History Main / PresumedFlop

* ''VideoGame/{{ARMS}}'' game is often regarded as a failure, with people comparing its lack of success to the breakout hit that was Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s other multiplayer IP ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}''. While it certainly didn't become an "evergreen" title similar to ''Splatoon 2'', which was released a month later, it still sold over 2 million copies in its first year; impressive for an experimental new IP, much less a fighting game.

* ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}}: Door to Phantomile'' is assumed to be an AcclaimedFlop by many due to its relative obscurity and poorly documented sales figures. In reality, while sales figures are hard to come by, it did well enough to launch a franchise that spawned six other games over the following five years.

A Presumed Flop is where CommonKnowledge [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] a BoxOfficeBomb.

Many works do poorly. Some do so poorly that they get nowhere close to breaking even, costing the people that made them a ton of money and/or reputation. However, a Presumed Flop is when a work actually did rather well (or at least managed to break even), but is referred to as a flop by critics and journalists whenever it's mentioned.

* ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' is often referred to as a notorious flop, but as creator Tim Schafer noted in the 2015 documentary series ''What Color is the Sky In Your World?'', its sales were nowhere near as disastrous as reported at the time. It was reported to have sold about 100,000 units when it actually sold about 400,000. Still not great, but far from a disaster. That said, it didn't turn a profit for quite a few years and its sequel has taken 16 years to come to release, so this may have only been half-defied.

* The ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' series is seen as being a complete bomb internationally, despite being a CashCowFranchise in Japan that seemed on its way to rival ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''. Despite not being the instant success they hoped, with ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch1'' only moving 400k units in North America, this was still a decent showing for a handheld RPG and was deemed a solid start by creator Creator/Level5. It was the ''sequels'' that sold poorly, each worse than the last, which contributed to the company as a whole ending its operations in North America.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBuzzOnMaggie'' is one of the most forgotten Creator/DisneyChannel series, only lasting a single season. You'd assume that this was due to poor ratings, as it is perceived as little more than SoOkayItsAverage by many who do bother to seek it out years later. In actuality, it boasted high ratings in the United States and it was beloved by critics. The show was cancelled because, despite domestic success, it completely failed to gain an audience overseas.

Many works do poorly, some getting nowhere close to breaking even. However, sometimes a work actually does rather well (or at least managed to break even), but is referred to as a flop by critics and journalists whenever it's mentioned.

Can overlap with CriticProof, which is about works that sell despite being thrashed by critics. Compare BoxOfficeBomb for when the film ''actually'' bombed. Also a subtrope of CommonKnowledge, specifically with regards to box office performance.

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' is often brought up as an example of an anime [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff that tanked in its home country but became a huge success overseas]]. Except half of that isn't true. While it didn't have the lasting staying power the series still has in the West, ''Bebop'' was very well-received in Japan and sold very well. In fact, of all anime released in 1998, it was the number one best-selling anime on home video in that year. Even counting anime from previous years, the only two series that sold more in that year were the absolutely juggernauts that are ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' and the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''. While the initial broadcast run was CutShort, this was due to the show’s violent content running afoul of censors rather than poor ratings and it would receive a full run on satellite television a few months later. It's possible the misconception stems from confusion with fellow 1998 {{Space Western}}s ''Anime/OutlawStar'' and ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', which ''are'' examples of that trope (the latter to a point where the movie premiered there first).

* ''Disaster Movie'', like other Seltzer and Friedberg movies, was poorly received. While the others made over $80m WW, this one barely crossed the $40m. However, the movie's low budget of $20m meant that it was still technically profitable.

* ''Film/{{Waterworld}}'' is remembered as a massive flop that critics hated and ruined Creator/KevinCostner's career (or at the very least, severely stalled it). However, its score on Website/RottenTomatoes is 42% (which is not great but is certainly not abject hatred), and it made $264M on a $175M budget. While that is not a stellar box office take for a movie of its budget, its reputation as a failure comes more from the constant stories of its TroubledProduction than anything else.

'''Note''': The point of this AudienceReaction is that the work is incorrectly assumed to be a financial failure, a critical failure, or both, when any glance at box office sales or Metacritic can prove you wrong. Even if "people think it's bad" is the reason the work is believed to be a flop, please do not post a long rant about the work. Give a brief explanation why the work was poorly received, and leave it at that.

