Video game cancellations can always be a tough pill to swallow. Seeing the hard work of countless developers being axed simply because of budgetary constraints or because of the whims and fancies of an executive is never nice.
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However, some video game cancellations can be positively devastating. In an alternate timeline, these games would've wowed the masses if they had come out and helped further the legacy of their respective developers.
8 Bully 2
Everyone's Day Was Ruined After Finding Out About This Cancellation
Bully is one of the most unique Rockstar games ever made. Simulating the life of a high school student while enjoying a surprisingly epic story that makes the most of school clichés makes for a great time.
A sequel could've expanded on this game's concepts, but Rockstar decided to cancel this game before it could become a reality. It's a shame, since another Rockstar open-world game set in a high school would be a joy to witness. Apparently, development for Red Dead Redemption was so intensive that Rockstar rerouted their resources, eventually leading to Bully 2's cancellation.
7 Silent Hills
P.T. Creatively Announced A New Silent Hill Game By Kojima That Never Came To Be
P.T. Broke the gaming world and served as a very creative way to announce a new Silent Hill game with Kojima at the helm. The title could've been incredibly promising, but Konami and Kojima's ugly, public breakup ensured that this title would never see the light of day.
Not only was Silent Hills cancelled, but P.T. Was also pulled from the PlayStation Store. Fans were robbed of the experience of playing a horror game from Hideo Kojima, which could've been a wild ride in every way.
6 Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic 3
A KOTOR Trilogy Would Satiate The Souls Of Many Star Wars Fans
Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2 are considered by many to be two of the best Star Wars games ever made. The first game features one of gaming's greatest plot twists, while fans slowly came to appreciate the second game after all the bugs were ironed out by fans.
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It's a no-brainer that KOTOR 3 would've been a treat to experience for fans. Instead, this game was cancelled, and fans would never get to see their favorite sci-fi RPGs be part of a legendary trilogy. It's possible that the restructuring going on in LucasArts at the time led to this game never getting past the conception phase.
5 Unnamed Deus Ex Project
Mankind Divided's Cliffhanger Ending Will Never Be Resolved Now
Embracer Group burst into the scene with promises of funding games with a handshake deal, but this never came to pass. This led to the company laying off a ton of staff and cancelling a ridiculous number of projects.
This includes an unnamed Deus Ex game that would've provided some closure after the cliffhanger ending of Mankind Divided. It's one of the more frustrating modern cancellations, especially given how more players want to enjoy quality immersive sim games from developers proficient in the genre.
4 Sleeping Dogs 2
Wei Shen's Adventures Would've Been Amazing In This Sequel
Sleeping Dogs is a surprisingly great action game with fun combat, an engaging story, and a stellar open world that makes the bright lights of Hong Kong look more tantalizing than ever. Players can genuinely lose themselves in this amazing game that pays homage to Hong Kong action flicks and the like.
Smashing enemies to a pulp using the environment, using Action Hijacks to jump from one car to another, and engaging in some stylish gunfights make it clear why Sleeping Dogs left a lasting impression on many. A sequel was in the works, which promised to be more ambitious than ever, but it never saw the light of day and was eventually cancelled. Square Enix was focusing on other projects with their Western IPs, like Hitman and Tomb Raider, and it didn't help that United Front Games tried to convert the Sleeping Dogs formula into a multiplayer game, only for this project to crash and burn as well.
3 Half-Life 2: Episode Three
A Heartbreaking Cancellation That Led To A Rise In The Demand For Half-Life 3
No cancellation was more devastating for fans than Half-Life 2: Episode Three. The amazing story of the base game and its episodic DLC was fun to uncover bit by bit, which is why many players couldn't forgive Valve for leaving them hanging.
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The company simply lost interest in Episode Three because of the limitations of the episodic format and problems stemming from a lack of direction, deciding to cancel this project altogether. It took ages before fans could finally get their hands on another Half-Life, with players celebrating Alyx's release even though it's VR only.
2 Alice: Asylum
A Cancellation So Devastating That American McGee Retired From The Industry
American McGee is an imaginative developer who made two of the darkest and most unique video games ever made. American McGee's Alice is a retro action-adventure game with a tantalizing setting, while Alice: Madness Returns continues the legacy of this title.
However, despite putting a ton of work into the pitchbook for Alice: Asylum, McGee was unceremoniously rejected by EA. The cancellation of this project demotivated this video game auteur so much that he retired from the industry, robbing players of yet another masterful dark fantasy title with action elements.
1 Football Manager 25
Fans Couldn't Believe That Sports Interactive Cancelled An Anticipated Game In This Annual Series
It may be odd, but fans were genuinely angry and felt betrayed when Football Manager 25 was cancelled. As much as outsiders looking in can laugh at the idea of buying annual releases over and over again, Football Manager purists were genuinely looking forward to the next game in the series.
The cancellation announcement was hard to stomach for many fans, who had already clocked in a silly number of hours in Football Manager 2024. The official reason was that Sports Interactive was integrating a ton of changes to improve UI and gamefeel, which didn't get implemented in time and led to the game being delayed at first before being cancelled entirely. Hopefully, FM26 doesn't buckle under the weight of its expectations and makes up for Football Manager 25's cancellation.
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