Here are some of the many overhyped games that were never released. May you find something else to play in your spare time.
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00:00From long-running franchises to brand new IP, developers long to create the projects
00:05of their dreams. Sometimes, unfortunately, either the funds fall through or the games
00:10are outright canceled, robbing players of the chance to enjoy them.
00:14With so many hugely popular franchises under the Rockstar Games umbrella, the idea of a
00:19new IP from their studio might sound both exciting and terrifying. We may never know
00:24how a new IP would have turned out. After announcing Agent in June 2009, Rockstar eventually
00:30ceased development on the spy thriller.
00:33According to Rockstar's description, Agent would have placed players in the shoes of
00:37a counter-intelligence operative at the height of the Cold War. At its announcement, the
00:42team revealed their plans to release Agent exclusively on the PlayStation 3.
00:46On paper, the concept is stellar. At least, fans certainly thought so. A few years back,
00:52even after work on Agent went quiet, gamers were still excitedly talking about the title
00:57when a former developer leaked development screenshots. Sure, some folks wanted a new
01:01Red Dead Redemption at the time, and others had no clue what Agent was, but many were
01:06genuinely holding out hope.
01:08"...have some f-----g faith!"
01:12Although the studio continues to list Agent on its website, DualShockers reported in 2018
01:18that Rockstar had abandoned the title and trademark altogether, making it even more
01:23unlikely that the game will ever truly exist. Perhaps it's not all bad, though. Some players
01:29speculate that the work for Agent could end up benefiting Grand Theft Auto 6, whenever
01:33that releases.
01:34How do you feel about Dark Souls? Bloodborne. With their grueling difficulty, both titles
01:39exemplify the hardcore RPG experience. When Capcom announced Deep Down, their answer to
01:45FromSoftware's unbelievably difficult RPGs, gamers were beyond excited. Over the last
01:51few years, the announcement video has racked up almost one million views total, with thousands
01:56of comments from excited fans, even if they had no idea what the hell the dude in the
02:00trailer was saying.
02:01"...more useless magic and heavy porking lines in the old market for one-tenth the hassle
02:06of your empty venture."
02:07Sadly, those fans never got to experience the actual game. Following the game's announcement
02:12in 2013, Capcom went eerily quiet regarding its Souls-like game. In 2019, in an interview
02:19with Eurogamer, producer Yoshinori Ono said, quote, "...it's not being completely given
02:24up on."
02:25Unfortunately, in 2020, Yoshinori Ono left Capcom, and without an experienced producer
02:30working on the project, Deep Down seemingly went dark once more. In fact, as of 2021,
02:36the trademark for Deep Down has officially been abandoned.
02:40This one, well…
02:42"...but it still hurts. It hurts bad."
02:45At E3 2014, Microsoft debuted an announcement trailer for Scalebound, which brought in thousands
02:51of views and hundreds of comments from players excitingly awaiting its release. Scalebound,
02:56an action role-playing game for Xbox One and PC, was in development at Platinum Games.
03:01The title featured third-person gameplay, dragon companions, and a ton of customization
03:07Like any good role-playing game, for fans who wanted a hybrid RPG experience on their
03:12Xbox consoles, Scalebound appeared picture-perfect. Then, like many other canceled games, the studio
03:18went quiet. Speaking with IGN in 2017, a Microsoft representative confirmed that Scalebound,
03:25after careful deliberation at Microsoft, was canceled. Instead, the publisher chose to
03:30focus its efforts and finances on games such as Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2, and Sea
03:35of Thieves. Speculation as to why Scalebound was canceled abounds. Unfortunately, the hype
03:41is gone. The game's subreddit has become nearly as quiet as the title itself.