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' is often brought up as an example of an anime [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff that tanked in its home country but became a huge success overseas]]. Except half of that isn't true. While it didn't have the lasting staying power the series still has in the West, ''Bebop'' was very well-received in Japan and sold very well. In fact, of all anime released in 1998, it was the number one best-selling anime on home video in that year. Even counting anime from previous years, the only two series that sold more in that year were the absolutely juggernauts that are ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' and the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''. While the intial broadcast run was CutShort, this was due to the show’s violent content running afoul of censors rather than poor ratings and it would receive a full run on satellite television a few months later. It's possible the misconception stems from confusion with fellow 1998 {{Space Western}}s ''Anime/OutlawStar'' and ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', which ''are'' example of that trope (the latter to a point where the movie premiered there first).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings'', directed by Creator/RalphBakshi, is often written about as though it were a flop -- and to be fair, it only covered half of the trilogy. But it was actually a financial success, earning more than $30 million on a mere $4 million budget. The only reason a sequel wasn't made was because the studio didn't think audiences would want to see "half a movie".

* The ''Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsMovie'' is the lowest-grossing ''Franchise/StarWars'' movie ever, and [=CostantMusic=].com referred to it as "the first bona fide ''Star Wars'' flop". Except it wasn't. It earned more than seven times its $8.5 million budget, which isn't bad for what was essentially a CompilationMovie of what were originally produced as the first few episodes of the subsequent television series.

* ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' is sometimes thought to have been a flop due to its reception being [[SophomoreSlump considerably weaker than]] [[Film/TheAvengers2012 its predecessor]], a view shared by [[http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2015/09/04/was-avengers-age-of-ultron-a-failure-in-the-eyes-of-hollywood/ some higher-ups at Disney]]. This is despite the film being ''the eleventh highest grossing of all time!'' Granted, three of the higher spots are held by [[Film/TheAvengers2012 other]] ''[[Film/AvengersInfinityWar Avengers]]'' [[Film/AvengersEndgame films]], and another three were released in the same year as ''Age of Ultron''[[note]]''Film/TheForceAwakens'', ''Film/JurassicWorld'', and ''Film/Furious7''[[/note]], so it can be considered a bit of a disappointment ''relatively speaking'', but from an objective standpoint it was immensely successful.
* ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' is regarded as one of the worst superhero movies of all time. While some people today enjoy it for its cheesy nature, it is regarded as an enormous flop that severely damaged the careers of Creator/UmaThurman, Creator/AliciaSilverstone, Creator/ChrisODonnell and Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger (Creator/GeorgeClooney was lucky enough to be spared), and killed the Batman franchise for almost a decade until ''Film/BatmanBegins''. However, while it wasn't as successful as the first three in the series, it did make a profit, with a $238M worldwide gross against a $125M budget, and sold a ton of merchandising to put them clearly in the black.

* ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' was intended to be the first film of a trilogy, but the negative reception put those plans on ice. However, despite the hasty conversion to 3D bloating the budget to $150m, it still broke even and became the 19th highest grossing movie of 2010, and the highest grossing Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} movie at the time.

* ''Film/{{Waterworld}}'' is remembered as a massive flop that critics hated and ruined Creator/KevinCostner's career (or at the very least, severely stalled it). However, its score on Webiste/RottenTomatoes is 42% (which is not great, but is certainly not abject hatred), and it made $264M on a $175M budget. While that is not a stellar box office take for a movie of its budget, its reputation as a failure comes more from the constant stories of its TroubledProduction than anything else.
* ''Film/{{Warcraft|2016}}'' is often cited as yet another embarrassing flop in the history of video game adaptations. Nevertheless, it made $439 million on a $160 million budget, becoming the highest grossing movie based on a video game at the time. While the movie reportedly failed to break even despite this large margin, its reputation is based on the idea that it alienated audiences and sold poorly as a result, not that it sold great but had its money poorly managed.
* ''Film/WitchfinderGeneral'' is an example of a film that was retrospectively exaggerated as a flop by its own fans to create a reputation as a CultClassic. While it got horrible reviews from newspaper critics, who dismissed it as TorturePorn, it got quite respectable box office in its first release.

