Top 20 Announced Games That Never Got Made
Top 20 Cancelled Video Games
Top 10 Video Games Cancelled for Dumb Reasons
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 20 Cancelled Video Games. For this list, we’ll be counting down the sadly ever-expanding list of games that will never see the light of day. Which of these cancelled games do you wish you could play? Let us know in the comments below!
#20: “Gotham by Gaslight”
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The “Arkham” series is without a doubt awesome, but before those games there was another epic story-driven Batman game in development. “Gotham by Gaslight” was to be based on the comic series of the same name, and throws Batman in a Victorian England steam-punk setting, where the main villain is Jack the Ripper. The setting sounded incredibly cool, but unfortunately THQ couldn't secure franchise rights to the iconic caped crusader, and this game was cancelled after only one early teaser video.
#19: “Prey 2”
The original “Prey” fused visceral run-and-gun shooting gameplay with some interesting mechanics, such as the ability to manipulate gravity and perform 'spirit walks.’ In “Prey 2”, you would have played as an amnesiac bounty hunter who attempts to uncover his past and blast aliens on the planet Exodus. “Prey 2”'s development was troubled from the start, and after almost 6 years in development the game was cancelled because it didn't meet Bethesda's “quality standards.” Although the franchise would later be rebooted, 6 years of work down the drain must have definitely hurt.
#18: “Sadness”
There was a lack of adult-oriented games on the Wii, so it's a shame that “Sadness” never saw the light of day. One of the first games announced for the console, “Sadness” mixed beautiful-looking black and white graphics with horror gameplay that was going to be both tense and psychological. It promised a really unique storyline, dealing with mental disorders and family issues in a bleak, Eastern European setting. The game's release became questionable when no gameplay footage was shown, and eventually it was unceremoniously cancelled due to development issues.
#17: “Fez 2”
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This game's fate is tied to that of Phil Fish – for good or ill. At E3 2013, a brief trailer teased this sequel to the critically-acclaimed platforming game “Fez”, with the expectation that developer Polytech was beginning work on the project. However, things went awry when – after a heated argument over Twitter – lead developer Phil Fish not only announced his departure from game development, but outright cancelled “Fez 2” out of spite. Such a shame.
#16: “Eight Days”
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We're scratching our heads trying to figure this one out. Made by SCE London Studio, part of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, this action game seems to have been highly experimental in nature. It supposedly was meant to include two parallel storylines, a real life clock, two protagonists who eventually team up to confront the game's villains, and eight states to explore. The game slowly fell from the public's radar, before it was abruptly cancelled on the grounds that it lacked online play.
#15: “Donkey Kong Racing”
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Rare, who at the time was a second party developer for Nintendo, began work on a GameCube sequel to “Diddy Kong Racing” that would focus more on Diddy's older cousin – Donkey Kong himself, plus his extended cast. The game Rare teased with a tech demo would have operated on an evolutionary model; the animals that the various Kongs ride could be upgraded by consuming food, or switched out mid-race in favour of a new mount. Unfortunately, Rare's buyout by Microsoft in 2002 makes this project an accidental casualty. Rare did try to salvage this project by rebranding it as “Sabreman Stampede” with their own Sabreman mascot, but unfortunately that too was cancelled.
#14: “Earthbound 64”
A sequel to 1994's “Earthbound” was expected, but this stumble certainly wasn't. Shortly before “Earthbound” was released, work began on the next installment. The sequel was to be in 3D and released for the Nintendo 64DD, occurring ten years after “Earthbound” and sporting twelve playable characters across twelve chapters. However, the combination of the 64DD's failure and the development team's inexperience in 3D game design stopped this project short. Thankfully, the story doesn't end there – it became the Game Boy Advance cult classic “Mother 3” – which still never got a western release.
#13: “Sonic X-treme”
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This planned Sega Saturn title was the brainchild of Sega Technical Institute, whose vision for the game shifted from traditional side-scroller to full 3D platforming game. In fact, it would have been the first 3D Sonic game, had pressure and physical limitation not intervened. Game engines were swapped out for one another, team members worked themselves to the point of extreme sickness, and the studio fell into chaos. Eventually, producer Mike Wallis had to make the hard call, and the game was canned – leaving the Sega Saturn without its Sega’s flagship mascot to carry it.
#12: “Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans”
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The stars really seemed to line up on this one. American developer Animation Magic was tasked with designing gameplay for a darkly comical Point & Click adventure game based on Blizzard's “Warcraft” franchise. Once the framework was ready, Blizzard provided the voice talent, world design, and patented series continuity. What went wrong? Well, Blizzard took one look at the near-finished product and felt it wasn't up to their usual standards. They elected to cancel the game, though a beta version was leaked and can still be found to this day, and many of the characters found their way into future blizzard endeavours.
#11: “Star Wars Battlefront III”
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In an alternate universe, EA never acquired the license to our beloved “Battlefront” series. This sequel to the childhood memories of many would have implemented seamless travel between on-foot and space combat. Developed by Free Radical Design, the game would have been released on the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, but tension rose between Free Radical and publisher LucasArts. Missed deadlines caused late payments which caused missed deadlines which caused late payments, and so on and so forth. It essentially became a cycle of spite and finger-pointing. Once Disney bought “Star Wars”, the project was terminated, the license was sold to EA, and the rest is history.
