Review aggregator website, Metacritic, has a new lowest scored game. It seems that the title is now in the hands of Warcraft III: Reforged at a still-dropping .5 percent user rating. While the critics are more forgiving of Blizzard’s latest blunder in a series of unfortunate steps, even they have a hard time being too positive. The only truly positive review, as of writing this, noted in their conclusion that the game wasn’t delivered as promised, but still served as a “valuable reconstruction of one of the most influential titles in the history of video games.”

Why are fans so mad about Warcraft III: Reforged, though? It stems from a lot of factors. For one, there were distinctly different graphics to what they were promised, some even argue the original was better. Footage from 2018 even showed better cutscenes that showed characters up close, but what fans got was still zoomed out.

Reported crashes, bugs, and loading asset issues were also very much prevalent. Bear in mind, Warcraft III: Reforged is a remaster of an existing WOW title, meaning this shouldn’t have been an actual issue. Issues connecting also began seeping into the original due to its linked online infrastructure. This means even the people playing the old game will still be running into issues from its remaster.

Fans were also not happy with changes to content. This includes the removal of features such as clans, ladders, custom campaigns, and more. Blizzard also allowed for game modes to be made by players, but its new agreement effectively gave the company the copyright to any fan-made modes. While this sounds like a no-brainer, if it wasn’t for Blizzard, Dota 2 wouldn’t exist. To push the extent of what they’re allowed to do, they can do anything from delete the mode to monetize off the backs of its fans and not give any level of credit to the mode’s original creators.

“[You] grant to Blizzard an exclusive, perpetual, worldwide, unconditional, royalty free, irrevocable license enabling Blizzard to fully exploit the Custom Games (or any component thereof) for any purpose and in any manner whatsoever.”

Blizzard hasn’t been having the best couple of years. In 2018, they announced Diablo Immortal, a Diablo mobile game for iOS and Android. It didn’t take long for the news to cause an uproar, even during the event, the crowd could be heard booing after there being no plans to make it playable on PC. The infamous “do you guys not have phones?” line was first used during that event. They then got into hot water last year for suspending pro-Hearthstone player, Blitzchung, for expressing his views on the Hong Kong Protests during a livestreamed interview. The suspension was later reduced and his prize earnings were given to him, but not after a PR nightmare.

To a much lesser extent, the reveal of Overwatch 2 also drew some controversy as it sounded more like a DLC rather than a fresh, full-price game. A big factor why people see it that way comes due to the compatibility of its precursor. Just about all features will be open for an Overwatch player to play around with. The only distinctly OW 2-exclusive content is its single-player story.

With all that within two years, this is definitely a hit, but who knows, maybe they’ll do a 360 on fans, much like No Man’s Sky, where all will work out in the end and fans will be happy.

Warcraft III: Reforged is available for purchase for PC, setting you back a minimum of $29.99.