10 Games We're Actually HAPPY Got Canceled

10 Video Games We’re Happy Got Canceled

Welcome to MojoPlays and as much as we love video games, there are more than a few we’re happy never saw a full release.

“Spider-Man: The Great Web”

With the impending release of Spider-Man 2, rumors began swirling that the game would offer some sort of co-op support for the two Spider-Men in the game which Insomniac immediately squashed. However, it would seem there WAS a multiplayer Spider-Man game being designed by Insomniac before ultimately being canceled without ever formally being confirmed. Along with numerous leaks during the studio’s notorious hack, a concept pitch trailer was released online, and while the prospect of fighting through a multiverse with a multitude of Spider-Men and Women does sound interesting, we’re honestly happy this one never got past the conceptual stage. The Great Web was seemingly pitched as yet another “live service” game in a genre drowning in them. This endeavor would have undoubtedly tied up valuable resources from many teams within Insomniac that otherwise could have been working on far more successful projects. This is a similar reasoning Naughty Dog had in canceling The Last of Us Online.

“Taxi Driver: The Game”

Some ideas are so ridiculous, you wonder how they ever got past the conceptual stage. A prime example of this is Taxi Driver: The Game, in which developer Papaya Studio looked to develop a direct sequel story wise to Martin Scorsese’s dark and gritty noir film in the vein of Grand Theft Auto. This concept alone tells us the developers completely misunderstood the film’s complex narrative and character development. Instead looking to, as many outlets rightfully called out, “gamify” the film’s violence and extremely dark material to simply capitalize on the trend of adapting beloved classic films a la Rockstar’s The Warriors. Thankfully, pressure from Scorsese himself, as well as publisher Majesco’s financial problems, meant the game was canceled and never saw the light of day even though, shockingly, Robert De Niro was on board to reprise his role as Travis Bickle.

“Batman: The Dark Knight”

After the success of Christopher Nolan’s revival of the Batman film series, Pandemic was tasked with crafting a video game adaptation of his upcoming sequel “The Dark Knight”. Pandemic’s big plans for this adaptation sought to create an open world for The Dark Knight to explore. However, their ambitions outpaced their abilities at the time and the game was ultimately canceled, reverting the Batman license back to Warner Bros which led to arguably some of the greatest superhero video games of all time with the highly influential Arkham series. Surprisingly, the recently leaked footage looks very impressive and eerily reminiscent of what Rocksteady would eventually go on to create to widespread acclaim. Who knows what could have been, but this is one of the only games that we’re happy didn’t see release not because it would have been bad, but because of what we would have lost had it been completed.

“Radical Heights”

Cliff Blizinski is rightfully known as a rockstar in the gaming industry, having been instrumental in the development of the Unreal Engine and the creator of the Gears of War series. After briefly leaving the industry behind, his grand return Lawbreakers from his newly founded studio Boss Key Productions failed to find an audience despite the solid gameplay and reception. In a last-ditch effort to save the studio, the team hastily threw together Radical Heights purely to capitalize on the Battle Royale trend. The game was described to be in an “X-treme Early Access” state, and this was immediately evident to anyone who played the game. With all the copy-cat Battle Royale games released in the wake of Fortnite and PUBG’s success, it’s a shame to see such a prominent creator merely chasing trends and unfortunately the reception of Radical Heights not only led to the cancellation of the game but the closure of Boss Key.

“The Avengers”

Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics’ Marvel’s Avengers game almost wasn’t the first AAA misstep for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. That dubious honor goes to THQ’s Avengers game which was planned to release alongside the MCU film of the same name. The game would have had no ties to the MCU or the film itself, instead adapting the critically acclaimed “Secret Invasion” storyline. And yet somehow, that’s not even the strangest decision this game made. No, that comes from the gameplay itself, which allowed players to step into the underoos of their favorite superheroes quite literally. Developed as a “first person brawler” alongside co-op, each member of the Avengers team would have their own special set of powers and abilities which could be used in tandem with other heroes for “Assist Attacks”. Canceled due to financial struggles, many of the title’s ideas were repurposed for the game “Marvel’s Avengers Battle for Earth” whose reception was lukewarm at best.

