The Most Unbalanced Multiplayer Games Ever Released

3 August 2025

Let’s talk about unbalanced multiplayer games—the digital battlegrounds where logic goes to die, skill means nothing, and you wonder if the developers secretly hate you. We’ve all been there. You jump into a match, ready to flex your finely honed reflexes, only to be obliterated by a character who looks like they were designed after someone spilled Red Bull on the code.

Some games are balanced masterpieces… and then there are the ones on this list. These are the games that ask the important question: “What if fairness just didn’t try today?” Yep, we’re diving deep into the wildest, most shamelessly unbalanced multiplayer disasters ever unleashed on the gaming world.

So grab your salt shakers, and let’s break down the beautiful chaos.

What Makes a Game "Unbalanced" Anyway?

Before we start naming names and pointing fingers, let’s clarify what we mean by “unbalanced.” We’re not talking about a hiccup in game design. We’re talking about full-blown design negligence—where one character, team, weapon, or mechanic is so ridiculously overpowered that it breaks the game for everyone else.

Some games skew balance in favor of pay-to-win mechanics; others just hand one player an RPG and the rest a wet sock. Either way, it’s a recipe for rage-quits and controller-shaped holes in the wall.

1. Star Wars Battlefront II (2017) – The Pay-to-Win Saga

Ah yes, the game that turned Darth Vader into a locked character... unless you forked over serious real-world cash or grinded like a caffeinated hamster on a wheel for 40+ hours. Who needs balance when you’ve got microtransactions?

EA’s Battlefront II wasn’t just unbalanced—it was a full-blown economic simulation. Players with fat wallets could drop in as Vader or Luke within hours, while others got wiped out using default troopers and blasters that hit like a Nerf gun at long range.

Balancing in a galaxy far, far away? Nah—why do that when you can just sell it?

2. League of Legends – Where Meta Becomes Mayhem

Riot Games somehow manages to keep this MOBA juggernaut rolling for years, but let’s not pretend it’s always been a picture of balance. Ever had the pleasure of facing Akali right after a patch? Or when Aphelios was first released with more guns than an action movie?

Every major update feels like a dice roll: who's the next broken champ? Riot’s constant tweaks often create mini-Godzillas that stomp all over ranked play, turning the game into a one-trick pony show where whoever picks the newest OP champ just wins.

Fun? Depends on whether you’re the stomper or the stomped.

3. Call of Duty Series – Spawn, Die, Repeat

Listen, Call of Duty is a household name for a reason—but balanced multiplayer? That’s cute.

From the moment “Noob Tubes” in Modern Warfare 2 became a thing, balance flew out the window and into a nearby explosion. Shotguns with sniper-level range? Perks that let you sprint faster than logic allows? Let’s not forget the killstreaks that let you nuke the entire map after camping in a corner for 6 minutes.

And don’t even get us started on skill-based matchmaking. It’s more of a “let’s punish you for being decent” simulator.

Good luck, soldier.

4. Overwatch – Nerfs, Buffs, and Broken Dreams

We love you, Overwatch, but you’ve got the balance of a drunk tightrope walker.

The hero-based shooter has always walked a fine line between “fun” and “why is this hero allowed to exist?” Remember when Brigitte was introduced and literally turned the game into a shield-bashing nightmare? Or when Bastion could melt tanks faster than they could say “payload”?

Every time Blizzard tries to balance one hero, they accidentally break three others. It’s like playing Jenga with dynamite.

And the cherry on top? Team comps that make pub games feel more like a therapy session than a match.

5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Meta Knight: The Game

If you ever wondered what it’s like to watch a single character dominate an entire competitive scene, look no further than Brawl’s Meta Knight. The dude had priority on literally everything. Attacks, mobility, recovery—you name it, he had it.

Playing against Meta Knight felt like trying to swat a hummingbird with a pool noodle. And no, that’s not balanced. That’s just... rude.

The game was so unbalanced that some tournaments literally banned the character. That’s right, he was too good for competitive play. That’s like hiring a bodybuilder for a pillow fight.

