Five Games That Seemed So Promising and Then, Just Died

In a decade full of movers and shakers, not every single opus managed to break free from the constraints of production. It is a natural thing that creative ideas don’t make it much further than just that – an idea. With development budgets increasing year after year, the risk of starting a new IP can be costly, drastically so, to the point of the total termination of a company. The motto of the gaming industry is, and probably always will be – if it makes money then let’s do it again, only this time, let’s make it shinier!

Why not give respect to some of those oh-so creative ideas that never fully got fleshed out. All that we are left with is sadness, and the cold, hard fact that these games will never be, except in our hearts and minds.





5. B.C

Revealed at E3 in 2003, this was supposed to be Lionhead Studios masterpiece. Announced for the PC and Xbox, the game promised to be epic in size – kind of like Fable with a loincloth. Peter Molyneux promised the game would focus heavily on mankind’s fight for survival in a very hostile world. In fact, the game was so far into development that a sequel was announced as well, making this tale a double-bladed sword straight to gamers hearts. Perhaps the game just got too imaginative for its own good, we all know that Peter Molyneux usually has better ideas than final products.

4. Fear & Respect

Lost somewhere in the massive gaming giant that is Grand Theft Auto, this one was ever so close to seeing the light of day. It was to be a joint production between Midway and film director John Singleton (Boyz ‘n the Hood) and was to star none other than the Dogfather himself, Snoop Dogg. Eventually, Midway’s finical problems, and the fact that it looked like a cash in on the whole urban gangster popularity made sure that it never made it to store shelves.

3. Indiana Jones

How magnificent this game was going to be. A real, spirited Indy game that didn’t have to utilize LEGO to be a great game. It was announced in 2006, and was supposed to be the first ever video game to use Natural Motion’s Euphoria technology. It was to be a breakthrough for games in general, in that physics would no longer be a gimmick but an overall piece of the game. The plan was to have the game release around the same time as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, helping to bring the legend into the new millennium.

2. Tiberium

In the not so distant future Electronic Arts were going to attempt to combine RTS strategy with the balls-to-the-wall action of a first person shooter. Apparently, the task seemed too much of a challenge, and eventually in late 2008, EA announced that the game was not on track to meet the high quality standards that they had set out to reach. A branch off of the popular RTS series, Command & Conquer, it looked fantastic in the trailers released. Who knows, given more time and money, this could have turned out to be one of the great shooters, but now we will never know.

1. Starcraft: Ghost

Oh Starcraft: Ghost, how you teased us with your almost unlimited possibilities and super-sexy female lead. My personal choice for the game that never was, it showed plenty of potential over its four year, two-developer life span. The game was to be set in the Starcraft universe and was to let us take control of Nova, a popular ghost from the Starcraft universe. It was to involve stealth gameplay in the vein of Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid, and focus on the ability to cloak. Unlike the RTS game it was based off of, this one was a full-fledged, third person action game with cool technology. Although never officially written off, it doesn’t look like it will ever see the light of day. With concentration now fully on Starcraft 2 and Diablo III, and the interest for a new stealth game not very high, even if it did get released it’s quite clear that it would not be the same as it once promised to be.