10 worst video game DLCs of all time

The worst DLC packs ever released, from Wedding Stories to Horse Armor

Asura's Wrath / Capcom

Getting new content for your favorite game is an exciting time, but nothing’s worse when you finally get your hands on it and it sucks. Whether it failed to deliver the experience you were hoping for or it turned out to be little more than a cash grab, the gaming industry has no shortage of DLCs that fans derided. Not to mention all of the DLCs that represent the worst business practices in the video game industry.

To be clear, we’re not counting microtransactions of any kind. While the vast majority of them are terrible in their own right, we’re focusing on true content packs for big games that left their fans feeling ripped off.

The Sims 4: My Wedding Stories

The Sims 4 My Wedding Stories / EA

The Sims 4’s many DLC packs are all worthy of making this list, really, as they often were just re-adding content from older games while asking fans to pay for it. However, My Wedding Stories is the one that drew the most ire due to the simple fact that it was broken at launch, and it took the team a while to fix it too.

The Saboteur: The Midnight Show

The Saboteur The Midnight Show / EA

The Saboteur is seen as a bit of a hidden gem in the modern day, despite receiving fairly middling reviews at the time. Regardless of how you feel about it, The Midnight Show DLC will always be deserving of your scorn.

As part of the story in The Saboteur, you make your base in the Belle De Nuit Burlesque house – a transparent excuse to have scantily-clad women feature in the story – but don’t worry, it gets worse. If you put down $5 for The Mightnight Show DLC, then the women in your base would instead appear naked, and that’s pretty much it.

The Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion: Horse armor

Oblivion Horse Armor / Bethesda

Despite us praising Oblivion for having one of the best DLCs of all time, it also holds one of the most infamous, to the point where many people blame it for the rise of microtransactions and live service models.

If you weren’t around in 2005 when this kicked off, it would likely seem very weird to you that the entire gaming community was utterly outraged at the idea of paying $2.50 for a cosmetic item in a video game. Depressingly, that’s seen as fairly reasonable these days and it’s DLC like this that slowly started to normalize the idea in the minds of gamers. Many people at the time prophesied that it was the start of a slippery slope, and in hindsight, they couldn’t have been more right.

Sonic Lost World: 25 lives

Sonic Lost World 25 Lives / Sega

Paying for extra lives is something you should only ever have to do in arcades, so to include it in a modern Sonic the Hedgehog title is ridiculous. Even putting to one side that you’re paying for something barely worth anything, the fact is that Sonic Lost World is a pretty easy game, to the point where any experienced Sonic player won’t go through 25 lives in their entire playthrough – not to mention you can easily get extra lives in-game for free.

WWE 2K24: Pat McAfee pack

WWE 2K24 Pat McAfee / 2K Games

If you’ll indulge me for a moment, I need to put on my “angry wrestling fan” hat. WWE 2K’s DLC packs are generally liked by fans. Being able to play as new legends or current wrestlers who missed the cut-off for the main game is great, and we don’t mind paying a little extra to get them now versus waiting until next year’s game.

Sometimes a pack comes out full of characters you just don’t care about though, and that goes double when 4 out of 5 of them have nothing to do with WWE. Pat McAfee, while mostly a commentator, has been in a few matches in his time so he was a desired addition to the 2K24 roster, but to throw all of his mates from his TV show on there as well is pointless. A lot of wrestling fans have no idea who these people even are, and even those who do aren’t interested in having them in a wrestling game.

Sonic Adventure: DX Upgrade

Sonic Adventure DX / Sega

While there were a few false starts before this, Sonic Adventure is generally seen as the first true mainline Sonic game in 3D. It certainly hasn’t aged well, but it was relatively well-received at launch in 1999, to the point where it got an enhanced edition in 2003 known as Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut.

Ever since this was accepted as the definitive way to play Sonic Adventure, as it contained a new playable character, missions, and more. So fans were rightfully upset in 2010 when the HD Remaster of the game for PS3 and Xbox 360 was just the 1999 base edition of the game, and if you wanted to play the far superior 2003 version, you’d need to cough up even more cash for the DX Upgrade pack.

Mass Effect 3: From Ashes

Mass Effect 3 From Ashes / EA

Mass Effect 3 upset its player base in a lot of different ways, with this day-one DLC setting things off on the wrong foot. Locking a character and storyline behind a paywall that clearly should’ve been in the full game was no way to earn the love of fans, and was a completely transparent attempt to quickly cash in on a popular series.

Kingdom Hearts 3: Re:Mind

Kingdom Hearts 3 ReMind / Square Enix

This DLC is simply a baffling decision, from a series that has no shortage of them. Re:Mind is an almost beat-for-beat retread of the main game’s climax, simply throwing in a few extra bits of lore here and there, plus a boss gauntlet that most critics found more tedious than rewarding. Fans of the series might appreciate the content, but the $30 price tag left most people feeling like it wasn’t worth it.

Train Simulator Classic: All of it

Train Simulator Classic 2024 / Dovetail Games

Train Simulator Classic is a strange series, as rather than releasing new installments every year, every player is instead upgraded to the new version when it releases automatically. However, if you want any of the new content, you’ll need to buy the DLC for it. The team also regularly release new DLC unlocking routes, trains, and various activities for you to complete.

The problem is that there are over 850 of these DLC packs as of 2024. They all vary in price, but if you wanted all of them you’d be giving away over $10,000 for the privilege. Even splitting that cost over the 15 years since its 2009 launch, it’s far too much for anyone to pay – I don’t care how much you like trains.

Asura’s Wrath: True Ending

Asura's Wrath True Ending / Capcom

We’ve talked about a lot of scummy business practices in this list, but this might just be the worst offender of them all. Asura’s Wrath is an RPG that has a fairly engaging story, and it’s no surprise that a game like that would have a true ending. Typically true endings are locked behind certain narrative choices or reaching gameplay thresholds, but the team at Asura’s Wrath had an innovative idea – making players pay to see it.

The true final boss, final cutscene, and end to the entire story was locked behind a $7 DLC pack, rather than any challenge to the player’s skill.