Every year, video game developers and publishers announce new games at showcase events likeSummer Game FestorPAX East, hoping to garner attention from consumers and build up hype for their upcoming games. Game development cycles have increased over the years, so it’s not unreasonable to expect that a freshly announced AAA game would take years to come out after its announcement. However, some of these games never come out at all.
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Over the years, there have been plenty of anticipated games that were announced only to be cancelled by publishers. Sometimes, these cancellations happen internally before any formal announcement has been made.
8Fable Legends
TheFableseries is one of the most cherished video games series among Xbox fans, and whenFable Legends was announced at E3 2013, fans were elated to know Lionhead Studios was continuing the series. The game was going to be afree-to-play multiplayer game, featuring asymmetrical combat mechanics, allowing one player to be the villain and pit monsters against four hero players.
Aclosed betalaunched on Xbox One in late 2014, and Lionhead Studios had planned to launch the game in 2016, but Microsoft, the owner of Lionhead Studios at the time,shut the developer down in early 2016and cancelled all development on Fable Legends. In 2021, a Microsoft employee referred to the event asone of the company’s “biggest missteps”.
7Fez II
When Fez was released as an Xbox 360 exclusive in 2012, it was an indie hit. The game had very positive review scores, and Phil Fish, the game’s creator, announced thatFez would be coming to new video game platforms in 2013. On June 28, 2025,Fez II was announced to be in developmentat Fish’s studio, Polytron.
And then, just one month later, Fez II was cancelled following anargument between Fish and video game commentator, Marcus Beer. Beer criticized Fish for not commenting on a new industry development surrounding indie game development on Xbox One. After a heated Twitter exchange between Fish and Beer, Fish tweeted “I’m done. Fez II is cancelled. Goodbye.”
6Silent Hills
On Aug 01, 2025, a game demo known as P.T. was released on the PlayStation Network. At first, fans had no clue what the game was, but after beating the demo, players discovered thatP.T. was a demo for a new Silent Hill gamecalled Silent Hills. The game was set to star The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus, and acclaimed video game director, Hideo Kojima, was set to direct the game. Guillermo Del Toro, a critically lauded filmmaker, was set to have a hand in the project as well.
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However, after Kojima’s departure from Konami in March 2015, Konami announced Silent Hills was cancelled. In April 2015, P.T. was removed from the PlayStation Network, and there is now no legitimate way to access P.T. on game distribution services. In October 2022,Konami announced the next game in the series, Silent Hill f, making it unlikely that Silent Hills will ever return, even if in name only.
5Deep Down
Althoughnot officially cancelled, Capcom’s Deep Down (which is a working title) hasn’t been seen in any official capacity since theTokyo Game Show 2014. Deep Down takes place in a future New York City where players are transported back in time to fight monsters.
In aninterview with Eurogamer in 2019, a producer at Capcom who had been working on Deep Down, Yoshinori Ono, confirmed that the original Deep Down team was no longer together, but that the project was still in the works. In 2020,Ono left Capcom to work at another studio, leaving the state of Deep Down’s development unknown.
4Mega Man Legends 3
Mega Man Legends fans had hoped for years for a long-awaited sequel to Mega Man Legends 2, and in 2010, they had their dreams come true when Mega Man Legends 3 was announced to be in development for the Nintendo 3DS, which was set to release in late 2011.
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In April 2011, it was announced that ademo version of the game called Mega Man Legends 3: Prototype Version, would be releasedon the 3DS shop ahead of the game’s full release, and would act as a prologue to the game. However, in July 2011, Capcom announced that Mega Man Legends 3 was cancelled and the prototype version of the game wouldn’t be released. The only journalist who is known to have played the prototype version is Chris Hoffman of Nintendo Power, whostated that it felt fairly complete and fun.
3Bulletstorm 2
Developed by People Can Fly and published by Epic Games, Bulletstorm is the game that keeps on giving. Originally released in 2011, Bulletstorm has attracted a passionate cult following over the years, warranting aremaster of the original gamereleased back in 2017 and aVR updateset to release on various platforms later in 2023.
However, despite the game’s longevity, there’s still no Bulletstorm 2 on the horizon. Mike Capps, former president of Epic Games, said that there was some development done on a Bulletstorm sequel, but thatEpic Games had shelved it and found another project for People Can Fly to work on. People Can Fly is no longer with Epic Games, but they did retain the rights to Bulletstorm, leaving fans hopeful for a sequel.
2Untitled F-Zero Game For Wii U
F-Zero fans have been patiently waiting for a new 3D entry into Nintendo’s seemingly dormant racer series since 2003. While Nintendo has been relatively silent about F-Zero,NintendoLife confirmedin 2015 that Nintendo had approached Burnout developer Criterion to develop an F-Zero game as a launch title for the Wii U.
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Criterion founder Alex Ward confirmed the information, telling NintendoLife that there were talks between Nintendo of Europe and Criterion, but considering Criterion was developing Need for Speed: Most Wanted at the time, they couldn’t divert resources to develop an F-Zero game.
1Titanfall 3
When Respawn Entertainment launched Titanfall on the Xbox One in 2014, the game was lauded for its gameplay mechanics, but criticized by players and critics for its lack of a single-player campaign. Then, in 2016, Respawn released Titanfall 2, complete with a critically acclaimed single-player campaign that proved the developer could make a compelling single-player experience in the Titanfall universe. Unfortunately, it is likely to be the only one.
In atalk with BURNETTWORK on YouTube, former Respawn Entertainment developer, Mohammad Alavi, confirmed that the developer had worked on Titanfall 3 for about ten months before scrapping the game to focus on a battle royale multiplayer game. While not explicitly mentioned, this game is believed to be Apex Legends, Respawn’s wildly successful battle royale game set in the Titanfall universe. With the success of Apex Legends, it’s unlikely that Respawn will look to continue development on Titanfall 3.
