Thousands of video game titles are released every year. But just like in any billion-dollar industry where competition is fierce and consumer expectation is high, not all video games can achieve critical and commercial success. Wondering which have been the biggest gaming flops of 2022? Below are the worst video games this year, according to the cryptocurrency casino review site Casinos Crypto.
Top 5 worst video games of 2022 across all platforms
To find out the worst games this year, Casinos Crypto analyzed how each title performed by looking at its number of social media posts, online positive and negative sentiment data from consumer insights platform Linkfluence, and Google search volume around the month of its release. These data were then indexed to determine which game had the worst online month. The results of the research revealed that the following titles are the top 5 worst video games of 2022 across all platforms:
#1 Martha Is Dead
Developed by Italian studio LKA and published by Wired Productions for different consoles, Martha Is Dead is a psychological horror game presented in a first-person perspective. In Casinos Crypto’s research, it gained an overall index score of just 0.2871, making it the biggest gaming flop of 2022. Despite being released in February, Martha Is Dead has only been mentioned in about 33,000 social media posts so far this year, 31.30% of which are considered negative.
Set during the late years of World War 2 in a fictional town in Tuscany within German-occupied Italy, the game follows twin sisters Martha and Giulia who spend their childhood in their nanny’s estate. Martha has been deaf since early childhood and their mother, Irene, blames Giulia for having applied blunt force to her sister while in the womb. Part of some negative reviews about the game surfaced after it was censored for its release on PlayStation consoles. The changes include removing interactivity from certain graphic scenes and removing references to masturbation.
#2 Recipe for Disaster
Second on the list of worst games of 2022 is Recipe of Disaster, a management game that challenges players to create and run a highly successful restaurant. Initially released in November 2021, the game only earned an index score of 0.3215. Though there have been over 234,000 social posts about it since it was launched, 27% of these are negative.
Developed by Dapper Penguin Studios, Recipe of Disaster lets players turn around the fortunes of failing establishments in pre-set scenarios or bring their own vision to life in free play mode, where they will design restaurants, hire and manage staff, customize food menus, and create tasty new dishes to impress customers. While that sounds interesting, critics found the game unoriginal, with many of them saying that it offered absolutely nothing that hasn’t been seen in management games before.
#3 Monark
With a 0.3462 index score, Monark secures the third spot in the ranking of worst video games of 2022. Released in North America in February, the Japanese role-playing game developed by Lancarse has over 337,000 social posts since its launch, but 36.7% of these are negative sentiments.
The game takes place inside Shin Mikado Academy, a high school sealed from the outside world by a barrier and enveloped in a mysterious mist that drives the students mad. The player is part of a group of students who gained the ability to enter an Otherworld, where the demons empowering the mist must be defeated.
While Monark is praised for its creepy aesthetics, replay value, and high-risk, high-reward combat systems, a lot of gamers are not delighted by its lackluster graphics and repetitive environments and enemies.
#4 eFootball 2022
The fourth placer in Casinos Crypto’s list of worst games this year is eFootball 2022. With an index score of only 0.5848, the football simulation video game has more than 255, 000 social posts since its initial release in September 2021, but 37.5% of these are negative comments.
Developed and published by Konami, eFootball 2022 was panned by critics and players who complained about the game’s terrible graphics, lack of content, laggy engine, and finicky controls. With 92% negative reviews, it became the worst-rated game on Steam a day after its launch and the lowest-rated game of 2021 on Metacritic. Konami apologized for the game’s many issues and rolled out a major update last April on PC and consoles to address the initial problems.
#5 DNF Duel
Completing the top 5 worst video games of 2022 is DNF Duel. With an index score of only 0.6569, the fighting video game found itself as the fifth biggest gaming flop of the year. Co-developed by Arc System Works, Eighting, and Neople and published by Nexon, the game has gained over 219,000 social posts since it was made available in June 2022. However, 23% of these online posts are negative in nature.
While critics love its attractive roster of fighters, extensive training menus, exceptional online play, and beautiful visuals and soundtrack, DNF Duel was criticized for its single-player mode that doesn’t offer much enjoyment.
To find out the biggest flops in 2022 per platform, check out the charts below:
Worst video games of 2022 – PlayStation
| Rank | Video Game | Index Score |
| 1 | Martha is Dead | 0.2806 |
| 2 | Monark | 0.3566 |
| 3 | eFootball 2022 | 0.6303 |
| 4 | DNF Duel | 0.6756 |
| 5 | Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel | 0.7135 |
Worst video games of 2022 – Xbox
| Rank | Video Game | Index Score |
| 1 | Martha is Dead | 0.2921 |
| 2 | Evil Dead: The Game | 0.7900 |
| 3 | Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel | 0.8146 |
| 4 | Microsoft Flight Simulator: Top Gun Maverick DLC | 0.9437 |
| 5 | eFootball 2022 | 0.9467 |
Worst video games of 2022 – Switch
| Rank | Video Game | Index Score |
| 1 | Monark | 0.537 |
| 2 | Hindsight | 0.685 |
| 3 | Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes | 0.781 |
| 4 | Don’t Starve Together | 0.891 |
| 5 | Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel | 0.892 |
Worst video games of 2022 – PC
| Rank | Video Game | Index Score |
| 1 | Martha is Dead | 0.2889 |
| 2 | Recipe for Disaster | 0.3249 |
| 3 | Monark | 0.3458 |
| 4 | eFootball 2022 | 0.5844 |
| 5 | DNF Duel | 0.6624 |