Sometimes it’s because of studio meddling. Sometimes it’s for good reason. However, for a variety of reasons, promising projects are often canceled. Games made for thePlaystation 4are no exception to this phenomenon.
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As the sun sets on thePS4era, it’s interesting to look back on what could have been the biggest titles on the console. It’s unfortunate that these games are gone and sometimes information on them is scarce. However, here’s a brief look at what we know about some of the biggest games that almost made it to the PS4.
10Star Wars 1313
There have been moreStar Warsgames than there have beenStar Warsmovies. However, that comes with the series having a slew of games that never saw the light of day. The biggest and arguably the most promising?Star Wars 1313.
It was meant to show players a new side of theStar Warsuniverse. While the prequels took place in the lavish heights of Coruscant, 1313 was set to explore the planet’s seedy underbelly. However, when Disney bought Lucasfilm they shut down Lucas Arts. This decision made1313an unfortunate casualty.
9Project Rap Rabbit
Its a shame that all of these titles were never released. However, its a disaster game titledProject Rap Rabbitnever graced the shelves of GameStop.
Rap Rabbitwas meant to be a spiritual sequel to a classic Playstation 1 rhythm game,PaRappa the Rapper. However, this game barely ever even went into production. It was officially announced with a Kickstarter campaign where fans could contribute money. However, it asked $1,100,000 which was far more than most projects asked for. In comparison,Shovel Knightwent several times over its original goal of $75,000 and received $311,502.Project Rap Rabbitonly got to $202,305 and the game was never released.
8Disney Infinity 4.0
Mickey Mouse, Captain America, and Darth Vader all in the same game sounds like an insane idea made up by a child. However,Disney Infinitywas able to deliver exactly that. Gamers were able to play as any Disney character they wanted as long as they had the right toy.
If fans wanted to play as their favorite character, they had to buy a figurine that could be scanned into the game. That ended up being the downfall. Disney, dissatisfied with the toy sales and wanting to license their properties to other studios instead of making them internally, ceased production on the series and canceled its fourth entry.
7Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Patriots
Tom Clancy: Rainbow Sixis a first-person shooting franchise that’s been spun off into various different series since its first entry in 1998. The games follow an anti-terrorism unit named “Rainbow”. In 2011 it was announced the team would travel to New York City to fight a domestic terrorist group that called themselves “True Patriots.”
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According toRock Paper Shotgunthe game was dropped because of the upcoming PS4 andXbox One(it was announced for PS3 and Xbox 360). The team decided that it would be easier to start over entirely instead of releasing the game on dying consoles.
6EverQuest Next
The originalEverQuestwas a massively multiplayer onlinerole-playing gamethat gained notoriety in the early 2000s for its difficulty and revolutionary 3D graphics. In this fantasy world, players could join guilds, fight one another, and form real-world friendships that could last a lifetime.
The game spawned spin-offs, novels, and a direct sequel. In 2009 a third main entry was announced but details were scarce for a while. Eventually, the developers revealed the game would be a combination of a traditional MMORPG while also giving players the ability to build their own worlds. As the game grew closer to completion the developers realized it wasn’tfun to playand the team’s efforts were directed elsewhere.
5Project Ragtag
When EA got the rights to produceStar Warsgames they put many of their internal studios to work. EA shut down production on a pirate game calledJamaicaand told its team, Visceral, to instead focus their efforts on aStar Warstitle. So they retrofitted their pirate idea into a story about galactic smugglers and retitled itProject Ragtag.
There were fears with EA higher-ups that the game’s lack of already knownStar Warscharacters would hurt sales. Later on, difficulties with adapting to theFrostbiteengine and management of the available employees put further strain on the development. Eventually, EA would shut down the project since they perceived single-player games in thePS4and Xbox One generation weren’t as financially viable.
4Fez 2
There’s few games that have such a public cancellation asFez 2. The firstFezwas a puzzle-platformer where players could turn the 2D world in four different directions in order to solve puzzles. It received high praise at the time of its release and was one of the first big indie games to break into the mainstream.
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The game’s lead designer, Phil Fish, was rocketed into a rock star status. Few developers, even at big studios, ever received this level of acclaim. However, Fish became known for his controversial opinions. After an argument on Twitter, Fish left the video game industry due to its toxicity, andFez 2was canceled.
3Wolf Among Us Season 2
While Telltale Games messed around with many adaptations of popular media it wasn’t untilThe Walking Deadthat they truly struck gold. That game, which had more in common with an interactive TV show than a video game, set a style they’d find great success in applying to other franchises. Entires based onBatman,Guardians of the Galaxy, andBorderlandswould soon follow. However, a lesser-known property would end up becoming one of their most beloved games.
The Wolf Among Us, a prequel to theFablescomic book, explored a darker version of classic fairy tales. Players controlled the sheriff, Bigby Wolf, as he investigated a murder that brought him to the darkest corners of this fantasy world. After its huge success, a sequel was announced. However, when Telltale closed down due to financial troubles the sequel was canceled. However, it seems like the project will see the light of day eventually. Telltale was later bought by another company and recent announcements say thatThe Wolf Among Us 2is one of their first projects at the revived studio.
2Seeker
Headstrong Games is a studio that is most well known for developingArt Academygames forNintendo. However, they had a desire to branch out and create more ambitious titles on other platforms like the PS4. On their blog, the company announced a new RPG set in space calledSeeker.The game would have been about exploring the galaxy and fighting aliens. The player would have eventually been swept up into a story that would decide the fate of the galaxy.
However, after their parent company, Kuju Entertainment shifted policies the Headstrong Games team was reassigned to other parts of the corporation.
1Silent Hills
In August 2014 a small horror game calledP.T.was released. Within it, players were trapped within a looping hallway as they were pursued by a mysterious entity. It took players collaborating with each other from all around the world days to figure out, but once a variety of hidden puzzles were solved it revealed the game itself was a “Playable Teaser” for a revival of theSilent Hillfranchise.
The game was going to be a collaboration between video game designer Hideo Kojima, movie director Guillermo Del Toro, and actor Norman Reedus. However, internal disputes between Kojima and the parent company Konami caused Kojima to exit the company. Those three men would later go on to cooperate on a new title calledDeath Stranding.
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