Bethesda Softworks

Bethesda Softworks has built a business model around releasing broken games and relying on modders to fix them, a strategy that culminated in Fallout 76's 2018 launch—so riddled with bugs that the company faced a $2 million FTC fine for deceptive marketing. The infamous canvas bag scandal, where paid collectors received cheap nylon duplicates, became a viral meme and eroded trust further. The publisher attempted to charge $100 annually for private servers in a game that barely functioned, a pricing move that makes #8 Rockstar Games' Shark Card economy look almost generous. Over 70% of Fallout 76's initial refunds were denied, and the game's Metacritic score of 52 remains the lowest among any major online RPG released this decade, cementing Bethesda's reputation as the industry's most brazen deliverer of unfinished products.