Games Gone Missing 2020: Where Are These Games?

New games get announced all the time, but amid the news and excitement, many quickly drop off the radar. After all, there are quite a few games that we haven't heard from in some time, while others have only been hinted at with no official word. Heck, some haven't been canceled outright, either, leaving their fates uncertain.

Below you can find a list of games that we haven't seen or heard from in a long time. Some are games we're likely to learn more about soon with the upcoming next-generation consoles, while others seem more like white whales we may never get to see again.

Which games on this list do you think we might finally hear about in 2020? Let us know your opinions in the comments below.

EA's Other Star Wars Game

While Star Wars fans have been blessed with the release of Respawn's fantastic Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the franchise's other big project still remains a mystery due to a turbulent development that's changed hands between EA's studios. Initially teased in 2014, the game--code named "Ragtag"--was to be made by veteran developer Amy Hennig and the team at Visceral Games. However, EA shuttered the studio back in 2017, which resulted in Hennig's departure. Following this, the game was shifted over to EA Vancouver, and after some time retooling it into an open-world Star Wars game, it was quietly cancelled in early 2019.

No Caption Provided

That seemed to be the end of this project, but in 2019, it was reported that EA Motive, co-developer of Star Wars: Battlefront II along with DICE, are working on a new game in the sci-fi franchise. In an interesting twist, EA Motive studio head Patrick Klaus stated that it would use some material leftover from Visceral's Ragtag, and that it would be "a very unique Star Wars experience." We've heard little about the project ever since, but EA remains adamant that more Star Wars games are on the way. And with the positive reception around Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and the improved quality of Star Wars Battlefront II, EA is in a better position to finally show what this other Star Wars project has become.

Shadow of the Eternals

Shadow of the Eternals is the spiritual successor to cult-favorite horror game Eternal Darkness. Veterans from the original game's developer, Silicon Knights, formed a new studio called Precursor Games to work on the survival horror adventure, including former president Denis Dyack. However, the crowdfunding project failed to meet its goal. The lack of funding forced the game's development to be put on hold.

No Caption Provided

In October 2014, Dyack opened up a new studio called Quantum Entanglement Entertainment to resume development on the project. The studio was quietly shut down in January 2018, and the production of Shadow of the Eternals was put on hold again. Dyack moved on to form a new studio called Apocalypse Studios, which has since been actively working on a Legacy of Kain-inspired free-to-play RPG called Deadhaus Sonata. A quick update about the state of Shadow of the Eternals on the project's Facebook page stated that while it's not canceled, it's not going to be in active development for a while. Given these events, it's more than likely that Shadow of the Eternals may not be released for quite some time, if ever.

Spyjinx

Spyjinx is a collaboration between developer Chair (Infinity Blade, Shadow Complex) along with filmmaker J.J. Abrams (Lost, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and his off-shoot games studio Bad Robot Interactive. It was first announced in 2015 with a release date of 2016 for PC and mobile, but we've heard little since then. There are no details about what the game will be about or how it'll play. However, Chair creative director and Epic Games CCO Donald Mustard has reaffirmed throughout the years that the game remains in active development. To this day, you can still sign up for the game's future closed beta via its official website. While it remains to be seen whether the project will come to fruition, Mustard and Abrams still seem involved with one another, seeing as the two recently collaborated for a Star Wars promotional event in Fortnite.

Bethesda's Open-World RPGs: Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI

Bethesda Game Studios' Todd Howard surprised fans during E3 2018 when it announced Starfield--the developer's first new IP in 25 years--and The Elder Scrolls VI, which are two projects that are each huge in their own right. So it came as a shock that we heard about both at the same time. Still, Howard prefaced that it would be a long time until we'd see either in detail, and he was right. It has been a while, and aside from Howard's rare updates around their development and the likelihood of them coming to next-generation consoles, we've been given little idea what these games will play or look like.

With both PS5 and Xbox Series X launching this holiday, there's a possibility we just might hear more about Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI soon but don't get your hopes up about the latter. Howard confirmed that Starfield would be released before The Elder Scrolls VI, so you'll likely have to wait longer to catch a new glimpse of Bethesda Game Studios' next-generation journey back to Tamriel.

