8 Video Games That Faced Development Hell (And Turned Out AMAZING)

2. Prey

Another Bethesda property that took the publisher years to properly get a handle on, Prey (or Prey 2, as it was known at the time), went through multiple different facelifts and developers before eventually releasing as a total, name-only reboot in 2017.

Announced as soon as the original game came out back in 2006, the sequel entered active development in 2009 and was set to take the series entirely into space, chronicling the story of an intergalactic bounty hunter living across seedy space stations.

This version debuted at E3 2011 and immediately became one of the show's most anticipated titles, however a few months later development on the project was stopped, with Bethesda admitting the title wasn't up to the standard they wanted. Production was altered internally, but when the studio failed to hit its 2012 release date, the project was cancelled outright, with Arkane taking over dev duties.

The reason for the canning was apparently just as much about politics as it was quality, though, with many fans lamenting the decision. Sadly, salt was poured into the wounds years later when more about the cancelled game was revealed, including one cool twist that would have revealed that the protagonist was a clone, and every in-game death was real.