“Aliens: Crucible”

Aliens: Crucible looked to introduce a unique approach to the Alien universe by adding more traditional RPG elements to the mix. Players would have needed to manage their resources as well as their relationships with other survivors who could even be permanently killed or lost due to player actions or lack of supplies. Obsidian described the game as “horror Mass Effect” and players would need to decide how to deal with characters infected by face huggers, whether that meant mercy kill, freezing them, or allowing the chest burster to emerge. While an interesting premise, executives didn’t see the appeal and most likely given Obsidian’s track record at the time, the game likely wouldn’t have been given the time or support it needed to reach the studio’s ambitions. Despite offering something entirely unique to the Alien universe, it is better for the game to never be released at all than risk the studio’s future.

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Fable: Legends”

Fable is a series that is very near and dear to a lot of fans’ hearts even despite it never quite reaching creator Peter Molyneux’s lofty ambitions. The first 3 entries allowed players to craft their own hero or villain story and the various interactions and minigames were a major highlight with fans. What the series was not was an asymmetric multiplayer experience. Fable Legends left the franchise’s trademark single player offerings behind and instead gave one player control over the entire path the heroes follow, laying traps and enemies in their path as they go. Although Legends still took place within the original Fable universe, much of the series identity was lost besides some familiar locations and basic mythology. Legends tested well and eventually even entered a beta release before ultimately being canceled. Hopefully the upcoming Fable from Playground Games will be a return to form for the once beloved series.

“Doom 4”

The Doom series was going through something of an identity crisis after the mixed response to Doom 3. Instead of focusing on the speed of the series’ trademark run and gun gameplay, Doom 3 instead amped up the horror to mixed results. With the planned fourth entry, Doom could have once again deviated even further from the franchise roots and instead would have begun chasing Call of Duty and Battlefield’s coattails. Rightfully nicknamed Call of Doom, Doom 4 would have seen the demons return to Earth a la Doom 2 but instead of the Doom Slayer being an all-powerful demon killing machine, the gameplay skewed more towards the traditional Call of Duty formula leading to the aforementioned nickname. Thankfully the studio corrected itself and led to arguably one of the greatest revivals of a classic franchise of all time and reestablished Doom as the ultimate first-person shooter series.

“Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun”

Fans have been desperate for a new entry in the Legacy of Kain series for almost 2 decades, but they nearly had a follow-up that almost certainly wouldn’t have pleased anyone. Developed by Climax Studios instead of series creator’s Crystal Dynamics, Dead Sun looked to take the series open world and without the titular Kain or fan favorite protagonist Raziel. Instead, Dead Sun would take place centuries after the events of Kain and Raziel but would maintain the realm shifting abilities of the past games to solve puzzles as well as other familiar mechanics. While the released footage was appropriately dark and violent, Dead Sun lost much of the series' gothic feel and architecture and lost the Legacy of Kain identity. The developer’s comments that the game would also “reboot” or “retcon” the series’ lore and mythology did not fill longtime fans with any confidence that Dead Sun would have done the franchise justice.

“Timesplitters Next”

In 2021, fans of Timesplitters finally had hope when Deep Silver announced a brand-new game in the series created by some of the original creators themselves. Well, be careful what you wish for because after fans got their first look at what the new Free Radical was creating, they immediately wished it was undone. A Fortnite clone in every sense, from its gameplay to design and even the on-screen icons, were all ripped almost directly from Epic Games’ mega hit Battle Royale game. We can understand developers chasing trends, but this was damn near plagiarism. Understandably the fan reaction was incredibly negative, and the announcement of Free Radical shutting down received no pushback from fans. Thankfully, all 3 of the original Timesplitters games (the good ones) have recently been ported to modern consoles so we can continue to relive the best parts of our nostalgia without any “Fortnite-ification”.

What video game are you happy never saw the light of day? Let us know your picks in the comments.