Hellraid

Announced in 2013, Hellraid is an upcoming project from developer Techland. It was initially intended as a mod for Dead Island before transitioning into a standalone game. Techland described Hellraid as a mix between Dead Island and The Elder Scrolls series. The game was scheduled to be released in 2013 on PS3 and Xbox 360 but then was delayed to 2014 with development transitioning to PS4 and Xbox One. However, the development of Hellraid was put on hold in 2015 as the game failed to meet the company's expectations, and because Techland wanted to focus on expanding the universe of its other big project of the time, Dying Light.

Pikmin 4

Back in 2015, Pikmin 4 was announced and apparently "very close to completion." After almost a year with no news, Miyamoto himself assured Pikmin fans in 2016 that the sequel was still happening--and that was it. Though the spin-off Hey Pikmin came out on 3DS in 2017, it's still not at all clear what's happening with Pikmin 4 besides the fact that it's, well, happening. It's a new year, though, and Nintendo seems all the more focused on its properties than ever before, so who knows what surprises it has in store!

Tekken x Street Fighter

Tekken x Street Fighter was announced in 2010 for PS3 and Xbox 360, and it's been kind of a mystery ever since. Producer Katsuhiro Harada assured fans in 2014 and reiterated in 2015 that the crossover fighting game wasn't canceled. However, in April 2016, Harada revealed that Tekken x Street Fighter was "no longer in active development" and that publisher Bandai Namco was waiting for "the right time" to release it.

No Caption Provided

GameSpot reached out for comment in 2016, and at the time, Bandai Namco said the team was focusing on Tekken 7, which came out in 2017. Bandai Namco told us then that the Tekken team was concentrated on Tekken 7 DLC. Harada later confirmed during a 2018 year-end party livestream that the game was about 30% complete before being put on hold. But in a VGC interview in 2019, the developer questioned the validity of the crossover project given the post-launch content successes of both Tekken 7 and Street Fighter 5. Still, it appears Tekken x Street Fighter is very much on Harada's mind, seeing as, during the most recent Game Awards, he posted a Twitter poll to weigh current interest in the game.

Battlecry

Battlecry, a MOBA-like with historical inspirations and a focus on melee combat, was announced in 2014. It had a trailer and even sign-ups for a global beta in 2015, but publisher Bethesda expressed concerns about its quality. It's been three years, and we haven't heard anything--good or bad--about the game.

The developer, which was initially branded as BattleCry Studios LLC, was created with the express purpose of making a multiplayer arena game, was rebranded Bethesda Game Studios Austin in March 2018. It recently worked alongside Bethesda Game Studios on Fallout 76.

Skull & Bones

Of the few Ubisoft games that received delays, Skull & Bones is one we've heard little about in the time since its original debut. Announced at E3 2017, this upcoming open-world action game is committed to evolving the naval combat component seen in the Assassin's Creed franchise--specifically, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. While we've seen brief displays of its multiplayer and single-player ship-on-ship combat, Ubisoft has seemed wary about showing any more of the game since E3 2018--much less committing to a definitive release date. The game has been delayed a couple of times, more recently to sometime after April 2020, and it even skipped E3 2019.

Fortunately, the teams at Ubisoft look to be hard at work on the project even still, so there's hope that we'll get this adventure back into piracy sooner than later. And interestingly enough, Ubisoft announced in 2019 that it's collaborating with production company Atlas Entertainment to create a TV adaptation of Skull & Bones, which further increases the odds of its eventual release. Still, we can only speculate when this spiritual successor to one of the best Assassin's Creed entries will come out of hiding from the briny deep.

Wild

We know as much about Wild as we did four years ago, which is not a lot. The PS4-exclusive survival adventure game was revealed at Gamescom 2014, and we saw some gameplay during Paris Games Week in October 2015. Director Michel Ancel took to Instagram in January 2017 to confirm the game was still in production. But given that he's occupied developing Beyond Good and Evil 2, it seems like Wild has been put on hold. In terms of its premise, we know that Wild is an open-world adventure that casts you as a shaman who can possess animals.

Deep Down

Now in its fifth year on our missing games list, PS4 Souls-like Deep Down was revealed in 2013. It didn't disappear right away; we got details and trailers up through TGS 2014, and it was supposed to have a public beta in early 2015.

