When a game launches, its reception can be wildly different from how it's perceived just a few weeks — or even years — later. When games are received poorly — either by critics or players — they either go down in history with their mediocre reviews, or actually strap in and improve upon every part.

While some games have had pretty disastrous launches that plant them in the hall of fame of gaming-related failures, some manage to do a complete 360 and revamp their image completely, in the eyes of critics as well as gamers. Whether it was through patches that improved performance or technical aspects, or simply the passage of time that made us start looking back at some games fondly, here are six games we might praise today, but definitely weren’t impressed by at launch.

6 Assassin’s Creed Unity

The last great Assassin's Creed before the big pivot

At launch, Assassin’s Creed Unity was a disaster. Bugs, performance issues, and some truly horrifying glitches made it one of the most hated entries in the franchise. The backlash was so severe that Ubisoft had to issue a public apology and even gave away free DLC as a mea culpa. But beyond the technical fiasco, Unity had something special—something fans have come to appreciate over time. Today, Unity is definitely one of the best-aged games out there.

Paris in Unity remains one of the most atmospheric and beautifully crafted settings in Assassin’s Creed history. Mist-soaked alleys, a city alive with revolution, and the most intricate parkour system in the series still make it stand out today. Sure, the story and characters were underwhelming, but it was the last game that truly made you feel like an assassin. After Unity, Syndicate leaned into brawler-style combat, and then the series went full RPG. In retrospect, Unity’s stunning world and fluid movement deserved far better.

5 Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint

Constant grinding and bloat were my breaking point

Ubisoft has been quiet on the Tom Clancy front for a while, and Ghost Recon Breakpoint’s disastrous launch certainly had a part to play in that. At release, the game felt soulless — an uninspired grind bogged down by bugs, pay-to-win mechanics, and survival elements that barely mattered. Missions quickly became repetitive, and the world, while graphically stunning, lacked the immersive feel that made past Ghost Recon titles engaging. Even with three friends, I couldn’t push past a few hours before dropping it entirely. Ubisoft’s apology for Breakpoint’s state at launch was well-earned.

Yet, against all odds, Breakpoint clawed its way back. With Ghost Recon Frontline scrapped, Ubisoft doubled down on expansions and updates, transforming the game into something genuinely enjoyable. The Operation Motherland expansion introduced better enemies, more meaningful missions, and a denser open world. Furthermore, PC gamers will enjoy it things than console gamers, with some fantastic mods to enhance gameplay, survival tactics, and sound design. Today, with an 80% approval rating and a thriving mod scene, Breakpoint is finding great appreciation among its player base, just a few years late.

4 Counter Strike 2

Rocky start, legendary comeback

Counter Strike 2 was a long, long time coming. After a decade of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, we finally got the long-awaited sequel — only for Valve to pull the rug out from under us. Instead of a separate release, CS2 outright replaced CS: GO, leaving no way to go back. Add to that a slew of technical issues and balance problems the game was riddled with at launch, and players had no choice but to sit and wait for Valve to fix things, without being able to simply launch Global Offensive instead. Frustration boiled over, leading to waves of negative reviews, with longtime fans feeling like they'd lost a game they loved rather than getting a true sequel.

Fast-forward to today, and CS2 has found its footing, becoming the best e-sports title we have today. Valve listened, and they tweaked the movement the way we wanted. They fixed the hit registration and brought back beloved features. While some still miss CS: GO, myself included, the sheer number of players — over a million concurrent at the time of writing — proves that CS2 has regained its place in gamers' libraries. It may have fumbled out of the gate, but Valve, as always, made sure its shooter stayed at the top of the genre.

3 No Man's Sky

The greatest comeback in gaming history

The poster child for redemption in gaming, No Man’s Sky, truly defines a comeback. The marketing had promised an infinite galaxy teeming with unique biomes, alien wildlife, and endless exploration. However, what we got instead was an empty and repetitive universe full of same-y templates and bugs galore. Of course, the backlash was instant — critics and fans alike labeled No Man’s Sky as a scam, calling it one of the worst PC scandals of all time.

This is where Hello Games, the developers, decided to stand their ground and get to work. Instead of abandoning ship, they churned out update after update for the game, turning it into what was promised. With each update, No Man’s Sky became bigger and better, becoming the spacefaring dream with deep multiplayer that we always wanted. Plus, ten years later, with No Man’s Sky being unrecognizable from its launch version and being an amazing multiplayer and VR experience, there are still no microtransactions or paid expansions. Every update to the game has been completely free! It took Hello Games ten years to bring their game up to “Very Positive” reviews on Steam, but it truly stands as a testament to perseverance.

2 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

We've grown kinder to it over the years

When Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare launched, fans were outright furious. The futuristic setting, wall-running mechanics, and space combat felt like a step too far from the series’ roots. But perhaps the biggest crime? Wasting Kit Harington as Admiral Kotch. For a villain hyped as a ruthless leader, he barely had two face-to-face encounters before being relegated to pre-recorded messages. It was Far Cry 4’s Troy Baker/Pagan Min all over again — so much potential, completely squandered, and I’m always going to be mad about it. Harington could very well have been one of the greatest acting performances in gaming with Kotch, yet the script never allowed him to flourish.

Years later, though, Infinite Warfare doesn’t seem so bad. The campaign, while overlooked, has some solid storytelling and missions. And Zombies in Spaceland? Still one of the most creative and fun Call of Duty zombie modes ever made. Looking back, Infinite Warfare may not have been the Call of Duty we wanted, but it certainly wasn’t the disaster many made it out to be.

1 Cyberpunk 2077

Wake up Samurai, we have a game to fix

This one truly needs no introduction. Seven years of waiting, hundreds of thousands of pre-orders, and when Cyberpunk 2077 finally released in 2020, it was a hot mess, to say the very least. Terrible bugs, unrendered NPCs, unplayable last-gen ports, and ghastly gameplay — this is what we suffered through when we first played Cyberpunk 2077 at launch. It was no surprise that CD Projekt Red lost a lot of its stock value, had to publicly apologize and outline a roadmap for fixing their game from the ground up, and slowly turn it into the cyberpunk RPG we were promised.

Four years later, CDPR turned Cyberpunk 2077 into a near-perfect RPG. Not only is it one of the best-looking games ever, it even boasts one of the best DLC expansions ever, Phantom Liberty. At launch, Cyberpunk 2077 caused CDPR’s reputation to take a hit worldwide, with the game even being taken off storefronts and the PlayStation Store handing out refunds. Right now, it sits with an Overwhelmingly Positive rating, which is well-deserved. In fact, even if you’ve done it before, there are plenty of reasons why you should replay Cyberpunk 2077.

Time fixes all

Gaming has seen plenty of games that might have stumbled out of the gate, but eventually found their footing and earned their redemption. Be it botched launches, broken mechanics, or just misguided expectations, these games were dismissed initially, only to prove their worth later.

While it’s easy to write off a game at launch, the industry has shown that with enough effort, a second chance can work wonders. These games may have started rough, but today, they stand as proof that redemption is always possible.