2025 is almost over, so it’s time to talk about the worst-optimized PC games of the year. Unlike other sites, we tested the latest versions of these games. We didn’t rely on our original reviews. I mention this because some devs have fixed their games since launch, even if they were in terrible shape on PC at first.

So, let’s start with the games that did NOT make the list. The first one is MindsEye. I know a lot of people and influencers like to hate on this game because it gives them easy clicks and views. But most of them haven’t even tried the latest version. Whether you like the game or not, Build A Rocket Boy has made huge performance improvements. In some cases, the game now runs almost twice as fast on the same hardware. You might dislike the game itself, and that’s totally fine. But MindsEye is no longer anywhere close to being an “unoptimized game” on PC.

The second game that did not make the list is Echoes of the End. When it came out, Echoes of the End had some of the worst stutters I have ever seen. Thankfully, the devs have addressed them and brought some small performance tweaks. As a result, Echoes of the End runs a bit better than the majority of UE5 games. Again, you may not like the game, and that’s fine. But there is a big difference between “this game is shit” and “this game runs like shit“.

So, with those out of the way, let’s take a look at the worst optimized PC games of 2025.

7) Rise of the Ronin

In No.7, we find Rise of the Ronin. Rise of the Ronin is a game I really enjoyed. But man, its PC version was a mixed bag. A lot of players felt the game was a total mess because they were trying to run it on Ultra Settings. For whatever reason, those settings were as unoptimized as they could get. Yes, if you have a high-end PC you can bruteforce your way. But, the game’s visuals do not justify its high GPU requirements. Lowering the settings to High can improve things, but again. The game should run better. Anyway, this is a Team Ninja game, so I wasn’t that surprised by its optimization issues. That’s a running theme with Team Ninja.

6) Double Fine’s Keeper

Double Fine’s Keeper is in sixth place. Look, I don’t want to include games from smaller studios in this list. But man, I was expecting more from Double Fine. Keeper has an amazing art style, but its performance is horrendous. To get a 60FPS experience at Native 4K on the NVIDIA RTX 5090, you have to use the Medium Settings. Now, if Keeper looked like The Matrix Demo or like the UE5 PS5 Tech Demo, I wouldn’t complain. But there is nothing on screen that can justify these huge GPU requirements.

5) The Outer Worlds 2

The Outer Worlds 2 takes the No. 5 spot. With Ray Tracing turned on, the game is almost unplayable on most PCs. If you turn Ray Tracing off, people with very powerful CPUs can force the game to run better. However, players with mid-range PCs will quickly run into performance problems. The main issue is that the game uses only 3–4 CPU cores very heavily. Because of this, your CPU will slow you down as soon as you enter its open-world areas. The game also has a lot of stutters, and its graphics aren’t that impressive. So overall, it doesn’t feel like the game should need such high GPU power.

4) Borderlands 4

The fourth worst-optimized PC game of 2025 is Borderlands 4. It would have easily been the worst one of the year, but Gearbox released a big performance update earlier this month. This update helped a lot, especially for GPUs with 8GB of VRAM. However, on Max Settings, the game still doesn’t deserve such high GPU requirements. There are also many stutters that haven’t been fixed yet. Gearbox still has a lot of work to do. But it’s good that they at least released an update that actually improves performance.

3) Monster Hunter Wilds

The 3rd worst-optimized PC game of 2025 is Monster Hunter Wilds. This is the second open-world game using the RE Engine that has big performance problems. Dragon’s Dogma 2 also had major issues when it launched. So at this point, I’m not sure what’s going on with the RE Engine. What matters is that Monster Hunter Wilds runs poorly on every platform. Capcom released a big update earlier this month and promised two more updates for next year. Just like with Borderlands 4, it’s at least good to see the developers trying to fix things.

2) Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

The 2nd worst-optimized PC game of 2025 is Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 suffers from some of the worst stutters I’ve seen in a game in 2025. They are so bad that they can make the game completely unplayable. The reason this game is so high on the list is because the devs have not even released a proper patch for it. Instead, we’ve gotten a few hotfixes. And, given its low sales, I don’t expect them to ever address even half of its optimization issues.

1) Oblivion Remastered

And time for our No.1. The worst-optimized PC game of 2025 is Oblivion Remastered. Virtuos released the game and then basically abandoned it. They haven’t released a single update since April. As such, the game still runs exactly the same as it did at launch. Oblivion Remastered still has some of the worst stutters we’ve ever seen in a PC game. In fact, it has both shader-compilation stutters and traversal stutters. And then we have lots of other bugs and visual glitches. This is really disappointing because the visual upgrade is amazing. The game looks great, but the huge technical problems ruin the experience. And sadly, it seems like the devs will never fix them. It’s a real shame, because Oblivion deserves much better.

Best wishes for a Happy New Year, everyone. Make sure to also check out our Best PC Game Graphics of 2025 and Best Optimized PC Games of 2025 articles!