There have been many incredible video games over the years. Initially, there were only a few consoles that gamers could bring into their homes, but there are dozens today.
While the gaming industry is constantly coming out with new and improved consoles, some people will always like the old school versions of games. Video games have no doubt advanced over the years. The graphics, storylines, and overall mechanics of the games have become better than ever, but this doesn’t mean that people are willing to trade in classic games for new ones.
Some of the most popular games are the ones that have come out on older consoles. That being said, there is one thing that old and new games have in common: sequels. Not every game is destined to have a sequel, but many popular video games have received a follow-up game over the years. Some of these sequels live up to the first game, others fall flat, and some just never see the light of day.
Many times, video game sequels get canceled before their release for one reason or another. It can often be a matter of money, development of next-generation consoles, or simply the fact that a company thinks the game will flop. Often these games can be picked back up later by game developers, but other times the games never get released, which leaves gamers dreaming about what could have been.
With that said, here are the 20 Canceled Video Game Sequels We’ll Never Get To See.
Star Wars: Battlefront III
Long before EA saw backlash from the loot crate system in Star Wars: Battlefront II, LucasArts had created their own Star Wars: Battlefront games. The first game was released in 2004 and a sequel was quickly made after which got even better reviews than the first game. With the massive success from the first two games, Star Wars: Battlefront III seemed inevitable, but ended up getting canceled.
Some reports claim that the game never came to fruition because of financial issues, but this is likely false since the first two games had made a lot of money for LucasArts.
Other reports claim that the video game company Free Radical was to blame, since it hadn’t been able to meet important dates for Battlefront III, and was more concerned with the video game Haze.
Halo: Chronicles
While PlayStation is known for having incredible exclusive games, Microsoft also has its fair share of exclusive games for the Xbox. One of these game series is the immensely popular Halo. With the popularity of the series, it doesn’t seem like an entry could possibly be canceled, but just that happened with Halo: Chronicles.
At one point, Peter Jackson was tasked with adapting Halo into a movie as well as creating an “episodic interactive storytelling” element to the video game series. This is what Halo: Chronicles was supposed to be, but with the downfall of the movie, Halo: Chronicles was also canceled. The video game was repurposed for Halo 3: ODST, but fans will never get to play Halo: Chronicles.
Silent Hills
One of the most disappointing cancelations on this list goes to the Silent Hill sequel titled Silent Hills. The sequel was going to feature The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus and also involve legendary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro.
Unfortunately, when game developer Hideo Kojima decided to part ways with Konami Digital Entertainment, Silent Hills was canceled.
The company had previously released a P.T., playable teaser, for the game which had been highly praised by fans making the cancellation that much more disappointing. Guillermo del Toro has had some harsh words for the company since Silent Hills' cancelation but has also worked on the development of Death Stranding with Konami and Norman Reedus.
Zone of the Enders 3
Zone of the Enders 3 had been announced in May 2012, but by 2013, the game had been canceled. The third game would have taken place after Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner only in a different setting than previous games.
The first Zone of the Enders game revolved around a space colony that was attacked by a force using giant robots. The third game was in the works at Konami but was canceled after the HD collection of the first two games didn’t perform as well as expected. The Zone of the Enders HD Collection has been out for quite some time now; however, work on Zone of the Enders 3 is still nowhere in sight.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6: Patriots
The Rainbow 6 franchise has had a long run in the video game world, but one of the anticipated entries was canceled in 2014. Rainbow 6: Patriots had been announced in 2011 but three years later, Ubisoft announced that the titled would no longer be released. Game developers had already come a long way on the game with a trailer, logo, and poster already released, but Ubisoft decided to cancel the game because of next-gen consoles.
Patriots had been developed for PS3 and Xbox 360, but with the PS4 and Xbox One quickly approaching, Ubisoft decided to scrap the game and start over with Rainbow Six Siege.
Patriots would have been about a dangerous group called True Patriots who were enraged by the corruption on Wall Street.
Fez II
Fez II may have been a rather simple-looking sequel compared to others on this list, but it was still a highly anticipated game none the less. The puzzle-platform video game was released in 2012 and the sequel was announced the next year in 2013. The game was then seemingly canceled after creator Phil Fish got into a Twitter war with writer Marcus Beer.
