Since theNintendo Entertainment System rejuvenated the home console industryfollowing its near collapse, the form of entertainment has gone from strength to strength. The industry’s rise has, of course, been extremely beneficial for gamers worldwide; as the huge sums of money involved have led to improved hardware, an influx of gaming developers and publishers, and therefore more games.
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Being the enormous form of business that gaming now is, with eye-watering amounts of money tied-in to it, publishers often have to make shrewd financial decisions; sadly for gamers, this can often mean pulling the plug on titles that are already in development. There have been some heartbreaking cancellations over the years, for numerous games thatsounded fantastic on paper.
10Star Wars Battlefront III
Following the success of the first twoStar Wars Battlefrontgames that were released in 2004 and 2005 respectively, it’s not too surprising that LucasArts had plans for a third entry shortly after.
Developed by Free Radical Design,Star Wars Battlefront IIIwas going to allow players to seamlessly transition from ground andspace battles, which would have been an incredible accomplishment on sixth-generation console hardware. Frustratingly for fans of the series,Steve Ellis of Free Radical claimed that the game was 99% finishedbefore it was canceled.
9Crash Bandicoot: Evolution
When the fifth main seriesCrash Bandicootgame released,Crash Twinsanity,it was clear that the product was unfinished. The game had a ton of potential, exemplified by a fantastic opening section that introduced free-roaming to the series for the first time. However, progressing through the game uncoverednumerous glitches, faulty gameplay mechanics, and disappointingly short runtime. The reason for the undercooked product becomes clear when learning aboutCrash Bandicoot: Evolution.
Crash Bandicoot: Evolutionwas whatCrash Twinsanitywas originally supposed to be; it planned to take Crash to a more sci-fi setting than ever before while implementing someRPG mechanics. The plan had to be scrapped, however, due to the release ofRatchet & Clankwhich had a very similar theme. The state thatCrash Twinsanityreleased implies that Traveller’s Tales weren’t given much time to adapt to the drastic change in direction.
8Doom 4
Doom 4was announced in August 2007 and intended to be a reboot of the series. The game suffered from numerous setbacks until it was ultimately scrapped and replaced withDoom(2016). Bethesda’s Pete Hines revealed the reason for the change in an interview with Polygon.
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Speaking in 2015 Pete Hines saidthat they weren’t happy with the game as it felt like it was becoming too similar to Activision’s Call of Duty series and that it simply didn’t feel enough like Doom.
7Daredevil: The Man Without Fear
Thesuperhero industrywasn’t always the powerhouse that it is today, but it was still a successful niche that Marvel hoped to profit from with a video-game tie-in to the 1993 comic seriesDaredevil: The Man Without Fear. The game was planned to release in 2003 but was canceled for numerous reasons including Sony and Marvel butting heads. A Game Boy iteration successfully released, though it was the console version that fans were hoping for.
As recently as November 2020,gameplay footage of the console version was posted on YouTube.
6Mega Man Universe
Mega Man Universewas planned to release on PlayStation Network and the Xbox Live Arcade sometime in the early 2010s. The game planned tolet players create their own levels and characters, and would haverecaptured the gameplay ofMega Man 2.
In March 2011, Capcom said in an official release that the game had been canceled. The release didn’t give too much away, simply saying that the decision was made due to “various circumstances.”
5Battle Of The Sith Lords
Published by LucasArts and Developed by Red Fly Studio,Battle of the Sith Lordswas planned to release in 2011 on all major platforms. It’s believed that the cancellation was due to Disney’s acquisition of LucasArts.
Battle of the Sith Lordswould have centered aroundStar Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menaceantagonist Darth Maul, with a coming-of-age story about his young life and turn to the Dark Side.An anonymous developer saidthat Darth Maul would have been kidnapped by Palpatine at a young age and forced into becoming a sith lord.
4Prey 2
One of the most universally recognized canceled video games,Prey 2hoped to recapture the success of the original 2006 game.Prey 2was announced shortly after the first game’s release in 2006, though development didn’t start until years later. Bethesda, who took charge of the project, re-announced the game at the start of 2011; but it was ultimately canceled in 2014.
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AlthoughPrey 2never made it past development, Bethesda and Arkane Studios did releasePrey(2017) which received a positive response from fans and critics.
3Gotham By Gaslight
Before the critically acclaimedBatman Arkhamseries, almost every non-Lego game featuring the caped crusader had been poorly received. Day 1 Studios looked to change this trend with a tie-in video game to the comic of the same name, which has since been made into an animated film.
Gameplay footage ofGotham By Gaslightcan found on YouTube. The game appears to have been a decent way into development, exemplified by Batman’s impressive cape mechanics and immersively eerie interpretation of the Victorian Era.
2Silent Hills
Along withPrey 2,Konami’sSilent Hillsis one of gaming’s most well-known cancellations. Unlike the vast majority of canceled video games, players were able to get a taste ofSilent Hillsin the form of an interactive teaser titledP.T.
In April 2015,Guillermo del Toro told an audience at the San Francisco Film Society event that the game was canceledbeforeactor Norman Reedus confirmed the news on Twitter the next day.The game was sadly canceled due toKojima Productions' public breakup with Konami.
1Star Wars: 1313
Star Wars: 1313instantly raised eyebrows when it was revealed that the game was going to have amature rating. The game was set tofollow bounty hunter Boba Fett in the criminal underworld of Coruscant.
Despite never releasing,Star Wars: 1313,believe it or not, won a Game of the Year award.The award came from Geek.comwho aimed to offer an alternative perspective from the usual crowd of nominees and winners.