6. Halo 2 – Who Needs Balance When You’ve Got the BR?

Ah, Halo 2. A classic, sure. But balanced? Not unless you were holding the Battle Rifle in your elite alien hands.

The Battle Rifle was so dominant that every competitive match essentially turned into a BR-only shootout. Meanwhile, dual wielding other weapons was cute but wildly ineffective.

Halo 2 also had super jumps, button glitches, and all sorts of jank that competitive players turned into an art form.

Fun? Absolutely. Fair? Absolutely not.

7. Fortnite – Build Battles Are Optional If You Have a Rocket Launcher

Fortnite was fun at first. You dropped in, gathered resources, built some forts (imagine that), and shot enemies. Then came the updates.

Suddenly, building became a full-blown architecture contest, and if you couldn’t crank 90s like a Red Bull-fueled spider monkey, you were toast. Add in mythic weapons that could erase you in 0.3 seconds, and boom—balance who?

Let’s not forget the mechs they added for a hot minute. You know, the literal tanks that stomped players flat before being nerfed into obscurity.

Balanced gameplay? Only if you count standing under a sky base while someone drops an entire Eiffel Tower on your head.

8. Evolve – The 4v1 Catastrophe

Remember Evolve? That game where four players hunted a monster controlled by a fifth player? Sounds neat, until you realize the balance was so off-kilter that the monster either got annihilated in seconds or wiped the floor like Thanos on cheat codes.

It was a fascinating idea ruined by inconsistent matchmaking and lopsided gameplay mechanics. Hunters with different abilities couldn’t keep up, and the monster could just hide, evolve, and return stronger than your New Year’s resolutions.

The game eventually went free-to-play... and then quietly vanished into the gaming abyss.

9. Diablo III PvP – You Hit Me With What Now?

If you were ever bold (or bored) enough to step into PvP in Diablo III, you’d know how hilariously broken it was.

One second you’re alive. The next, you’ve been one-shot by a Demon Hunter with gear that makes your own look like plastic cosplay. No balancing. No scaling. Just raw gear disparity and a lot of poorly suppressed laughter.

PvP wasn’t even properly supported at launch—it was more of a “here, fight each other if you want, we guess?” feature.

Fair warning: entering PvP without god-tier loot was basically asking for public humiliation.

10. Battlefield 4 – Balance? Only If You Avoid Helicopters

Let’s talk Battlefield 4, a game where helicopters might as well have been nuclear warheads with wings.

If you weren’t the one piloting a jet or helicopter, welcome to being cannon fodder. Surface-to-air defense? Cute. The chopper pilot will just fly circles around you, raining down explosive justice while you respawn for the 12th time.

Balance in Battlefield 4 often boiled down to “who got the vehicle first.” Infantry-only maps were fine, but the rest? A symphony of chaos, rockets, and tears.

The Unspoken Truth: Chaos Is Sometimes the Point

Here's the twist: sometimes, games are unbalanced... on purpose. Yes, developer-sanctioned madness. Whether it’s asymmetrical gameplay (hello, Dead by Daylight) or overpowered weapons dropped into rotation for giggles, not every game aims to be fair.

And let’s be honest—if everything were perfectly balanced, we’d probably be bored to tears. A little chaos keeps things spicy. Even if that spice sometimes feels like ghost pepper extract to the face.

Why We Keep Playing Unbalanced Games Anyway

So why do we keep coming back? Why do we clock in hundreds of hours into games that routinely make us question our sanity and reaction time?

Simple. They're fun. Infuriating, unpredictable, and occasionally soul-crushing—but fun. There's something oddly beautiful about the community learning to adapt, meme, and survive in the unbalanced trenches of online multiplayer.

Plus, let’s face it, there’s a certain joy in being the one holding the completely broken weapon for once.

Conclusion: Blessed Be the Broken

Balance is a noble goal, but let’s not pretend that gaming was ever supposed to be fair. From rubber-banding racing games to FPS titles with weapons that break space-time, the world of multiplayer is a wild, savage land where balance is more of a suggestion than a rule.

So next time you get wrecked by a clearly OP enemy, just smile, shake your head, and remember: somewhere, a designer is watching and thinking, “oops.”

Welcome to the chaos, friend.