* ''VideoGame/{{ARMS}}'' game is often regarded as a failure, with people comparing its lack of success to the breakout hit that was Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s other multiplayer IP ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}''. While it certainly didn't become an "evergreen" title similar to ''Splatoon 2'', which released a month later, it still sold over 2 million copies in its first year; impressive for an experimental new IP, much less a fighting game.
* Despite ''VideoGame/CrashBandicootTheWrathOfCortex'' getting fairly mediocre reviews and even mocked in ''VideoGame/CrashTwinsanity'' via a meta joke for "not doing quite as well as we hoped", the game sold over 3 million copies on [=PS2=] alone and made for a Greatest Hits/Platinum/The Best reissue.

* ''VideoGame/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' is infamous as the TropeMaker for TheProblemWithLicensedGames. It is considered one of the worst games of all time, if not THE worst, and is often blamed for UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983. This is further exacerbated by the urban legend that Atari buried millions of copies in a New Mexico landfill. That urban legend does have some truth to it, so far as an Atari landfill existing, but in reality the game actually sold 1.5 million copies (even after seeing hundreds of thousands of copies returned), making it the 8th-most successful game on the Atari 2600. This trope is also somewhat zig-zagged, as over time, critics and audiences alike have come to acknowledge it had a ''very'' rushed production schedule and that many of its flaws were present to varying degrees in ''most'' Atari games. As for being the cause of the crash, while it's still considered a factor, most have come to see [[PortingDisaster the Atari 2600 port]] of ''VideoGame/PacMan'' as the bigger contributor... which itself is still the best-selling game for the system at almost 8 million copies.
* ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}}: Door to Phantomile'' is assumed to be an AcclaimedFlop by many due to its relative obscurity and poorly-documented sales figures. In reality, while sales figures are hard to come by, it did well enough to launch a franchise that spawned six other games over the following five years.
* ''VideoGame/Superman64'' is regarded as the worst UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 game ever released, and unlike E.T, the critics have not become kinder to it over time. However, it was a top seller in North America in June 1999, and ended up selling 500,000 copies, making a profit for Titus.
* The ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' series is seen as being a complete bomb internationally, despite being a CashCowFranchise in Japan that seemed on its way to rival ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''. Despite not being the instant success they hoped, with ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch1'' only moving 400k units in North America, this was still a decent showing for a handheld RPG and was deemed a solid start by creator Creator/Level5. It were the ''sequels'' that sold poorly, each worse than the last, which contributed to the company as a whole ending its operations in North America.

* Many people believe that ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' was cancelled midway through its' second season due to low ratings. On the contrary, ratings were actually fairly decent. The show was just too expensive to produce ''relative'' to its ratings.

* The ''Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsMovie'' is the lowest-grossing ''Franchise/StarWars'' movie ever, and [=CostantMusic=].com referred to it as "the first bona fide ''Star Wars'' flop". Except it wasn't. It earned more than seven times its $8.5 million budget, which isn't bad for what was essentially a CompilationMovie of the first few episodes of the subsequent television series.

!!Examples

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmojiMovie'' is commonly believed to be a flop because people tend to assume that the premise (which was often seen as unoriginal and/or a desperate attempt to be "hip" and "modern") and scathing reviews (from critics and audiences alike) scared audiences away. Nevertheless, it made a profit ($217M worldwide on a $50M budget). It exceeded expectations on opening weekend, and opened in 2nd place against the critically acclaimed, Oscar-winning ''{{Film/Dunkirk}}''. Some of that was likely people seeing it out of BileFascination, but the studio doesn't care if you hate-watch it as long as you're still paying them.

* Similarly, ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie2TheSecondPart'' has often been described as a bomb by movie journalists. Its $191 million gross was a severe disappointment, no doubt about it, but it still ended up just barely earning back its $99 million budget in theaters (and toy sales put it firmly in the black). This still wasn't enough for Warner Bros. though, and they let their rights to the franchise lapse.

[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]

* ''Film/Warcraft2016'' is often cited as yet another embarrassing flop in the history of video game adaptations. Nevertheless, it made $439 million on a $160 million budget, becoming the highest grossing movie based on a video game at the time. While the movie reportedly failed to break even despite this large margin, its reputation is based on the idea that it alienated audiences and sold poorly as a result, not that it sold great but had its money poorly managed.