No Caption Provided

The beta never happened, and in a February 2015 interview, producer Yoshinori Ono said that the game wasn't canceled but might be reworked. In 2016, Capcom told us that a Western release was never even confirmed for Deep Down, but the publisher filed a new patent for the game in the US in early 2017. In June 2018, Capcom extended the trademark for the game, and in the following year, a Eurogamer interview with Ono confirmed that it'd not been abandoned. With Capcom's major successes recently, Deep Down could certainly still be a possibility. Time will tell.

Half-Life 3

While the release of Half-Life series VR-exclusive spin-off Half-Life: Alyx draws near, we pretty much have to mention the long-awaited third game, even long after it hit peak meme status and transcended to the realm of "never going to happen." Half-Life 2: Episode 3 was announced back in 2006 but never materialized; it also wasn't canceled, either. In a Reddit AMA in early 2017, Valve boss Gabe Newell said there was still a possibility of more games in the Half-Life/Portal universe, so that's something. And there's also the leaked story summary from former Valve writer Marc Laidlaw, which confirms nothing but is still a wild read.

With Half-Life back on people's radars thanks to Half-Life: Alyx, the franchise could have a new future. Whether that means Half-Life 3 is that much closer to becoming a reality, we'll just have to wait and see.

Dead Island 2

Zombie survival game Dead Island 2 came out of the gate with a very memorable trailer at E3 2014--and memorable is good since we've seen so little throughout the years. The game's original spring 2015 release window was later delayed to 2016, and then it lost its developer, Yager, in July 2015. Still, publisher Deep Silver assured us it wasn't canceled.

It was announced in March 2016 that LittleBigPlanet 3 developer Sumo Digital had taken over the game's development. In 2018, the project shifted hands after the Dead Island property was acquired by THQ Nordic after the publisher purchased Koch Media, which owns Deep Silver and fellow games publisher Ravenscourt. Dead Island 2's development went silent again until THQ Nordic confirmed in 2019 that Dambuster Studios (Homefront: The Revolution) was taking the reins.

While Dead Island 2's development certainly sounds tumultuous, Koch Media CEO Klemens Kundratitz remains confident and committed to supporting Dambuster Studios' work on the project. "It's a great story to tell everyone that it's on its third studio, but we like to be judged on the end result, and we're really confident that when it comes out it's going to be a kick-ass zombie game," Kundratitz said in a GamesIndustry.biz interview. "We'll certainly give it all our power."

Agent

It wouldn't be a missing games list without Agent! The Cold War-era espionage game was teased way, way back in 2007 and announced in 2009 as a PS3 exclusive from Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar North. Since then, the game hasn't been officially canceled, but it's barely more than a murmur.

No Caption Provided

The first images from Agent were released in 2011 when Rockstar parent Take-Two confirmed the game was still in development. Two full years later, Take-Two renewed trademarks for Agent. It renewed the trademarks again in 2014, just before E3. New images emerged in 2015, and at the end of 2016, Take-Two refiled the Agent trademarks yet again. But in November 2018, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office declared the "Agent" trademark as abandoned. It's likely now more than ever, especially after the release of Red Dead Redemption 2, that Agent is no longer a project that Rockstar is pursuing. But who knows what Rockstar will do; the studio is always full of surprises.

Ken Levine's New Game

BioShock creator Ken Levine appeared on NPR at the end of 2015 and discussed general design goals for his next game-- it's supposed to be highly replayable. Levine also described it as a "small-scale open-world game" with a sci-fi theme. An update on the game's development surfaced recently in the form of a job listing at his studio Ghost Story Games, which described the project as "a creatively ambitious project in the immersive sim genre." So as far as anyone knows, the mystery game is still happening.

Phantom Dust

No Caption Provided

Phantom Dust has entered its fifth year running on our missing games list, and there's still no sign of news. The reboot of the 2005 Xbox game of the same name was first announced at E3 2014, but its original developer, Darkside Game Studios, closed down the following February. We saw some leaked gameplay footage in 2015 and got confirmation that the game wasn't dead. Microsoft Game Studios president Phil Spencer stated that it was put on hold until it could find the right studio to handle development. With the company acquiring so many different studios recently, there just might be hope for a Phantom Dust reboot. Regardless, we haven't heard anything in a while, so you'll need to continue waiting. But if you're still eager to engage with this cult-classic, a separate Phantom Dust re-release with slight improvements did release back in May 2017.

Filed under: Video Games

Top

No Comments »

Leave a Reply




Back to Top