Just like with the film industry, there are cancellations made for video games. There could be several reasons why a particular IP may never get released into the market, from a small budget to a publisher or developer calling it quits for no reason at all. Sadly, there are a number of great video games that showed promise of selling a ton of units but have been canned. We combined our top cancelled video games that we wanted to play but we’ll never get the chance to.

Thesis

The word alone may cringe those who are currently in college but if you can look past the name, Thesis was a promising video game. Developed by Track7 Games, Thesis was a third-person adventure game. Set for launch in the past generation consoles, Thesis plays out a story of a journalist learning that his stepfather had passed away and it’s up to the player’s protagonist, Andonicos Kalogiruo, to reveal what happened to his stepfather and the paranormal activity that results in his journey. Alas the game was ultimately cancelled and the development team has since disbanded.

Gun Loco

 

We’re not too sure of what all Gun Loco was to consist but it looked interesting none the less. Square Enix was set to release Gun Loco, a game based on a prison planet where inmates ruled the world. At first the title was set to be exclusive for the Xbox 360 but ultimately died. The concept seemed interesting enough to pick up upon release. Perhaps Square Enix will give Gun Loco another shot in the near future.

Disaster Report 4

The Disaster Report series is very cool. Players are sent into different cities after a natural disaster had just occurred; their goal is simply to rescue people from the area. At the time, Disaster Report 4 was set to be available for Japan exclusively for the PlayStation 3 with 3D output capabilities and PlayStation Move support. Developed by Irem, the game was originally set to launch on March 10, 2011 a day before the massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami but was delayed to finish up the last bit of development. Disaster Report 4 was officially cancelled on March 14, 2011.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned

Okay before you start to skip onto the next title, Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned looked incredible. Normally, I’m with you on that fact that most video games adaptations of films are horrible for the most part but this title had the potential of being a success. Developed by Propaganda Games, this pirate game was an action-adventure RPG. Armada of the Damned had it’s very own story not based on the Pirate of the Caribbean trilogy. Within the game, players had the ability to act as a good or evil pirate through different quests set in an open world environment. At the time, Propaganda Games were developing both Pirates and the Tron: Evolution game, Disney pulled the plug on Pirates but kept the development open for Tron: Evolution, bad move Disney.

Eight Days

Eight Days was a Sony PlayStation 3 exclusive developed by SCE London Studio. First revealed at  E3 2006 during Sony’s press conference, the game looked amazing. SCE London Studio would have broke a record of Eight Days being the largest game map at the time. Eight Days offered two different characters throughout the game. Both after a mob syndicate but for two completely different reasons.

Cancellation came in on June 4^th 2008 from Sony Computer Entertainment. The official statement is a bit of low blow as the main reason for the cancellation was lack of online capabilities. At the time Sony was pushing online video game modes with Eight Days an offline IP the game had to be cut for other exclusives. However, on October of 2009 it has been confirmed that the game was no longer cancelled but put on hold. We’re assuming online game modes will likely be available when and if this game gets released.

Fallout Online

Fallout Online was a game that several gamers were looking forward in playing. I mean, who wouldn’t want to survive the wastelands with their friends? However, legal issues prevented the game from ever getting released. The game was being developed by Masthead Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment. Current Fallout owners Bethesda Softworks wasn’t feeling the vibe of a Fallout MMO and has started to push legal matters against the development. Bethesda even went as far as not letting any mention of the Fallout universe in Fallout Online which is kind of hard to do when your game is based within the Fallout universe.

The game ended up being cancelled and the legal mess was settled outside of court with Bethesda receiving full rights to the Fallout online video game for two million dollars. Perhaps the game may end up seeing the light of day now that Bethesda has the ultimate rights to the game and Elder Scrolls Online takes off.

LMNO

With a partnership announced with director Steven Spielberg, EA was looking to bring an emotional thriving title. Code-named LMNO, the video game was set to be an adventure RPG with similar elements to Mirrors Edge. Instead of fighting each and every battle, players were encouraged to avoid confrontation and flee using your free running skills.  Not too much was known about LMNO but the story was based around a protagonist which fell in love with a female alien. In order to preserve your love, players had to keep ahead of the FBI. However like most good things, the game was pulled. EA seemed reluctant on the cancellation as the development team had even changed LMNO into another title known as Escape Artist. The game held the same story but changed to a third-person action title but again  EA announced Escape Artist’s cancellation in 2009.

Time Crisis Adventure

We can only partially announce this as a cancelled title. Namco was looking to change up the Time Crisis series through the development team Darkworks. The Time Crisis Adventure was set to be a more horror action-adventure game. For unknown reasons Namco decided to back out in 2004.  Regardless of Namco pulling out at the last second, Darkworks continued to finish the  project. For Darkworks to release the game the development team went back throughout the game and got rid of any and all references of Time Crisis. Known as Cold Fear, Darkworks released the game in 2005.

Streets of Rage

If you played the Sega Genesis then there’s no doubt you’ve played Streets of Rage. With an incredible soundtrack, a fun side-scrolling brawling gameplay and intense boss fights, Streets of Rage instantly became a smashing hit. With only three titles in the series, Streets of Rage hasn’t been picked up since 1994. Ruffian Games was developing and testing different video game ideas, one of them being a Streets of Rage remake. Since the development team wasn’t given the approval from Sega to continue development on the project, Ruffian Games decided to release their demo video online. It’s really too bad Sega didn’t allow the production of this game as the demo video looked solid.

Star Wars 1313

 

Star Wars 1313 was an action-adventure game that was being developed and published by LucasArts. Set to be released for the PlayStation 4 and other platforms, Star Wars 1313 was first revealed at E3 of 2012. Slowly, information was finally being released getting potential Star Wars fans interested in the upcoming game. During April of 2013, LucasArts was officially purchased by The Walt Disney Company. Once Disney obtain the rights to anything and everything Star Wars, it was announced that Star Wars 1313 was put on hold. Fan’s held out hope that Disney would continue the production of the game but unfortunately Disney had officially cancelled the title. After the cancellation, news broke that Star Wars 1313 was based on the infamous bounty hunter, Boba Fett.

That’s our top 11 cancelled games we would have loved to play. Have a cancelled video game in mind that you would have liked to play that’s not currently on the list? Let us know in the comment section below!