We often get to see plenty of information about games before they’re even released, with companies giving us a sneak peek behind the curtain at the development process and building the hype for the forthcoming title. However, having seen what the game would have been like makes it even harder for fans to take the news that the game has been canceled.
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With all the news of things being delayed or canceled due to COVID-19, such as the recentGamescom 2020 cancellation, we’ve decided to take a look at ten games that were canceled that everyone wanted to get their hands on. Some of these games were so close to being finished that we had betas for them, but unfortunately, they bit the dust before they hit the shelves.
10Disney Infinity 4.0 Kingdoms
Remember when the world went crazy for toys-to-life style games?Disney Infinitywas Avalanche Software’s answer to the fan demand of more interactive games similar toSkylanders,and the franchise was a huge success. It went on to have two sequels as well as a host of additional figures and merchandise.
However, the toys-to-life fad eventually died off andDisney Infinity 4.0ended up being an unintended casualty, along with the studio itself. Somealpha footage of the game was released last year via Vimeoand it gave us some insight into what it would have been like, showing that it was subtitledKingdomsand was based in Agrabah. Additional figures for3.0and4.0were also axed whenDisney Infinityshut down, and you can check some of them outhere.
9Fez 2
Fezreleased in 2012 on the Xbox 360 to critical acclaim and was eventually released on PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and the PlayStation Vita at a later date. Naturally, fans were delighted when a sequel was announced at E3 in 2013. Unfortunately, just a few months later,Fez 2was canceled with the official Polytron account and the game’s creator, Phil Fish, sharing the news on Twitter.
The cancellation came after aheated internet debate between Phil Fish and Marcus Beer, also known as Annoyed Gamer, which ultimately ended with Fish declaring that he was cancelingFez 2so he didn’t have to “put up with this abuse anymore”.
8Fable Legends
After multiple successfulFabletitles, Lionhead studios decided to branch out with an online co-operative game titledFable Legendsthat was set several hundred years before the original trilogy took place. The game featured a team of four heroes who were set against a villain who could use an army of creatures to impede the heroes. Players could work with others online, or play solo and utilize the AI system to fill the other roles.
Fable Legendswas pretty far in development with a closed beta available to fans at the time when Lionhead Studios was closed, taking the unfinished game down with it.
7Star Wars: 1313
Star Wars: 1313was unveiled to fans at E3 in 2012. Players would have taken on the role of an unknown bounty hunter, before eventually stepping into the suit of fan-favorite, Boba Fett, while exploring a subterranean metropolis named Level 1313 on the planet Coruscant. The game promised to be a more mature take on the franchise and was hotly anticipated by many players.
Related:10 Games To Play If You Loved Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Unfortunately, when LucasArts closed its doors in 2013, the development ofStar Wars: 1313ended. Last monthmore screenshots of the game leaked online, reminding players exactly what they were missing out on.
6Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6: Patriots
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6: Patriotswas announced in 2011, the plot of which would follow Team Rainbow as they traveled to New York City to deal with the terrorist group the True Patriots. In 2012, multiple members of the development team were let go and rumors began to circulate that the game was in troubled waters. Fan’s fears were put to rest at E3 of 2013 when Ubisoft confirmed the game was still in development and released further information that players would additionally be able to take on the roles of the True Patriots in addition to playing as Team Rainbow.
Despite this reassurance, in June of 2014Rainbow 6: Patriotswas officially canceled and it was announced thatTom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siegewould replace it.
5Prey 2
The originalPreyreleased in 2006 and was met with positive reviews and praise, so there was no surprise when a sequel was announced to be in development just a few months later. The rights to the game changed hands in 2009 andPrey 2was acquired by Bethesda Softworks, leaving fans hoping that work on the sequel would now begin in earnest.
However, at PAX in 2014, Bethesda Softworks' vice-president Pete Hines announced thatPrey 2had officially been canceled. However, there was a small silver lining as at E3 in 2016, Bethesda announced a reimagining of the franchise, and fans received a newPreytitle by Arkane Studios in 2017.
4Scalebound
Scaleboundwas an action RPG being developed by PlatinumGames that was set to be a Microsoft exclusive, with it launching solely for Xbox One and PC.Scaleboundwould allow players to take on the role of Drew and work together with his dragon Thuban throughout the game.
Related:10 Canceled Horror Games You Never Knew Existed
Regrettably, the game was canceled in 2017, the same year that it had originally planned to release for.PlatinumGames recently commented that it would love to return toScalebound, but that Microsoft currently owns the IP. Perhaps there’s still hope for this game yet.
3Silent Hills
Silent Hillswas set to be the ninth installment in theSilent Hillfranchise and garnered much excitement after fans were able to get a taste of it via theP.T.demo. Kojima Productions was at the helm and it was set to star Norman Reedus as the protagonist.
Despite being a promising game, Konami and Kojima Productions parted ways and itled toSilent Hillsbeing scrapped entirely. The cancellation was met with much criticism and fans even tried to petition for its revival, to no effect. Fans can still keep their fingers crossed that the franchise will continue though, as there arerumors that aSilent Hillannouncement will be coming next month.
2Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damnedwas set to be an ambitious project; an open-world action-RPG based on Disney’sPirates of the Caribbeanfranchise that would release for Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3. The game was set beforeThe Curse of the Black Pearlfilm and players would take control of Captain James Sterling as he traveled the open seas to make a name for himself as a pirate.
In October of 2010, Disney Interactive Studios announced that it would lay off some of Propaganda’s staff, the developers behindArmada of the Damned, as part of a restructuring process. The remaining staff worked to finishTron: Evolution, but after this title bombed on release, the entirety of Propaganda was shut down. Unfortunately, this also meant the end ofArmada of the Damned.
TheLegacy of Kainfranchise has multiple titles to its name and a large fan base, so it was unsurprising to hear another sequel was in the works. What was surprising was that fans found out about it after it had already been scrapped.Legacy of Kain: Dead Sunwas set to release on PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 4 and was set in the distant future of theLegacy of Kainworld, introducing players to new protagonists in the gothic world of Nosgoth.
The game was canceled in 2012 after it had been in development for three years. Fans would later discover its existence when someone at NeoGAF unearthed details about it from a report that was published about a forthcoming title namedNosgoth. It turns out that Square Enix and Psyonix had repurposed the multiplayer mode they had originally planned forDead Suninto its own standalone game,Nosgoth, and that was how fans discovered the truth.