[[/folder]]

* ''Film/JusticeLeague2017'' earned about $658m on a $300m budget, and hence it has often been described as the first box-office bomb of the DCEU, but it still earned more than twice its stated budget. Its reputation as a failure largely comes from the fact that it barely broke even when Creator/WarnerBros was anticipating it to be a $1 billion smash hit on the scale of ''The Avengers'', as well as its TroubledProduction.

* The ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWarsMovie'' is the lowest-grossing ''Franchise/StarWars'' movie ever, and [=CostantMusic=].com referred to it as "the first bona fide ''Star Wars'' flop". Except it wasn't. It earned more than seven times its $8.5 million budget, which isn't bad for what was essentially a CompilationMovie of the first few episodes of the subsequent television series.

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' is often brought up as an example of an anime [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff that tanked in its home country but became a huge success overseas]]. Except half of that isn't true. While it didn't have the lasting staying power the series still has in the West, ''Bebop'' was very well-received in Japan and sold very well. In fact, of all anime released in 1998, it was the number one best-selling anime on home video in that year. Even counting anime from previous years, the only two series that sold more in that year were the absolutely juggernauts that are ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' and the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''. It's possible the misconception stems from confusion with fellow 1998 {{Space Western}}s ''Anime/OutlawStar'' and ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', which ''are'' example of that trope (the latter to a point where the movie premiered there first).

* The ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' series is considered a case of AmericansHateTingle, seen as being a complete bomb internationally, but a CashCowFranchise in Japan that seemed on its way to rival ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''. Despite not being the instant success they hoped, with ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch1'' only moving 400k units in North America, this was still a decent showing for handheld RPG and was deemed a solid start by creator Creator/Level5. It were the ''sequels'' that sold poorly, each worse than the last, which contributed to the company as a whole ending its operations outside of Japan.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBuzzOnMaggie'' is one of the most forgotten Creator/DisneyChannel series, only lasting a single season. You'd assume that this was due to poor ratings, as it is perceived as little more than SoOkayItsAverage by many who do bother to seek it out years later. In actuality, it boasted high ratings in the United States and it was beloved by critics. The show was cancelled because, despite domestic success, it [[AmericansHateTingle completely failed to gain an audience overseas]].

* The ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' movie is the lowest-grossing ''Franchise/StarWars'' movie ever, and [=CostantMusic=].com referred to it as "the first bona fide ''Star Wars'' flop". Except it wasn't. It earned more than seven times its $8.5 million budget, which isn't bad for what was essentially a CompilationMovie of the first few episodes of the subsequent television series.

* ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' is regarded as one of the worst superhero movies of all time. While some people today enjoy it for its cheesy nature, it is regarded as an enormous flop that severely damaged the careers of Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, Chris O'Donnell, and Arnold Schwarzenegger (George Clooney was lucky enough to be spared), and killed the Batman franchise for almost a decade until ''Film/BatmanBegins''. However, while it wasn't as successful as the first three in the series, it did make a profit, with a $238M worldwide gross against a $125M budget, and sold a ton of merchandising to put them clearly in the black.

* ''Film/JusticeLeague2017'' earned about $658m on a $300m budget, and hence it has often been described as the first box-office bomb of the DCEU, but it still earned more than twice its stated budget. Its reputation as a failure largely comes from the fact that it barely broke even when Warner Bros. was anticipating it to be a $1 billion smash hit on the scale of ''The Avengers'', as well as its TroubledProduction.
* ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' was intended to be the first film of a trilogy, but the negative reception put those plans on ice. However, despite the hasty conversion to 3D bloating the budget to $150m, it still broke even and became the 19th highest grossing movie of 2010, and the highest grossing Nickelodeon movie at the time.
* The 2002 film ''Film/TheMasterOfDisguise'' was meant to be a comeback vehicle for Dana Carvey after a hiatus and be a showcase for his impressionist abilities, but ended up being regarded as one of the worst comedies ever made and derailing his career. However, it made $43.4M on a $16M budget.
* The 1980 ''Film/{{Popeye}}'' film is remembered as a flop, despite making three times its budget. This might be due to its mixed reviews, Robin Williams's distaste for the film's production, and the fact that Disney wrote it off as one publicly.

