MMOs and multiplayer games often have bad launches – how do you deal with it?

The problem of poor launches is almost as old as the MMO genre itself. Most players know it, but everyone deals with it differently. What about you?

This is how many launch days go: For most MMOs and multiplayer games, you can assume that there will be a variety of problems at launch. It is no wonder that the saying “Never play on Launch / Patch Day” has become established in the community. It warns people not to get their hopes up too much about a launch.

Most of you already know from experience that release dates for MMOs must be taken with caution. Singleplayer games like the next Zelda game or Horizon: Zero Dawn can often be simply downloaded or put into the console and just start playing.

With MMOs, you have to expect server problems, and there are more than enough examples that confirm this:

• New World is the latest example of such a launch
• Last week, there were also problems at the launch of Diablo 2: Resurrected
• In April 2021, the shooter Outriders struggled with server problems
• Destiny 2 was overwhelmed by error codes Beaver and Weasel at the launch of Shadowkeep
• Fall Guys was completely overwhelmed at launch and struggled with server issues
• And with the MMO Temtem, the servers collapsed at launch as well

Hardly any major multiplayer game can claim to have had a clean launch.

The community reacts to the problem very differently. It ranges from understanding and shrugging to indifference, and even to real anger and frustration. Some also follow the advice of the saying and wait a few days or even weeks before diving into the new game.

And how about you?

This is how you can vote: You can cast your vote in the survey tool below. In this case, you can only choose once, and it cannot be undone.

How do you handle it when an MMO or multiplayer game that you really want to play has a really bad launch? Does it annoy you? Do you not care? Or are you annoyed by people who complain about it? Do you think there are no excuses for poor launches in our time, or do you have understanding for the developers?

Share your opinion with us in the comments and have fun voting!