03:47With Ubisoft at the helm, the Rainbow Six series has offered tactical first-person shooter
03:51co-op action that fans adore. When the studio announced Rainbow Six Patriots in 2011, those
03:57same fans were rightfully excited. The debut trailer, which was still receiving new comments
04:02from interested fans years after its release, hinted at a more realistic and brutal type
04:07of game. Ubisoft even went so far as to announce a release window of 2013, which, as you may
04:13have figured by now, never happened. Why? Well, as it turns out, the studio decided
04:17to ditch Rainbow Six Patriots and its controversially mature themes in favor of focusing on Rainbow
04:23Six Siege. The team wanted a next-gen experience for the new consoles, using destruction technology
04:29to change how players move through a map. It would appear that, despite the hype for
04:34Patriots, the studio made the correct business decision. Over on Steam, Rainbow Six Siege
04:39routinely enjoys thousands of players at any given time.
04:51Who doesn't love a good survival horror experience? Unfortunately, it has been quite some time
04:56since the last Silent Hill entry. Fans were ready, and so when Kojima Productions' Silent
05:01Hills was officially announced in 2012, the hype was definitely real. It was to be the
05:06ninth installment in the main series. This time around, Konami and Kojima Productions
05:11partnered with Norman Reedus as the lead actor for the project. Film director Guillermo Del
05:16Toro was also on board, presumably to ensure the horror aspects of this new release were
05:21However, in 2015, the game was officially canceled. Before its cancellation, the studio
05:27released a demo on the PlayStation 4, dubbed P.T., aka Playable Teaser. It was perhaps
05:33one of the scariest game demos ever released, and it helped generate plenty of interest
05:37in the final product. Unfortunately, it was removed from the PlayStation Store following
05:42the game's cancellation. Fans missed the P.T. demo even years after the full game's cancellation.
05:48But that might not be the end. There are rumors within the gaming industry that Silent
05:52Hills might one day be revived as a PlayStation 5-exclusive title.
05:58Way back in 2002, developer Nihilistic Software received the green light by Blizzard Entertainment
06:03to develop a brand new game set in the StarCraft universe. That title was a stealth action
06:08game named StarCraft Ghost. This was meant to be a unique experience, as fans basically
06:14only knew StarCraft from its real-time strategy iterations. Ghost was meant to feature complex
06:19combat, climbing maneuvers, and pilotable vehicles.
06:23Unfortunately, StarCraft Ghost never happened. The game toiled in development hell until
06:282014, when Blizzard officially confirmed the title was canceled. So, what went wrong?
06:34Speaking with Polygon, Robert Huebner of Nihilistic Software revealed that Blizzard outright canceled
06:39the game because it was felt that the new installment wasn't up to snuff. The publisher
06:44had allegedly demanded new features and experimentation rather than a finely tuned and focused game.
06:50Pairing that with inconsistent feedback from higher-ups led to Ghost's untimely end.
06:56Following the purchase of the Star Wars IP by Disney, the franchise has continued to
07:00grow in popularity worldwide. That is, at least when it comes to movies. What about
07:04video games? While EA worked on improving Star Wars Battlefront II, many fans clamored
07:10for more focused single-player experiences. Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order would eventually
07:14deliver that, but Star Wars 1313 was meant to do it first. The game would have featured
07:20fluid motion capture, character-driven experiences, and a ton of lore faithful to the franchise.
07:26An E3 demo from 2013 has racked up over 3 million views and nearly 8,000 comments, with
07:31more arriving by the day.
07:34On paper, Star Wars 1313 was the perfect single-player Star Wars game. So, what happened?
07:39I got a bad feeling about this.
07:42After acquiring LucasArts, Disney almost immediately shut down the game division of the studio,
07:47laying off 150 employees and canceling both 1313 and Star Wars First Assault. In 2013,
07:55a LucasArts rep told Game Informer that they hoped Star Wars 1313 would see a second life
08:00on next-gen consoles, but that unfortunately never came to pass.
08:05In July 2010, to much fanfare from the community, Mega Man Universe was revealed to the world,
08:11and the announcement trailer alone brought in hundreds of comments from nearly 200,000
08:15viewers. Mega Man is a franchise with a strong cult following, dating back to the first game
08:20on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987. Past titles were simple platformers, in which
08:26the player moves from the left side of the map to the rightmost side of the map, with
08:30enemies and the occasional boss in between. Mega Man Universe promised more of the same
08:34beloved gameplay, with classic levels updated for the modern era, and your choice of character
08:39from a broad selection.