* 1983's ''Film/StayingAlive'', the sequel to the 1977 smash hit ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'', is regarded as a movie that bombed horribly and derailed John Travolta's career until a resurgence in the 1990s. Critics at the time and today regard it as a tacky, embarrassing cash-in, with absolutely none of the heart or gritty realism of its predecessor, although they admit the dancing sequences are just as well-done, if not more so. But it was not a financial failure at all: it made $65M on a $22M budget.
* ''Film/{{Waterworld}}'' is remembered as a massive flop that critics hated and ruined Kevin Costner's career (or at the very least, severely stalled it). However, its score on Rotten Tomatoes is 42% (which is not great, but is certainly not abject hatred), and it made $264M on a $175M budget. While that is not a stellar box office take for a movie of its budget, its reputation as a failure comes more from the constant stories of its TroubledProduction than anything else.

* ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' is often referred to as a notorious flop, but as creator Tim Schafer noted in the 2015 documentary series "What Color Is The Sky In Your World?", its sales were nowhere near as disastrous as reported at the time. It was reported to have sold about 100,000 units when it actually sold about 400,000. Still not great, but far from a disaster. That said, it didn't turn a profit for quite a few years and its sequel has taken 16 years to come to release, so this may have only been half-defied.

* Nintendo 64's ''[[VideoGame/Superman64 Superman]]'', colloquially known as Superman 64, is regarded as the worst N64 game ever released, and unlike E.T, the critics have not become kinder to it over time. However, it was a top seller in North America in June 1999, and ended up selling 500,000 copies, making a profit for Titus.

Many movies do poorly at the box office, some getting nowhere close to breaking even. However, sometimes a movie (or other sold form of media) actually did rather well (or at least managed to break even), but is referred to as a flop by film buffs, critics, and journalists whenever the movie is mentioned.

# The film received scathing reviews from critics (or was NotScreenedForCritics), and it's assumed that this scared people away.
# Most people who talk about the movie did not like it, and hence people assume it failed.
# It's commonly assumed that [[AudienceAlienatingPremise the film's premise scared away the audience]].
# The film has been OvershadowedByControversy, and people assume the film flopped because the controversy is all they remember about it.
# The release coincided with the decline of the lead actor's career.
# The movie was just sort of forgotten about after leaving theaters.
# The movie became a CultClassic, so we assume it failed in theaters.

# The movie broke even, but the studio was upset that it did not make ''enough'' money.
# The movie had a low budget, so even if it had a small gross, it still meant it could turn a profit.

Note that a Presumed Flop is not necessarily that much of a success for the creator in the long run. For instance, a widely-derided film making you a bit of money can border on PyrrhicVictory -- sure, it sold, but your reputation has taken a hit, a sequel is likely to flop, or it might not have made ''enough'' money to justify a sequel.

This can obviously apply to other media as well. Sometimes we claim a video game flopped big time when it actually made a profit.

* ''VideoGame/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' is infamous as the TropeMaker for TheProblemWithLicensedGames. It is considered one of the worst games of all time, if not THE worst, and is often blamed for UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983. This is further exacerbated by the urban legend that Atari buried millions of copies in a New Mexico landfill. That urban legend does have some truth to it, so far as an Atari landfill existing, but in reality the game actually sold 1.5 million copies (even after seeing hundreds of thousands of copies returned), making it the 8th-most successful game on the Atari 2600. This trope is also somewhat zig-zagged, as over time, critics and audiences alike have come to acknowledge it had a ''very'' rushed production schedule and that many of its flaws were present to varying degrees in ''most'' Atari games. As for being the cause of the crash, while it's still considered a factor, most have become to see [[PortingDisaster the Atari 2600 port]] of ''VideoGame/PacMan'' as the bigger contributor... which itself is still the best-selling game for the system at almost 8 million copies.
* ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}}'': Door to Phantomile'' is assumed to be an AcclaimedFlop by many due to its relative obscurity and poorly-documented sales figures. In reality, while sales figures are hard to come by, it did well enough to launch a franchise that spawned six other games over the following five years.

* The ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' series is considered a case of AmericansHateTingle, seen as being a complete bomb internationally, but a CashCowFranchise in Japan that seemed on its way to rival ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''. However, ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch1'' alone sold at least 500k units in North America, which was seen as a solid start by developer Creator/Level5. It were the ''sequels'' that sold below expectations.

