original creators, not helping matters.
The final product was a lousy action platformer that lacked the creativity and attitude of the first two entries and was utterly sabotaged by an uncooperative camera. While Interplay Games handled publishing duties in other territories, Rockstar published the game in North America. It may be one of the worst high-profile games to bear their name.
9 There's Nothing Shagadelic About Their Austin Powers Titles
Developed by a division within Rockstar that primarily worked on handheld titles, Austin Powers: Oh, Behave! and Welcome to My Underground Lair were little more than activity centers on the Game Boy Color that featured a collection of minigames such as Rock Paper Scissors, a Pac-Man clone, Othello, and a lousy 2D platformer.
The former put players in the pump shoes of the eponymous 60's super spy while the latter allowed them control of his nemesis—Dr. Evil. These titles are nothing more than licensed cash grabs rushed to capitalize on The Spy Who Shagged Me.
8 State Of Emergency Didn't Live Up To The Hype
Three years after Earthworm Jim 3D, Rockstar collaborated once again with VIS Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox title State of Emergency. The game was pretty much sold on its risqué premise and the large number of onscreen enemies.
Unfortunately, it didn't live up to the hype that was undoubtedly generated by the success of Grand Theft Auto III. While some schlocky fun can be had, there's no denying the game's limited appeal, as the novelty of beating enemies to death with a decapitated head only lasts for so long. Years later, Capcom would make a much better version of this game in the form of Dead Rising.
7 Eval Knievel Crashed And Burned On The Game Boy Color
One might recall those motorcycle flash games that tasked players with performing stunts and rewarding their failures with amusing injuries courtesy of ragdoll physics. One might also be surprised to find out that Rockstar once tried to charge full price for that experience on the Game Boy Color.
Evel Knievel puts players in control of the eponymous stunt man as they undergo 20 levels of death-defying feats. Terrible physics and trial and error design ensure that gamers will get all too comfortable with the screen that depicts the aforementioned daredevil crumpled on the ground next to his wrecked motorcycle.
6 Expired Music Licenses Meant The Removal Of Songs
Radio stations play a huge part in immersing players into the world of Grand Theft Auto. Their selections of licensed tracks are well-known for their quality and sheer variety in genre. Unfortunately, music licenses don't last forever, and while a PlayStation 2 disc can retain songs from an expired contract, more modern entries are just a digital update away from having entire libraries scrubbed from existence.
Such is the case with Grand Theft Auto IV, which removed tracks from countless artists, including Black Sabbath, Fat Joe, and Electric Light Orchestra, as well as expunging most of the music from Vladivostok FM.
5 The Hot Coffee Mod Came Under Fire From Moral Guardians
While the Grand Theft Auto series was known for pushing the envelope, the planned hot coffee minigame where CJ would engage in sexual intercourse with a special someone was regarded as a bridge too far. It would almost certainly result in an Adults Only rating from the ESRB and severely limit the sales revenue as a result.
However, modders discovered files from the scrapped minigame on the PlayStation 2 disc, and Rockstar decided to release an adults-only patch for the Windows version that restored it. What followed was outrage from lawmakers and costly lawsuits, resulting in the loss of 163 million dollars from Take Two Interactive.
4 Rockstar's Online Lobbies
As if being forced to make a Rockstar Games Social Club Account to play digital releases of their titles wasn't annoying enough, many of their online titles suffer from the company's lobbies. Anyone who wants to go heisting and cause mayhem in GTA Online may have to endure random network failures that can really ruin the experience.
There's nothing more dispiriting than losing a connection in the middle of a mission and losing all that hard-earned cash. Other complaints from fans involve being erroneously informed that no friends are active and servers being shut down for PlayStation 3 and 360.
3 Grand Theft Auto The Trilogy Definitive Edition Was Anything But
The three GTA entries on PlayStation 2 and Xbox are an important part of gaming history and Rockstar's lineage. One would think that a remaster of all three titles would be approached with the utmost care and attention. However, the so-called "Definitive Edition" of these classic titles was anything but.
The remaster was widely panned for its numerous bugs, game-breaking scripting errors, and dubious artistic liberties taken with the original games. If that wasn't bad enough, Rockstar went as far as to delist the original versions from digital stores, making this mess the only way players could experience these classic titles.
2 Crunch, Layoffs, And Hostile Conditions Plagued Team Bondi
Rockstar and Team Bondi's L.A. Noire was a hybrid of detective game, open-world sandbox, and third-person shooting. Although lauded by critics for its Hollywood production values and impressive facial animations, the development of the game was arduous, leading to a mass exodus of staff from the Sydney-based developer.
If all that wasn't bad enough, over 100 staff members were left uncredited in the final product. Reports of crunch, layoffs, and hostile conditions lingered over the Australian studio like a pall, culminating in its eventual closure, leading the 1940's mystery title to be its sole contribution.
1 Allegations Of Abuse And Harassment Have Been Made To The Press
Jeronimo Barrera left his position as Vice President in 2018, and the allegations that former staff members have made towards him don't paint a pretty picture. In addition to frivolous threats and actual terminations, he's been accused of groping former designer Colin Bundschu at a nightclub.
According to a report by Kotaku, staff claimed to have witnessed this event and made a report to HR. At first, Barrera claimed he didn't remember what happened, but he later denied the allegations outright. Regardless of the veracity of these allegations, no game, no matter the quality, is worth sacrificing the well-being of developers.