While this isn’t the official reason why Fez II was canceled, it’s likely the reason since the cancelation announcement took place shortly after their argument. Soon after his argument with Beer, Fish tweeted, “Fez 2 is cancelled. I am done. I take the money and I run. This is as much as I can stomach. This isn't the result of any one thing, but the end of a long, bloody campaign. You win.”
Fable Legends
One of Xbox’s most popular Xbox exclusives comes in the form of the Fable series. The first Fable game was released in September 2004 and the most recent game Fable Fortune was released in 2017. The last game in the main series, Fable III, came out in 2010, and fans were looking forward to the next game which was said to be a spinoff of the other games.
Three years after Fable Legends was announced, Microsoft revealed that the game was no longer in development due to Lionhead Studios shutting down.
Fans have gotten other smaller Fable games since then, but none have come anywhere close to what Fable Legends could have been.
Prey 2
The first Prey game by Human Head Studios is typically considered to be a successful horror game, but it didn’t get a sequel as quickly as some had hoped. The first game revolved around a character named Tommy who was forced to save his girlfriend from an alien spaceship. The game was scary and fun to play, but gamers hadn’t heard many updates about Prey 2 after the first game’s launch in 2006.
After a long eight years, fans weren’t treated to a sequel, but instead a cancelation announcement. Fans eventually got another game called Prey in 2017, but fans will never get to play Prey 2, which is rumored to have had an incredible plot twist.
Star Wars 1313
Star Wars 1313 may have not been a true sequel to another game, but at one point, it was going to be the newest title in the long line of Star Wars video games. Star Wars 1313 had been in development for two years, which had resulted in an impressive gameplay trailer as well as lots of concept art. Early reports claimed that the game would revolve around a young Boba Fett, who travels below Coruscant to a level called 1313.
Unfortunately, when Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, LucasArts was shut down a year later resulting in several employees being laid off and the cancelation of Star Wars 1313.
It’s a real shame that they decided to cancel the game, too, because the game really seemed to have potential.
Mega Man Universe
Mega Man has had a long run in the gaming industry. The first game developed by Capcom released in December 1987, but since then, several other games in the series have been released. The games typically revolve around an android who battles a scientist named Dr. Wily.
Mega Man Universe would have been based on Mega Man 2 and allowed gamers to develop their own levels and customize characters. In 2011, Capcom announced that the game had been canceled because of “various circumstances.” To this day, it’s unknown why the game was actually canceled, but some believe that it was because Keiji Inafune had left Capcom or because of the game’s horrible controls.
Doom 4
Before the Doom franchise was rebooted in 2016, Doom 4 was originally intended to reboot the series. Doom 4 was going to be more about the impact of the invasion, but to the game’s developers, it felt too much like a Call of Duty game.
Doom 4 producer Marty Stratton admitted, "It was a reimagining of Doom in a way that was new. It didn't feel as much like Doom as I think a lot of us expected it would feel or hoped it would feel.”
The series would eventually get rebooted in 2016 with the aforementioned Doom, which was greeted with incredible reviews. Gamers might never be able to play Doom 4, but maybe that’s for the best.
9. Star Wars: Battlefront IV
Before LucasArts was shut down, they had been developing two sequels to the immensely popular Star Wars: Battlefront II. Star Wars: Battlefront III was canceled due to issues with the company Free Radical. Battlefront IV was likely canceled simply because the third came wasn’t released and because of the fact that Disney shut down LucasArts.
While the third game seemed to have been a generic Battlefront game, Battlefront IV would have contained alternate versions of popular Star Wars characters, such as a Sith version of Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, as well as a Jedi version of Darth Maul and Darth Vader. Even though the game was never released, there is still some awesome concept art like the one featured above.
Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun
Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun was going to be the sixth game in the Legacy of Kain series, until it was canceled in 2012. After the announcement that Dead Sun had been canceled, a game called Nosgoth was put into development from the ashes of Dead Sun. This game was also canceled, leaving Legacy of Kain: Defiance as the most recent entry to the series.