* ''VideoGame/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' is infamous as the TropeMaker for TheProblemWithLicensedGames. It is considered one of the worst games of all time, if not THE worst, and is often blamed for UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983. This is further exacerbated by the urban legend that Atari buried millions of copies in a New Mexico landfill. That urban legend does have some truth to it, so far as an Atari landfill existing, but in reality the game actually sold 1.5 million copies (even after seeing hundreds of thousands of copies returned), making it the 8th-most successful game on the Atari 2600. This trope is also somewhat zig-zagged, as over time, critics and audiences alike have come to acknowledge it had a ''very'' rushed production schedule and that many of its flaws were present to varying degrees in ''most'' Atari games. As for being the cause of the crash, while it's still considered a factor, most have become to see [[PortingDisaster the Atari 2600 port]] of ''VideoGame/PacMan'' as the bigger contributor.

* ''VideoGame/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' is infamous as the TropeMaker for TheProblemWithLicensedGames. It is considered one of the worst games of all time, if not THE worst, and is often blamed for UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983. This is further exacerbated by the urban legend that Atari buried millions of copies in a New Mexico landfill. That urban legend does have some truth to it, so far as an Atari landfill does exist, but in reality the game actually sold 1.5 million copies (even after seeing hundreds of thousands of copies returned), making it the 8th-most successful game on the Atari 2600. This trope is also somewhat zig-zagged, as over time, critics and audiences alike have come to acknowledge it had a ''very'' rushed production schedule and that many of its flaws were present to even worse degrees in more successful Atari games.
* ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}}'': Door to Phantomile'' is assumed to be an AcclaimedFlop by many due to its relative obscurity and poorly-documented sales figures; in reality, it did well enough to launch a franchise that survived for a few years.

* ''VideoGame/ETTheExtraterrestrial'' is infamous as the TropeMaker for TheProblemWithLicensedGames. It is considered one of the worst games of all time, if not THE worst, and is often blamed for UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983. This is further exacerbated by the urban legend that Atari buried millions of copies in a New Mexico landfill. That urban legend does have some truth to it, so far as an Atari landfill does exist, but in reality the game actually sold 1.5 million copies (even after seeing hundreds of thousands of copies returned), making it the 8th-most successful game on the Atari 2600. This trope is also somewhat zig-zagged, as over time, critics and audiences alike have come to acknowledge it had a ''very'' rushed production schedule and that many of its flaws were present to even worse degrees in more successful Atari games.

* The Creator/{{Nintendo}} ''VideoGame/{{ARMS}}'' game is often regarded as a failure compared to other Nintendo [=IPs=], such as ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}''. While it didn't become an "evergreen" title similar to ''Splatoon'', ''VideoGame/MarioKart'', and other popular Nintendo multiplayer franchises, it still sold over 2 million copies in its first year, which is impressive for an experimental new IP, much less a fighting game.

* ''VideoGame/ETTheExtraterrestrial'' is infamous as the TropeMaker for TheProblemWithLicensedGames. It is considered one of the worst games of all time, if not THE worst, and is often blamed for UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983. This is further exacerbated by the urban legend that Atari buried millions of copies in a New Mexico landfill. That urban legend does have some truth to it, but barely; see the trope page for more information. Regardless, while critic reviews at the time do not exist, the game actually sold 1.5 million copies, making it the 8th-most successful game on the Atari 2600. Most of that was likely due to fans of the movie blindly buying one, and many of them asked for refunds, but the game still sold decently. This trope is also somewhat zig-zagged here, because critics today are far kinder to it than earlier critics, claiming that the game was made on a ''very'' rushed production schedule and is actually pretty good and well-designed considering that. Any claims that the game is too cryptic and slow is refuted by saying that many successful Atari games were even more cryptic and slow.

* The ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' series is considered a case of AmericansHateTingle as it's a bomb internationally but a CashCowFranchise in Japan. Despite this, ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch1'' alone sold at least 500k units outside of Japan, which is decent for a mid-gen handheld title. It was the sequels that sold below-average.

* Many people believe that ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' earned low ratings, leading to its cancellation midway through it's second season. On the contrary, ratings were actually fairly decent - the show was just too expensive.

