Games That Never Saw Daylight
Game shelves are full of stories that never finished loading. Studios change hands, plans fall apart, and fans are left hanging. Cancelations happen more often than you think—sometimes to titles that had real promise. Here, we highlight 20 canceled games you probably still wish you'd played.
The Cancelled Command & Conquer FPS - Investigating Tiberium by GVMERS
1. Eight Days
Car chases and real-time clocks fueled Eight Days, an action game Sony London teased in 2006. Players switched between two antiheroes crossing the American Southwest in eight days. Canceled in 2008 amid budget cuts, its massive environments hinted at ambition that predated open-world epics.
2. Pirates Of The Caribbean: Armada Of The Damned
Propaganda Games planned Armada of the Damned for 2011 with open seas, moral choices, and original pirate lore. Disney Interactive abruptly axed it mid-development, pivoting resources to movie tie-ins. Early footage showcased impressive naval combat, a standout feature for a pirate RPG in 2010.
3. Dirty Harry (The Game)
Clint Eastwood’s iconic cop nearly headlined an open-world crime thriller by The Collective. Titled Dirty Harry, it began development around 2004 with Eastwood's voice attached. Internal conflicts and scope creep sank it by 2007. Players never got to say, "Go ahead, make my day" themselves.
The Cancelled Dirty Harry Game-In Game Enter Office Cutscene by Evan Hanley
4. Scalebound
Scalebound dared to dream with dragons as battle partners. PlatinumGames combined flashy swordplay with modern headphones-wearing heroes in a mythical world. Microsoft scrapped it in 2017 after delays and creative clashes. Footage showed dynamic co-op and beast harmony—mechanics still unmatched in action RPGs today.
Scalebound Is CANCELLED - Here's Why by Liam Robertson - Game History Guy
5. Saints Row: Money Shot
A spinoff mini-game, Money Shot, was meant to bridge Saints Row 2 and The Third, and Volition designed sniping puzzles with absurd physics. Canceled around 2010, parts of its chaotic DNA survived in later side missions. For fans, it remains a quirky lost piece of the franchise.
Saints Row Moneyshot (Cancelled) Gameplay by Proto
6. Chrono Break
Sequels rarely hold mythic status, but Chrono Break was different. Intended to follow Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, this unmade RPG carried players' dreams across decades. Square Enix let the trademark lapse in 2003. That silent exit speaks volumes about its troubled conceptual phase and internal hesitancy.
7. The Last Of Us Online (Factions 2)
Multiplayer drama with clickers defined The Last of Us Online. Naughty Dog aimed for an expansive PvP survival mode with story layers. Its 2023 cancelation reflected Sony’s shifting focus from live-service games. Fans who embraced the original Factions' tension-and-tactics blend were frustrated.
The Last of Us Online: Factions 2 Gameplay Reveal Concept (Mods) by Voyagers Revenge
8. LMNO (Steven Spielberg Project)
LMNO blended Spielberg’s cinematic style with parkour and puzzles. The protagonist befriends Eve, a mysterious creature. It aimed to make you feel companionship like E.T., but it stayed trapped in concept art. Electronic Arts and Spielberg collaborated from 2005 until its quiet death around 2010.
The Untold History of Arkane: Dishonored / Prey / Ravenholm / LMNO / The Crossing by Noclip
9. Prey 2
Prey 2 turned you into a bounty hunter on a neon-drenched alien planet. After its 2011 reveal, development jumped between studios and lost cohesion. Bethesda axed it in 2014. Its blend of open-world sci-fi and parkour remains one of the genre's great missed turns.
E3 2011 GameSpot Stage Shows - Prey 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) by GameSpot
10. Legacy Of Kain: Dead Sun
Vampires and time-bending plots lived on in Dead Sun, a proposed reboot of the beloved Legacy of Kain. Climax Studios and Square Enix developed it secretly around 2009. In 2012, it got stuck due to shifting priorities. The game’s assets leaked later, haunting fans hungry for resurrection.
11. The Avengers (THQ)
First-person Avengers was THQ's risky pitch in 2011—play as Hulk and Thor in an alien invasion story. Prototype footage looked promising, but THQ's financial collapse ended it pre-Avengers mania. Imagine if this had launched before the MCU reshaped superhero game expectations entirely.
The Avengers - Cancelled PS3 game from THQ by Adam Markham
12. True Fantasy Live Online
Xbox Live needed MMORPGs, so Level-5 crafted True Fantasy Live Online exclusively for Xbox in Japan. Its anime style and voice chat were ahead of 2004’s tech curve. Microsoft scrapped it after voice integration failed. Xbox missed its chance at an early Final Fantasy rival.
True Fantasy Live Online 2002 Trailer (Unreleased Xbox MMORPG) by PtoPOnline
13. Bully 2
Troublemaking got an upgrade in Bully 2, the long-teased sequel. Set in a small college town, early builds reportedly featured expanded stealth and player choice. Despite years of internal prototyping, it never passed pre-production. Its absence keeps Rockstar's most grounded world frustratingly unfinished for players.
BULLY 2 - Investigating Rockstar's Cancelled Sequel by Luck Stat
14. Project Milo
Lionhead Studios and Peter Molyneux pitched Project Milo as an AI boy you’d talk to using Kinect. Unveiled in 2009, demos showed players drawing, playing fetch, and shaping Milo’s emotions. It pushed tech limits, but Microsoft canceled it quietly, and Milo became a cautionary tale of overpromised motion gaming.
E3 2009 - Project Natal - Milo Demo with Peter Molyneux 720p HD by AlphaProtocol360
15. Fez 2
Announced at Horizon 2013, Fez 2 promised more dimension-bending puzzles but never left the concept phase. Creator Phil Fish canceled it abruptly after online harassment and industry burnout. Without it, indie sequels faced a chilling precedent: creator well-being can shape what games survive development.
Fez 2 is Still Cancelled - IGN News by IGN News
16. StarCraft: Ghost
Nova, a Terran stealth operative, was to headline StarCraft: Ghost, a third-person shooter spinoff teased in 2002. Development passed from Nihilistic to Blizzard, then froze indefinitely. Fans hoped for Metal Gear in a Zerg-infested world, but its demise left Nova’s story told only through side media.
4 Minutes of StarCraft Ghost Gameplay (With Commentary) by IGN
17. Titan
When Blizzard builds a WoW successor, you get Titan, an ambitious MMO blending sci-fi, social roles, and combat. After seven years of iteration, it collapsed in 2014. Its remains evolved into Overwatch, meaning your futuristic firefights survived, but its broader sandbox world didn't.
The Story of Project Titan: Blizzard's Cancelled MMO by GVMERS
18. Halo Mega Bloks
A third-person platformer developed by n-Space in 2013, Halo Mega Bloks featured puzzles and surprisingly rich combat for a kid-friendly tie-in. Think LEGO Star Wars—but with Master Chief. Microsoft canceled it before the announcement, making it one of the franchise’s most fascinating secret spinoffs.
19. Zelda 64DD Expansion
Originally planned as an expansion to Ocarina of Time, this Zelda project would've used the N64DD to offer remix dungeons and a new time mechanic. Canceled after the DD's commercial failure in Japan, it hinted at ideas that resurfaced in Majora's Mask.
20. Tiberium
EA Los Angeles announced it in 2008 with squad control and alien tech. Tiberium shifted the RTS series into tactical shooter territory with Command & Conquer in first-person mode. Poor progress and missed milestones buried it later that year, and C&C fans missed the chance to fight Nod boots-on-ground.
The Cancelled Command & Conquer FPS - Investigating Tiberium by GVMERS
