10 Video Games That Languished In Development For Years
7. StarCraft II: Wings Of Liberty (2010)
Development Time: 7 Years (2003 to 2010)
The immense success of the first Starcraft game offered up a near certainty that it would be followed by a sequel, but years after that title's 1998 release, fans were left playing the same game over and over again. Not that that's a bad thing, but players wanted something new.
As it happens, Blizzard began developing the sequel in 2003, right after the company released Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, but it hit some snags along the way. Despite development kicking off in '03, the actual announcement for the game didn't surface until 2008 when Blizzard announced a Beta the following year.
Ultimately, that beta phase never arrived, and there was no public beta for the game. This left fans wondering what was happening with the game's development, but there were assurances from Blizzard executives that the game was in full development, and most of it was finished by 2008. That said, it languished in development for two more years.
The game was finally published on July 27, 2010 following a seven-year development cycle. The game was delayed for a variety of reasons, but at least one year was added to the delay so programmers could be moved to work on World of Warcraft when that game was in development.