8 Cancelled Video Games That Could Still Be Saved

3. Heavenly Sword 2

Heavenly Sword
Sony

Heavenly Sword was supposed to be the first major new IP for the Playstation 3. With a huge marketing budget thrown at it and a respected developer in Team Ninja, the action game looked the part, but for whatever reason it failed to connect with a mainstream audience. Reviews were pretty strong and the game itself was solid, primed with a great central character and a lush art style, but it failed to break even financially, only selling around 1.5 million copies.

Consequently, the developers moved onto other projects, but Sony still own the IP, and it could be a franchise they will eventually revisit. At one point they did begin production on a sequel, but folded the project into a new property from Guerrilla Games. With this in mind, and considering how the world of Heavenly Sword seemed so ripe for exploration, it could be a project Sony attempt to revamp in the future.

It's rare for the publisher to make a game and never try to make it work, even if they fumble the execution the first time around. Sony are the masters of reimagining properties, and Heavenly Sword should be next in line.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.