#10: “StarCraft: Ghost”
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This canceled project would have given players a whole new angle from which to view the expansive StarCraft universe, taking the normally real-time strategy series into the third person action genre. Rather than a hulking, armored Marine, players would have taken control of Nova, a Terran special ops agent who must uncover a sinister conspiracy within the Terran Dominion. Initially developed by California-based studio Nihilistic Software in conjunction with Blizzard, development was eventually handed off to Swingin’ Ape Studios before finally being canceled in 2005. Much like its stealthy protagonist, the game disappeared into the shadows, leaving only cutscenes and gameplay footage to entice StarCraft fans.
#9: “Alan Wake 2”
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In the original Alan Wake, players slipped on the shoes of a struggling writer who finds himself beset by mysterious shadowy forces while attempting to overcome writer’s block in the secluded Washington town of Bright Falls. Heavily inspired by the works of Stephen King and TV series like Twin Peaks, the game won numerous accolades for its atmosphere and writing, driving interest in a sequel. Despite developing a prototype for a proposed second game continuing Alan’s adventures, publisher Remedy were unable to find a distributor for their ambitious follow-up. Elements from Remedy’s prototype were retooled into “Alan Wake’s American Nightmare,” so not all was lost.
#8: “Dungeon Keeper 3: War for the Overworld”
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While navigating mazes and dungeons filled with lethal traps and enemies is an experience most gamers will be more than a little familiar with, the acclaimed Dungeon Keeper series gives players a taste of what it’s like on the other side of that familiar staple, allowing them to construct deadly mazes to thwart pesky heroes. When it came time to develop the series’ third installment, which would have included the first above-ground segments in the series, development was halted by publisher EA, who moved series developer Bullfrog onto other, more lucrative projects. A mobile title was released in 2014 but was heavily criticized for its extensive use of in-app purchases.
#7: “Fallout Online”
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Set in the expansive post-apocalyptic future of the Fallout universe, this proposed MMO would have seen players fighting to survive in the irradiated ruins of the US, cooperatively battling raiders, super mutants, ghouls, and each other for control of the Wasteland. Interplay had apparently mapped out around 65 thousand square miles of terrain, which would have made this MMO truly deserving of the “massive” part of the term. Unfortunately, legal disputes between Interplay and Bethesda Softworks, put the project back into the vault, sealing it off from Fallout fans forever, no matter how many points they’d put into their lockpicking skill.
#6: “Mega Man Legends 3”
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The Legends series brings the Blue Bomber’s adventures into the third dimension, allowing players to explore the far-flung future of 80XX in full 3D, instead of the series’ usual 2D side scrolling action. After two core games and a spinoff focusing on the air pirate antihero Tron Bonne, series creator Keiji Inafune expressed interest in a third core entry. The third game would have introduced new characters and continued the series’ epic story. However, Inafune split with developer Capcom in 2010, leaving the third entry in the Legends series to join games like Mega Man Universe and the FPS Maverick Hunter on the list of canceled Mega Man projects.
#5: “GoldenEye 007” (Xbox Live Remake)
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When it comes to first-person shooters, the classic title Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64 is considered a massive landmark in the genre, as well as one of the best movie-tie-in games ever produced. So naturally, nostalgic gamers looking to relive their cherished memories have been eager for a modern update to the classic title. In 2008, it looked as though this wish would be granted, as word got out that developer Rare as well as Microsoft, MGM and Activision would bring an HD remake of the influential shooter to the Xbox Live Arcade. Sadly, copyright disputes killed the game like a shot from a golden gun.
#4: “Scalebound”
Imagine How to Train your Dragon but filtered through a lens of anime and rock music and you’ll have a pretty good idea of why this game’s cancellation was such a downer. From legendary studio PlatinumGames and director Hideki Kamiya, who helmed such classics as Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe, the game would have had players assume control of a massive dragon and its human rider Drew in a wholly original fantasy world known as Draconis. The game was originally slated for release in 2016 before being pushed back a year before being canceled, for reasons that have yet to be clarified.
#3: “Star Wars: 1313”
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The acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney in 2012 resulted in a lot of great things, but sadly also brought about the cancellation of this highly anticipated title. A dark, gritty third-person action shooter reminiscent of the Uncharted series, the game would have had players assume control of the legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett and explore Coruscant’s seedier side as he ventures into Level 1313, a lower level of the galactic capital and home to numerous shady criminal elements. Despite looking like every Star Wars fan’s dream when it was unveiled at E3 2013, development of the game was halted after developer LucasArts was shut down by Disney.
#2: “Silent Hills”
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A horror game masterminded by Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear Solid series and director Guillermo del Toro sounds too good to be true, and it turns out the world just wasn’t ready for a dream team of that magnitude. Hype for the much-anticipated project reached a fever pitch upon the release of the game’s playable trailer P.T, which sees Norman Reedus’s protagonist navigating an endlessly looping hallway populated by pure nightmare fuel. But in 2015 it was announced by Del Toro that the game was officially canceled following Kojima’s break from publisher Konami, leaving us dreaming of the nightmares that could have been.
#1: “Half-Life 2: Episode Three”
While we were finally treated to the excellent VR-based title “Half Life: Alyx” there’s been no word on the future adventures of everyone’s favorite mute, crowbar-swinging theoretical physicist, Gordon Freeman. The “Episode” series of Half-Life 2 was originally announced to be a trilogy and with the resignation of series writer Marc Laidlaw, as well as the leak of a story treatment for the planned next installment, it’s somewhat safe to assume we won’t be seeing the third entry any time soon. Given the series’ legendary status and a legion of devoted fans, many of whom still hold out hope to this day that they’ll get closure, we can’t think of a bigger shame.