08:41To the retro gamer, Mega Man Universe sounds perfect. It was to be a refreshing take on
08:45a beloved franchise. So, why did Capcom cancel and abandon the game entirely? The folks at
08:51Kotaku believe it's because Keiji Inafune, the series' creator, left the studio. Unfortunately
08:57for the curious among you, Capcom is mum on why it canceled your favorite Blue Armored
09:01Fighter's big return. The only reasoning Capcom gave was to vaguely blame the cancellation
09:06on various circumstances.
09:09Over on Steam, the original fez from developer Polytron and creator Phil Fish sits comfortably
09:14at a very positive rating with almost 10,000 unique reviews. It's an indie game success
09:19story, which is why Mr. Fish featured prominently in indie game The Movie.
09:24I'm so closely attached to it. This is my identity. It's fez. I'm guy making fez.
09:31A follow-up made complete sense, what with the success of the first game. So, why did
09:35a second game never launch? It was certainly hyped up, with an announcement trailer that
09:40netted thousands of views, and all for an indie game. In an episode of Invisible Walls,
09:45GameTrailers.com's Marcus Beer openly criticized Phil Fish. Beer claimed Fish did not deserve
09:51the recognition and fame he received within the indie game community. Fish obviously was
09:56unhappy with Beer's comments. At the time, he angrily lashed out on Twitter, claiming
10:01Fez 2 was officially canceled and that he was quitting game development.
10:05Later on in early 2015, reports surfaced alleging that Fish significantly stole from indie hit
10:10titles such as Dyad and M++. Hate him or love him, Fish was working on an indie follow-up
10:16that folks still yearn for. Even over on the Steam forums, where activity is usually focused
10:21on solving bugs or begging for free games, players discussed Fez 2 with some announcing
10:26their love for the original game and hope for a second release.
10:30In 2013, Microsoft and Lionhead Studios announced the latest entry in the famed Fable franchise.
10:36Fable Legends, exclusive to the Xbox One, was meant to be a cooperative entry in the
10:41long-running role-playing series, a much-anticipated way to finally enjoy the shenanigans of the
10:46Fable world while bringing a partner along for some laughs. Peter Molyneux, the creator
10:51of Fable, led development on past games. He handled game design, public relations, and
10:56many other tasks at Lionhead Studios. When Molyneux left the studio, Microsoft took over
11:01the reins and requested a new role-playing game set in Molyneux's world, albeit with
11:06new concepts and a focus on a games-as-a-service model.
11:10Thus, Fable Legends was conceived as the fourth entry in the series. So, with over 1,000 comments
11:15from both excited and wary fans on the E3 gameplay demo, how come Fable Legends never
11:21came out?
11:22For a few reasons, it turns out. Fable Legends was built using Unreal Engine 4, which wasn't
11:27quite ready for use at the time. Furthermore, reports claim the studio hired a, quote,
11:32"...competitive multiplayer expert," who advised numerous changes, all of which the studio
11:38ignored. The game's budget ballooned to $75 million before Microsoft gave it the axe.
11:44Looks like you're about to get pwned.
11:49There are an estimated 5 million players enjoying World of Warcraft each month, so it's safe
11:55to say that Blizzard Entertainment is king of the MMORPG. When the studio announced yet
12:00another MMO, this one dubbed Project Titan, people were both excited and hopeful for a
12:05new generation of gaming. The studio put some serious work into the project, spending seven
12:11years developing this next-gen MMO.
12:13When the news came about that Blizzard was officially canceling their MMO project, the
12:17world sat aghast. So much money and time, all gone down the drain. But why?
12:22Speaking to Polygon on the topic, Blizzard's Chris Metzen called the game's cancellation
12:27excruciating. CEO Mike Morhaime agreed with the sentiment, saying, quote,
12:32"...it's always really, really hard to make those kinds of decisions, but it has always
12:36resulted in better quality work."
12:38With the continued success of World of Warcraft, perhaps Blizzard Entertainment will once again
12:43take a crack at creating a brand new MMORPG. Only time will tell.