The year of 2019 has been interesting in terms of video games. There were many great games this year, but nothing stole the show. However, there were several video game-related controversies throughout the year. Many of these controversies were splattered across many game outlets for gamers to soak up.
The level of controversy certainly follows between person to person. It is important to note that most of these controversies have worked themselves out, but it still leaves scars for gamers to look back on. Whether you think the following stories are controversies or not, it is important to note that each one of them has upset a large number of people.
10 Respawn Developers On Apex Legends' Players
Back in August of this year, Respawn Entertainment held the Iron Crown event in Apex Legends. The team behind the hit battle royale game took to Reddit about the new event. Unfortunately, players began to engage with the developers where some very unprofessional things were said.
A few of the developers behind the game used foul language toward players and their attitude. Players were surprised at their actions and the news spread like wildfire. Soon after, Vince Zampella, the CEO of Respawn, took to Twitter to apologize to players.
9 National Pokedex Missing from Sword and Shield
Pokémon Sword and Shield are the first mainstream games to hit the portable console. Several weeks prior to the games' release, several leaks flooded the internet. Fans were surprised at the lack of Pokémon in the game. Past games have always included the national Pokedex, which allows players to bring in Pokémon from past games that are not in the base release.
The Pokedex of Sword and Shield list 400 unique Pokémon. This also includes new Galarian forms. This controversy swarmed subreddits and other Pokémon communities before the initial release date. It was not enough to swart away players because they are the third-best-selling Nintendo games of all time.
8 Fallout 76 Collectors Helmet Recalled
Fallout 76Â has many controversies surrounding it and a few of them are on this list. The first to make its debut is the recall of a collector's helmet sold through GameStop. A power armor helmet was recalled in Septemeber due to mold high levels of mold.
The helmet sold 20,000 units and 32 were sold through the retailer. Each customer was notified of the issue and offered a full refund. This was not a great look for a game that was already hurting. The helmets were made through a third-party, which is a primary reason the issue occurred.
7 Joy-Con Drift
Similar to Fallout 76, Nintendo has had a few controversies with players. The biggest of all of them is joy-con drift. For those who do not know, joy-con drift is when the system detects movement of an analog stick but it is not being touched.
This issue came up for a good percentage of users experienced the issue. In fact, a class-action lawsuit was filed against the company for allowing defective features on a premium product. Furthermore, the issue can even appear on the Switch Lite which provides new problems because it does not have joy-cons.
6 E3 Press Information Leak
Back in August, the E3 website leaked a spreadsheet of more than 2000 journalists' personal information. The Entertainment Software Association is the organization behind the Electronic Entertainment Expo. The list featured names, phone numbers, and even addresses of many journalists in the gaming industry.
The document was passed around a lot on the internet and the organization updated the site as soon as possible. Unfortunately, their first attempt at the fix did not work. Cached versions of the site allowed people to easily access the document.
5 Epic Games Store Exclusives
The developers behind the household-known game, Fortnite, has given Steam a run for its money. Epic Games launched its PC store in December of 2018. Since then, the platform has landed some significant exclusives. PC players are not fans of this exclusivity and the shade Epic Games has thrown at Valve.
The Epic Games Store has landed exclusives like The Outer Worlds, Borderlands 3, and Control. Many PC players are upset they cannot have their games centralized in their Steam library. After all, Steam has dominated the PC realm for years. People are not happy with the competition Epic Games is creating.
4 CoD: Modern Warfare Spec Ops Mode Exclusivity
PS4 players learned what the exclusive bonus was for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare just a few weeks before its release. The developers announced PS4 players would get the exclusive survival game mode in Spec Ops. The game mode would not arrive on PC or Xbox One until a year later.
This announcement fueled debate among all players. Players of other platforms and PS4 players were outraged at how long the exclusiveness was. Many even pointed out that a new Call of Duty game would be releasing around the same time. The developers responded saying the deal was above their pay grade.
3 Death Stranding Nominations
Death Stranding's release was controversial enough, but many are calling out The Game Awards for the numerous nominations. Death Stranding is nominated for nine different awards. Now, the controversy is centered around the host and organizer of the show, Geoff Keighley.
Keighly is very good friends with Hideo Kojima and many believe the host has a hand in the many nominations. Keighley assured everyone he had no part in the nominations and that he doesn't participate in voting. We will have to wait and see if this controversy goes anywhere once The Game Awards airs.
2 Fallout 76 Subscription
As aforementioned, Fallout 76 would show up again on this list. Bethesda announced a new subscription plan for Fallout 76 players called Fallout 1st. The monthly subscription plan gives players access to highly requested features in the game.
Many players who have continued to play the game felt cheated at how disrespectful the developers have been. Fallout 1st is $12.99 a month, which is more than Xbox Game Pass. A player can also subscribe for a year for $99.99.
1 Blizzard Ban
The biggest controversy of this year was when Blizzard Entertainment banned a professional gamer for speaking out against Hong Kong. Hong Kong is experiencing severe democratic protesting and the player spoke out in support for those protesting.
Soon after the news spread, hashtags against the game studio began to trend. Many boycotted the studio, which lead to people deleting their accounts. Blizzard then blocked people trying to delete their accounts, which only worsened the story. Blizzard's studio head apologized at Blizzcon, but many believe it was not enough.