When a game gets announced, especially with flashy trailers or bold promises, it's easy to get swept up in the hype. But, sometimes, what finally lands on our consoles at launch is something completely unrecognizable. Graphics get downgraded. Mechanics disappear. And players? They notice.

This list looks at games that changed substantially between announcement and release, and whether they pulled it off in the end. Some stuck the landing and exceeded my expectations, while others faceplanted and then scrambled for months (or years). Some of these launches were frustrating, and others were inspiring, but all of them are worth a second look.

When No Man’s Sky debuted in 2016, it teased endless planets, alien life, and multiplayer. It was a huge promise. Instead, players got barren worlds and missing features (and backlash to go with it).

The game ended up being a completely different experience after the updates, with better scale. I spent the first weekend grinding through empty worlds, thinking I’d seen this planet before. Now? I’ve logged over 250 hours base-building, fishing in alien lakes, and exploring robotic settlements.

When it comes to Cyberpunk 2077, pre-launch hype was off the charts, with CDPR’s Witcher 3 pedigree, Keanu Reeves, and visions of a living, breathing dystopia. But December 2020 servers swarmed with bugs, AI was laughable, and Sony even removed it from sale. It's a sad story of horrid mismanagement.

It took some time for the game to end up where it was supposed to be in the beginning. Luckily, it eventually got there after tons of updates and expansions. You can finally play the game as intended, even if it took years to get there.

Bethesda unveiled Fallout 76 in 2018 as an online multiplayer Fallout, but the launch was impossibly sad. No NPCs, broken quests, and an empty world that felt more like a copy-paste than a game.

Luckily, a slew of updates eventually led to the game feeling like a Fallout title. NPCs, factions, and a story were added. Perhaps the most significant change was that the game became fun again. Instead of just wandering through an empty forest, you can actually do something.

At E3 2012, Ubisoft dazzled with a visually stunning, PC‑level demo of Watch Dogs. It had glowing rain and sharp reflections, making a vibrant Chicago city. But when it finally launched, the graphics were seriously toned down.

Some speculated that the downgrade was due to the inclusion of consoles. The team might have been forced to downgrade. Either way, the downgrade left a lot of players feeling misled.

Announced in 1997 to follow Duke Nukem 3D, this sequel became synonymous with “vaporware.” After being announced, the game switched engines and completely changed directions before it was finally launched in 2011.

When it was released, the game existed, but that's about it. It felt dated, and you could tell much of the development was from the 90s, even if the game was published 11 years after the turn of the century. It had already been left behind.

The 2017 Prey reboot started life as a sequel, then shifted midway into a reimagining of the franchise. It changed into an entirely original sci-fi horror game. Despite this, Bethesda insisted on sticking with the Prey title.

Despite the branding mismatch, Prey did deliver a great experience. The title might have lied, but the gameplay absolutely delivered, even if it wasn't what most players were expecting. Instead of something Tolkien-style, I stepped into Talos I, hacking systems and manipulating environments in ways that felt fresh and smart.

At its 2017 reveal, Anthem dazzled with soaring exosuits and the promise of a rich live-service RPG. Sadly, by its launch in February 2019, it felt stitched together. It was buggy and thin on content.

Over the next months, BioWare rolled out 'Acts' and teased a full rebuild with Anthem NEXT. However, by early 2021, the project was completely scrapped. I remember the excitement at E3 fading into frustration post-launch, but I can appreciate that the developers didn't try to continue with something that didn't work.

When Sony unveiled The Last Guardian in 2009, fans thought it would launch on PS3 by 2011. However, development took so long that the title was forced to shift to the PS4 (and another five-year delay).

By E3 2015, it resurfaced, still beautiful but noticeably specced-up from its original demo. It might have taken a while, but this is one of the few games where changes and delays actually led to fans being happier with the finished product. I waited nine years for this game, and every second felt worth it.

Revealed at E3 2015 and launched in March 2017, Andromeda was meant to usher in a new era without Shepard. The game promised a lot, including procedurally generated planets, but many ambitious ideas were scrapped late in development due to scope issues.

This resulted in a promising game that was plagued by bugs and cutscenes that weren't quite right. Post-launch, BioWare released multiple patches, trying to fix cosmetic issues and balance problems. However, they gave up on major developments by 1.10. I clocked a few dozen hours post‑patch and found enough to spark curiosity and leave me disappointed that it hadn't arrived fully formed.

Originally revealed as Final Fantasy Versus 13 back in 2006, the title morphed completely by its 2013 rebranding into Final Fantasy 15. It shifted platforms from PS3 to PS4/Xbox One. What began as a dark spin‑off became a full‑blown action RPG with open‑world travel and daytime cooking.

I remember thinking the Duscae demo at E3 had an absolutely massive scale. But by 2016's release, it had shifted into a genre-defining bromance that stole the hearts of even those who had never touched a Final Fantasy game before.