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' is often brought up as an example of an anime [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff that tanked in its home country but became a huge success overseas]]. Except half of that isn't true. While it didn't have the lasting staying power the series still has in the west, ''Bebop'' was very well-received in Japan and sold very well. In fact, of all anime released in 1998, it was the number one best selling anime on home video in that year. Even counting anime from previous years, the only two series that sold more in that year were the absolutely juggernauts ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' and the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''. It's possible the misconception stems from confusion with fellow 1998 space westerns ''Anime/OutlawStar'', which did indeed tank in Japan but is a nostalgic favorite for an entire generation of anime fans in America, and ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', which is a cult classic in Japan but so beloved in America that the movie premiered there first.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmojiMovie'' is commonly believed to be a flop because people tend to assume that the premise (which was often seen as unoriginal and/or a desperate attempt to be "hip" and "modern") and scathing reviews (from critics and audiences alike) scared audiences away. Nevertheless, it made a profit ($217M worldwide on a $50M budget). It exceeded expectations on opening weekend, and opened in 2nd place against the critically acclaimed, Oscar-winning ''{{Film/Dunkirk}}''. Some of that was likely people seeing it out of BileFascination, but the studio doesn't care if you hate-watch it.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings'', directed by Creator/RalphBakshi, is often written about as though it were a flop--and to be fair, it only covered half of the trilogy. But it was actually a financial success, earning more than $30 million on a $4 million budget. The only reason a sequel wasn't made was because the studio didn't think audiences would want to see "half a movie".
* Similarly, ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie2TheSecondPart'' has often been described as a bomb by movie journalists. Its $191 million gross was a severe disappointment, no doubt about it, but it still ended up just barely earning back its $99 million budget in theaters (and toy sales put it firmly in the black). This still wasn't enough for Warner Bros., and they let their rights to the franchise lapse.
* The ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' movie is the lowest-grossing ''Franchise/StarWars'' movie ever, and [=CostantMusic=].com referred to it as "the first bona fide ''Star Wars'' flop". Except it wasn't--it earned more than seven times its $8.5 million budget.

* The UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis' 32X add-on is an infamous bomb. It's stated that that both the rise of the next generation of consoles and gamers being sick of Genesis add-on's is why is failed. The 32X is commonly cited as a major reason Sega ultimately left the console race only a few years into the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast's life. However, this narrative is false and is more CommonKnowledge than anything. The 32X's launch was successful, it had over 1 million preorders (though only 600k units could be produced by Christmas 1994), and it sold 400k units in 1995. The 32X was discontinued after barely a year because of the failure of the American UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn launch, not the add-on itself. After the Saturn's disastrous launch in the US, Sega discontinued all consoles except for the Saturn so that resources would be focused on the new console.
* The first ''VideoGame/{{ARMS}}'' game is teased as being a failure compared to other Nintendo [=IPs=] such as ''VideoGame/Splatoon2''. It sold over 2 million copies, which is impressive for an experimental new IP.
* Despite ''VideoGame/CrashBandicootTheWrathOfCortex'' getting fairly mediocre reviews and even mocked in ''VideoGame/CrashTwinsanity'' via a meta joke for "not doing quite as well as we hoped", the game sold over 3 million copies on PS2 alone and made for a Greatest Hits/Platinum/The Best reissue.
* ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' is more famous for its legendary DevelopmentHell than the actual game that was finally released in 2011. Reviews ranged from "the most atrocious, outdated, insultingly bad game I have ever played" to "barely average". Despite all this, and everyone wanting to relegate Duke to the dustbin of history...it made a profit in the end. Still, future Duke Nukem games are EXTREMELY unlikely at this point due to the game's infamy and Duke's [[ValuesDissonance outdated, misogynistic demeanor]].

Note that an Assumed Flop is not necessarily that much of a success for the creator in the long run. For instance, a widely-derided film making you a bit of money can border on PyrrhicVictory -- sure, it sold, but your reputation has taken a hit, a sequel is likely to flop, or it might not have made ''enough'' money to justify a sequel.

'''Note''': The point of this Audience Reaction is that the work is incorrectly assumed to be a financial failure, a critical failure, or both, when any glance at box office sales or Metacritic can prove you wrong. Even if "people think it's bad" is the reason the work is believed to be a flop, please do not post a long rant about the work. Give a brief explanation why the work was poorly received, and leave it at that.

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* Many people believe that ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' earned low ratings, leading to its cancellation midway through it's second season. On the contrary, ratings were actually fairly decent - the show was just too expensive.