# Canceled video games **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 18, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423 "2012-12-18T14:54:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/1 "2012-12-18T14:54:30Z")
So I just found out via Google news search for PS3 that there was going to be a 3rd Star Wars: Battlefront. The first 2 were PS2 titles that I greatly enjoyed. Disappointing. A couple of other disappointments are the Legacy of Kain: Dark Prophecy and The Agency: Covert Ops, a SOE MMO shooter, being canceled. Share your heartbreaks. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/2 "2012-12-18T15:28:41Z")
_Stars! Supernova Genesis_. As I recall, not only has it been cancelled, it was already 100% finished and ready for distribution when they cancelled it. During the struggle to find a publisher, there was a disagreement over who owned the rights to what art in the game, it got bitter, the two main people involved in the project refuse to even speak with each other to this day. They each have a big chunk of the code, which doesn’t work without the other. Neither of them can \*do \*anything with their chunk of code without the consent of the other, which will never happen. Most senseless waste in the history of video games right there. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/3 "2012-12-18T16:11:01Z")
Starcraft: Ghost, a first person shooter set in the Starcraft universe was mostly finished but canceled by Blizzard because it just wasn’t good enough. You can find the ghost of the main character in WoW if you look around. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/4 "2012-12-18T16:22:41Z")
[Simville was supposed to be a neat Maxis game, but they canceled it before release.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimsVille) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/5 "2012-12-18T16:32:01Z")
_Fallout 3_. The **real** _Fallout 3_. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/6 "2012-12-18T16:45:39Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > _Fallout 3_. The **real** _Fallout 3_. Tell me more. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/7 "2012-12-18T16:56:01Z")
> [@hrhomer](#): > > Tell me more. [Van Buren](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Buren_(Fallout_3)). ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/8 "2012-12-18T16:58:58Z")
> [@hrhomer](#): > > Tell me more. Around the time Interplay tanked, the team that had worked on _Fallout_ 1 & 2 were working on a third instalment, in isometric 3D, codenamed _Van Buren_. They had enough of an engine and interface to make a small working tech demo which you’ll still find on the net if you look, I think. Then the studio abruptly closed its doors, the programmers and designers scattered, the rights to the franchise remained in limbo for a while, until Bethesda picked the ball back up and ran with it in their own direction. That being said, according to J.E. Sawyer, many of the plot ideas and characters they had planned for _Van Buren_ were recycled in _Fallout:New Vegas_. Which is a great game in its own right. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/9 "2012-12-18T17:01:18Z")
Wasn’t there supposed to be a Beyond Good and Evil sequel? I didn’t get into the original. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/10 "2012-12-18T17:12:23Z")
Baldur’s Gate 3. Twice. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/11 "2012-12-18T17:36:29Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [Van Buren](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Buren_(Fallout_3)). > [@Kobal2](#): > > Around the time Interplay tanked, the team that had worked on _Fallout_ 1 & 2 were working on a third instalment, in isometric 3D, codenamed _Van Buren_. They had enough of an engine and interface to make a small working tech demo which you’ll still find on the net if you look, I think. > Then the studio abruptly closed its doors, the programmers and designers scattered, the rights to the franchise remained in limbo for a while, until Bethesda picked the ball back up and ran with it in their own direction. > > That being said, according to J.E. Sawyer, many of the plot ideas and characters they had planned for _Van Buren_ were recycled in _Fallout:New Vegas_. Which is a great game in its own right. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/12 "2012-12-18T17:53:08Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > Wasn’t there supposed to be a Beyond Good and Evil sequel? I didn’t get into the original. Word on Wikipedia says the sequel is still in development. At the very least, it hasn’t been officially cancelled yet. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/13 "2012-12-18T19:22:14Z")
I have two, but one has an asterisk as I never discovered if it would have been the game I was expecting. The only “real” heartbreak was when the Alternate Reality series stopped after two games. The asterisk is SimMars, which I assume was dropped when The Sims really took off; I never did find out if it would have been a true Sim-style game, as opposed to a “prevent the other colony(ies) from taking over the new planet” game like Outpost or Alpha Centauri. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/14 "2012-12-18T20:28:54Z")
Star Trek Secret of Vulcan Fury. Trailer is [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOGUx0HC68Q). ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/15 "2012-12-18T20:38:01Z")
Half Life 3, which was supposed to take place in Antarctica, and finish up the plotline extended into the two Half Life 2 expansion packs. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/16 "2012-12-18T20:39:04Z")
Sure. The first game I ever worked on. It was called “Dawn of War” (no relation to the recent game with that title). It was a humorous RTS with cavemen and dinosaurs, and would’ve been released in 1998. We had features in that game which were way ahead of its time- primarily real-time world geometry manipulation. You could dig holes, build land bridges, and even pave the entire map, if you wanted to. I spent three years of my life on that project, and it ended up being cancelled due to some dickery by our publisher when it was about two weeks from being completed. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/17 "2012-12-18T20:43:29Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > _Fallout 3_. The **real** _Fallout 3_. This. I have a game that claims to be Fallout 3. It isn’t, not by a long shot. Oh, it might be a fun game in its own right, but it isn’t Fallout 3, and never will be. I keep trying to play it, but I start crying because it isn’t FO3. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/18 "2012-12-18T21:02:31Z")
Missed my edit window. Also wanted to include Warcraft Adventures (which became World of Warcraft so I am sure Blizzard never missed it). Manhunter 3: London (at least the story line strongly implied it would be London). Not sure if a third game was actually announced but I would have loved a third “No One Lives Forever” game. KOTOR 3 ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/19 "2012-12-18T21:10:22Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Half Life 3, which was supposed to take place in Antarctica, and finish up the plotline extended into the two Half Life 2 expansion packs. Well, it hasn’t been cancelled. Though the hints we’ve been getting is that it hasn’t even gotten past the concept art stage yet. (Also, it’s SUPPOSED to be HL2: Episode 3, but we’ll see how that works out). > [@DigitalC](#): > > Starcraft: Ghost, a first person shooter set in the Starcraft universe was mostly finished but canceled by Blizzard because it just wasn’t good enough. You can find the ghost of the main character in WoW if you look around. Nova (the main character) is a character in a couple missions in Starcraft II as well. Also, I thought it was supposed to be third person. I remember at the time thinking it was some sort of Metal Gear Solid-like thing for Gamecube set in the Starcraft universe. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423/20 "2012-12-18T21:24:07Z")
Stalker 2 (I refuse to type all those periods) had been kicked around for a while but is officially dead with the closing of GSC Game World. I guess now there’s questions about the ownership rights for the IP and some other developer buying the rights but actually having bought the rights to the “Roadside Picnic” property the Stalker franchise was based off of rather than the rights to the actual Stalker franchise and… bleah. I can’t be bothered to keep up with the soap opera but I’m not holding my breath waiting for the sequel. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canceled-video-games/644423.md?page=2)