10 Video Games That Just Got Cancelled

These games are never seeing the light of day.

By Jack Pooley /

The rather secretive nature of the video game industry - especially compared to, say, Hollywood - means that more games are cancelled than we will ever even know about.

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Yet in a medium that's also leakier than a sieve, we as players do nevertheless end up hearing about a good number of scrapped projects - even those which weren't yet publicly announced.

And with the industry currently suffering through some especially dire straits with unprecedented layoffs at developers both big and small, it stands to reason that we're likely going to see a ton of in-development titles cancelled as publishers re-jig their priorities in the coming months.

For now, though, these are the biggest games most recently given the axe, from hugely anticipated AAA titles to unannounced sequels, long-awaited ports, and everything else in-between.

Given the pedigree and iconic appeal of many of the franchises on this list, it's sadly proof perfect that almost nothing is safe from cancellation in the gaming industry's current climate, where the moment a project doesn't have blockbuster success written all over it, it may not be long for this world.

While it's possible that some of these projects could be resurrected in the future, you probably shouldn't hold your breath...

10. The Next Deus Ex

Deus Ex fans have certainly been waiting their sweet time for a sequel to the series' last game, Mankind Divided, which released all the way back in 2016. 

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And though encouraging reports emerged in late 2022 that Eidos-Montréal was in the early stages of developing the next title, Bloomberg revealed at the start of this year that the fifth mainline Deus Ex game has been scrapped.

Though the sequel had been in pre-production for two years and was set to enter full production later in 2024, Eidos' parent company Embracer Group opted to cancel the project and lay off numerous employees as part of a wider cost-cutting initiative.

Eidos will instead be put to work on a new original franchise - a depressing statement if there ever was one for long-suffering Deus Ex fans. 

With the IP clearly not a remote priority for Embracer, who knows when/if a new Deus Ex will ever materialise?

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