The success of a video game often comes down to more than just quality. A great game can be undone by releasing at the wrong time, like launching side-by-side with a bigger, more heavily anticipated title. Here are ten notable cases of games that had the misfortune of being overshadowed, often through no fault of their own.

1. Alan Wake (2010)

Released on May 14, 2010, Remedy Entertainment’s psychological thriller-aligned action game, Alan Wake, had all the makings of a cult hit. However, just four days later, Rockstar released Red Dead Redemption, one of the defining games of that console generation. While Alan Wake would go on to sell approximately 4.5 million units and achieve cult classic status, its sluggish early sales significantly hurt Remedy’s bottom line. By comparison, Red Dead Redemption sold over 25 million units by 2024. While the two titles catered to different subgenres, both targeted hardcore gamers and demanded a lot of attention. Remedy learned from their mistakes, choosing quieter release windows for later hits like Control. This misstep delayed their ascent in the industry and forced smaller ventures like Alan Wake’s American Nightmare in the interim.

2. Hell Is Us (2025)

Hell Is Us, an intriguing mid-budget release, had the unfortunate distinction of launching on September 4, 2025—the same day as Hollow Knight: Silksong. While the two games had very different aesthetics—one a visually stunning, ambitious open-world title, the other an indie side-scroller—they shared overlapping audiences who value deep exploration and tough-as-nails gameplay. The long-awaited Silksong devoured all the available oxygen, leaving Hell Is Us buried in obscurity and its publisher, Nacon, reportedly heading for bankruptcy.

3. Horizon Zero Dawn & Horizon Forbidden West

Guerrilla Games’ Horizon series has been critically acclaimed and commercially successful—selling a combined 38 million units—but its proximity to groundbreaking releases stymied its cultural visibility. Debuting on February 28, 2017, Horizon Zero Dawn launched mere days before The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (March 3). Breath of the Wild was a genre-redefining masterpiece that sucked up the industry’s attention. Lightning struck twice with Horizon’s sequel, Forbidden West, which released only a week before Elden Ring in February 2022. Both Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring redefined open-world design in ways that made Horizon—a more traditional open-world game—feel dated by comparison.

4. Mad Max (2015)

This adaptation of the Mad Max universe could have been a sleeper hit with its solid open-world gameplay mechanics. Unfortunately, Mad Max launched the same day as Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain on September 1, 2015. It wasn’t just any competition—it was the final major entry in a beloved franchise from Hideo Kojima. Warner Bros., which published Mad Max, reportedly ignored developer Avalanche Studio’s suggestion to move the launch date, leaving the game to be crushed under MGS V’s massive hype. While Mad Max later found cult status, its chance to shine had long passed.

5. Titanfall 2 (2016)

Respawn Entertainment’s Titanfall 2 featured everything great about modern shooters—a dynamic campaign and refined multiplayer mechanics. But its release window was a disaster. Sandwiched between Battlefield 1 (released a week earlier) and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Titanfall 2 didn’t stand a chance of building momentum. EA’s assumption that Battlefield audiences wouldn’t overlap with those of Titanfall proved tragically incorrect. This blunder buried a title now widely regarded as one of the best FPS campaigns ever made.

6. Dragon’s Dogma (2012)

Capcom set lofty expectations for Dragon’s Dogma, an experimental open-world RPG that launched in May 2012. It underperformed commercially, falling short of its goal of 10 million sales during its first year. Some cite the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in late 2011 as a contributing factor, as Skyrim left little appetite for other dragon-filled RPGs, even ones as distinctive as Dragon’s Dogma. By the time Dragon’s Dogma found favor years later, Skyrim had ruled the genre uncontested.

7. Tales from the Borderlands (2014-2015)

Telltale Games’ Tales from the Borderlands is now celebrated among the studio’s finest works, but competing priorities within Telltale during its production led to a muted release. With the studio focusing on high-profile licensed properties like Game of Thrones, Tales from the Borderlands was deprioritized in terms of budget and developer time. Episodes from both games released simultaneously, and Telltale’s focus on Game of Thrones resulted in Borderlands receiving far less fanfare. Ironically, Tales is now fondly remembered as a masterwork, whereas Game of Thrones is almost forgotten.

8. Guardians of the Galaxy (2021)

Square Enix’s adaptation of Guardians of the Galaxy might have stood on its own merits but was launched under the long shadow of the studio’s disastrous Marvel’s Avengers. The latter, released in 2020, left gamers tired of Marvel-branded titles, particularly live-service games, even though Guardians was a single-player experience. Many dismissed Guardians out of hand, though it later garnered acclaim for its witty writing and innovative mechanics.

9. Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017)

While the flaws of Mass Effect: Andromeda are often attributed to production mishaps, its release timing didn’t help. EA launched Andromeda in conjunction with some fairly unremarkable fanfare in March 2017, a time when gamers were still reeling from Breath of the Wild. Meanwhile, the systemic failure of EA to properly market Andromeda exacerbated the timing issues, cannibalizing its potential.

10. The Evil Within 2 (2017)

Tango Gameworks’ The Evil Within 2 aimed to expand on the survival horror genre when it launched on October 13, 2017. On paper, a Halloween-adjacent release sounds perfect, but the explosive popularity of Middle-earth: Shadow of War drowned it out. Released only three days prior, the Warner Bros. action game commanded all the major talk of that week. For The Evil Within 2, it marked an uphill battle for visibility.

Why Timing Matters in Gaming

The perfect game market is an elusive space requiring not just the right product but also the right timing. These unfortunate examples prove that even great games can stumble if overshadowed by hype juggernauts or poorly coordinated releases. For gamers, the lesson is clear: sometimes the gems worth playing are those that history initially overlooked.