10 More Video Games Cancelled For Ridiculous Reasons
When promising games got kicked to the curb.
It's a simple fact of the video game industry that far more games are cancelled than we ever actually hear about, but when a game has been public knowledge for a certain amount of time, a cancellation can really sting fans.
It hurts all the more if the game in question both looked extremely promising and was ultimately cancelled for reasons which fans find unacceptable, perhaps even ridiculous.
While there are undoubtedly myriad business calculations that go into the tough decision to cancel any video game, these titles were all cut loose with a rationale players couldn't even begin to comprehend.
From long-awaited games that were basically completed yet remain frustratingly unreleased, to cowardly publishers who refused to make a bold bet and complete an enticing project, to those who just frittered away the production budget on strippers and booze, these 10 games never came to fruition for unconscionable reasons.
While there's the remote possibly that one or two of these games could be revived in the future, for the sake of your own sanity you're better off just assuming they're deader than disco...
10. LucasArts & Free Radical Design Couldn't Agree On Anything - Star Wars: Battlefront III
After the first two Star Wars: Battlefront games were released in 2004 and 2005 respectively, it was reasonable to assume that a trilogy-capping entry into the franchise would be released in 2006 or 2007.
LucasArts ultimately hired Free Radical Design (TimeSplitters) to replace the developer of the first two games, Pandemic Studios, yet in 2008, after Battlefront III had been in development for roughly two years, Free Radical announced they had lost the rights to finish the game.
According to the company's co-founder Steve Ellis, Battlefront III was mostly finished, but LucasArts didn't want to commit to the marketing spend necessary to promote a Star Wars game, while an anonymous LucasArts employee claimed Free Radical weren't devoting adequate resources to development and missed deadlines as a result.
Gameplay footage from various leaked sources at least confirms the game to have been in an advanced state of development, and in 2016 a leaked build was even posted online, playable with a modded Xbox 360.
Ultimately the blame can't be squarely aimed at either Free Radical or LucasArts: it's clear their visions for the project weren't at all aligned, and each side had major problems with the way the other conducted business.
The result was fans missing out on a hugely anticipated sequel and the franchise sitting dormant for almost an entire decade. What a waste.