10 Announced Video Games That Mysteriously Disappeared
When a far-off release turns into a barren wasteland.
As all gamers know, announcements from developers and publishers are always a huge deal. Whether it’s an upcoming remake/remaster of a beloved title from a player’s childhood or an all-new title that makes a gamer salivate with joy, the industry thrives on this level of hype.
Sometimes, said title is months or even a year or more away from completion. Other times, it’s being surprise-dropped on Nintendo’s eShop (Nintendo Directs are well known for this) or elsewhere right this instant.
With many game announcements, the former approach is taken. From the initial reveal, it’s sometimes a long, exciting and hype-building road to launch. This method can backfire, though, as a lot of unexpected things can happen when devs look too far into the future.
Tragically, some titles make a bold and enticing first appearance, at E3 or elsewhere, only to vanish without trace. Let’s take a look at just a few such games, and how long they’ve been lost since they vanished into the ether.
10. Dead Island 2
To kick off
with a real doozy, it’s been quite a ride for Dead Island 2. A lot was riding
on the follow-up to 2011’s Dead Island, a controversial title that drew a lot
of hype during its own announcement only to fall a little short upon release.
It wasn’t well-received by some, for its technical issues and for being a little more one-dimensional than the early footage suggested. Regardless, it performed well enough to warrant Dead Island: Riptide (2013) and spin-off Escape Dead Island (2014).
Dead Island 2 was shown off at E3 and GamesCom in 2014, the work of Yager. After parting ways with publisher Deep Silver over ‘creative differences’ the following year, Dead Island 2 has been left largely rudderless.
Sumo Digital were working on it in 2016. Dambuster Studios were last announced to be at the helm, as of 2019. Ultimately, it’s tough to say when anyone will finally get their hands on the game (currently the Internet is currently going wild over a playable version of the title from June 2015), but Koch Media’s Klemens Kundratitz remains confident. As Eurogamer reports, he has just stated that:
"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. We'll certainly give it all our power."