When Square Enix canceled Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun, the vampire game had been in development for three years, leaving many employees frustrated that their hard work would never be released.
What makes the situation even more frustrating is that the employees aren’t allowed to reveal that they worked on the game because of non-disclosure agreements.
NBA Live 12 & 13
For 16 years, gamers were treated to a new NBA game once a years - or at least they were, until 2011 came around. In 2011, EA Sports was unable to release NBA Live 12 because of the 2011 NBA Lockout. The following year, fans were looking forward to a new basketball game to play, but NBA Live 13 was also canceled.
When the cancelation was announced, EA Sports executive vice president Andrew Wilson commented that, “rather than launch midway through the season, we're going to sit out the full year and stay focused on making next year’s game great.” EA Sports hasn't canceled the release of an NBA Live game since, but these are two games that players will never get a copy of.
Mega Man Legends 3
The Mega Man series has been going strong for over 30 years. Even though the games have had a successful run, there have been games that got canceled. Mega Man Legends 3 is just one example of this.
This third game was supposed to be a sequel to the previous Mega Man Legends games, which were released on the PS One.
Mega Man Legends 3 would have been released on the 3DS, but the game itself and the prologue demo were both called off. More Mega Man games have, of course, been released since the cancellation in 2011, but Mega Man Legends 3 will always be out of reach for fans around the world.
Titan
While most of the Halo games have been met with incredible reviews, there have been a few that didn’t even get a release. One of these games was codenamed Titan. The game was said to have revolved around a science-fiction version of Earth where gamers could play in a massive multiplayer world and have combat and non-combat jobs.
The game would have taken place after the alien invasion when people could build cities and have normal jobs by day, but at night engage in battles. Elements of Titan seemed to make their way into Overwatch, but that MMO doesn’t take place in the world of Halo.
Fortress
Fortress was intended to be an RPG spinoff of the Final Fantasy series. The Final Fantasy series has mostly been developed by Square Enix, but a company called GRIN had been put in charge of making the game. Fortress would have taken place in Ivalice, from Final Fantasy XII, in which gamers would play as Basch fon Ronsenburg.
Fans were in no way anticipating the game since Fortress hadn’t even been revealed to the public until GRIN faced financial ruin in 2009 and canceled the game.
Many Final Fantasy games have come out since Fortress' cancelation, but fans will always wonder would Fortress could have been like. For now, Fortress will remain nothing more than a fantasy.
Saints Row: Money Shot
One game from the Saints Row franchise that never came to be was titled Saints Row: Money Shot. The game would have taken place between Saints Row 2 and Saints Row: The Third. The game would have been played through the eyes of Cypher, a professional assassin. A level would begin by Cypher firing a bullet and the player would then control the direction of the bullet by defying gravity, changing the direction of the bullet to go anywhere.
Each level would have different goals, such as shooting through a trash bag or having a near miss with objects around the bullet. The game was ultimately canceled, but the Saints Row series has survived.
Project Ragtag
One of the most recent Star Wars games to be canceled came from a company called Visceral Games. Their Star Wars game was said to be compared to the Uncharted or Tomb Raider games and was set in between Episode IV and V. The game went under the name Project Ragtag, which was named after the game’s main characters.
The game would have allowed players to escape an AT-ST, shoot enemies on Tatooine, and even save people from Jabba the Hutt, but it was eventually canceled.
Unfortunately, when Visceral Games closed in 2017, the newest Star Wars game was out of fan’s grasp once again. For now, fans will have to stick with Star Wars: Battlefront II until a bigger and better Star Wars title is released.
The Thing II
John Carpenter’s The Thing is a classic example of an ‘80s horror movie that lives up to others today. The film got its own video game in 2002, which was released on PS2, Windows, and Xbox. The game was a third-person shooter that stood as an unofficial sequel to the movie.
A sequel was eventually announced based off of the success of the first game, but The Thing II never got past the proof of concept stage before it was canceled. Even though the sequel probably would have been pretty good, Computer Artworks went into receivership in 2003, which meant that making the video game was basically impossible. Instead of an actual game, players were left with some cool artwork showing what could have been.
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Are there any other video games sequels that you wish weren't canceled? Sound off in the comments!