Within the flood of video games that get released each year, there are a few that don’t quite make it. Referred to as “vaporware,” these games have such a large and loyal fanbase but are ultimately shelved due to budget constraints or other “internal issues.” Others we don’t even know about until it’s too late. Below are ten games we feel would’ve been great if they had survived their development woes.

Freelancer 2 | Xbox 360

The original Freelancer is one of the best space-combat sims for the PC, and it too suffered a few development mishaps but was ultimately released in March of 2003. A sequel was planned for the Xbox 360 and was in development for quite some time, consisting of several Wing Commander veterans (the original Freelancer was considered an unofficial follow up to Wing Commander: Privateer). The game would’ve seen Edison Trent attempt to find out the truth about the mystery of the space station disaster he survived whilst alluding some shadowy groups.

Why aren’t we playing it now?

Unfortunately in late January of 2006 Digital Anvil were no more, thanks to Microsoft redeploying its developers over to Microsoft Game Studios, which also took any games Digital Anvil had to the grave with them. Although the original Freelancer was a great space-combit sim, perhaps it’s for the better that its sequel didn’t end up on a console.

B.C. | Xbox

B.C. would’ve been a third-person action-adventure game developed by Lionhead Studios for the original Xbox that pitted humans against dinosaurs in a fight for survival. Think of Turok, only more…primitive. Players would’ve had to make their own weapons and tools from what they found laying around and with naturally occurring materials, while also lead a tribe to advance your technology. Early previews praised the game’s AI, showing dinosaurs that worked together who acted independently of the player.

Why aren’t we playing it now?

Update: I guess I missed this quote from Molynuex back in 2008:

“We’re not saying it’s never going to come out. Currently it’s still on the shelf, but so many people ask about it and I find it absolutely fascinating that they do, because in a way some people here and at Microsoft said, ‘You know, we just don’t quite understand what the BC game’s all about.’ But everybody seems so enthusiastic about it. It really fascinates me.” Perhaps we’ll see the game after all…



Surprise! Lionhead Studios canceled it in 2003 after seven years of development. Molynuex stated “the ambitious nature of the gameplay and the high standards the people developing it are pushing for” when asked about its cancellation.

Cry On | Xbox 360

The Xbox 360 has an obvious lack of (notable) RPG games, and the cancellation of Mistwalker’s (in collaboration with AQ Interactive) Cry On certainly didn’t help. Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi originally planned to make three RPGs for the Xbox 360: Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, and Cry On. Cry On would’ve had players control the character Sally, who worked through scenarios that promised an emotional response. It took place in a world where people live amongst giant sand creatures, with Sally having one as her sidekick named Bogle.

Why aren’t we playing it now?

“AQI decided to cancel the project after analyzing the current market environment and forecasts for the future. We deeply apologize for troubling those who were awaiting its release”. Worse yet? The cancellation was announced on Christmas. Ouch.

Tribes Extreme | PC

I doubt many of you will remember Tribes Extreme unless you were an avid Tribes player back in the late 90’s. Extreme was a single-player campaign for the original Tribes which was multiplayer-only (save for tutorial missions), and would’ve been sold as a stand-alone game. There weren’t any new vehicles or weapons, simply the first game with a campaign that allowed players to fight against bots. One cool thing about Extreme is that it would’ve featured online co-op with either humans versus the AI, or both humans and AI fighting together against a team of AI. The game would’ve also included new multiplayer content for tournaments.

Why aren’t we playing it now?

Creating a single-player campaign was a bit harder than Dynamix originally thought. At the time they were also developing Tribes 2, so when they looked at both projects they had to make a decision: Which was most promising in the long run? Tribes Extreme, at that time, just wasn’t worth all the trouble. In December of 1999 they abandoned it and shifted all their focus to Tribes 2 and its campaign.

Freedom Fighters 2 | PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3





The original Freedom Fighters was one of the best games for the previous generation. In it, you took on the role of Christopher Stone, and evolved from an average New Yorker into a fearless patriot who recruits and leads an army of freedom fighters in the streets of New York City. You gained points for rescuing prisoners or capturing key installations, with the number of prisoners you can recruit depending on charisma.

Why aren’t we playing it now?

Simply put: it’s been put on hold. IO Interactive originally planned to release the game in 2005. However, thanks to development on Kane and Lynch it was pushed aside. In 2007 IO Interactive stated the game is still on the company’s ‘to-do’ list, so you never know.

GoldenEye 007 XBLA | Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii





This game needs no description. It’s friggin’ GoldenEye! While the original hasn’t aged very well, gamers were hoping to see a port of it coming to XBLA and Wii when it was announced that both Microsoft and Nintendo had plans to release it on their consoles.

Why aren’t we playing it now?

Neither Microsoft or Nintendo could come to an agreement when it came to finances. Nintendo was the one who originally mentioned interest in porting the game over to the Virtual Console, but since Rare is now owned by Microsoft things just didn’t mesh well. It was reported the game had been in development for several months, so it may very well be done for all we know. Bastards…

Duke Nukem Forever | PC, Xbox 360





Much like GoldenEye, Duke Nukem Forever doesn’t really need a description. And honestly, no list about vaporware would be complete without it. The game’s been “in development” since 1997 intended to be a sequel to 1996’s Duke Nukem 3D. 3D Realms released a few screenshots over the years here and there, but nothing substantial on the game was revealed. A new Duke Nukem title called “D-Day” has recently been teased however. Whether or not it’s related to Duke Nukem Forever is yet to be seen.

Why aren’t we playing it now?

It basically comes down to changes to the engine and the franchise being transferred from company to company. Plus, that whole lawsuit thing probably didn’t help either.

Starcraft: Ghost | Xbox, PlayStation 3, Gamecube





Starcraft: Ghost followed Nova, a Terran psychic espionage operative and was set four years after the conclusion of StarCraft: Brood War. It covered a conspiracy about a secretive military project conducted by Nova’s superiors in the imperial Terran Dominion. As Nova you could cloak yourself to become invisible while also being equipped with thermal imaging goggles and a special EMP device for disabling electronic devices and vehicles.

Why aren’t we playing it now?

In March of 2006, Blizzard Entertainment announced an indefinite postponement on development of Ghost while the company explored new options with the emerging seventh generation of video game consoles. Although Blizzard has yet to release Ghost, we may get to experience something very similar to it in StarCraft II, thanks to a new third-person aspect coming to the game.

Star Wars: Battlefront III





Battlefront III’s development is a bit tricky because it was never officially announced. Instead, many assume it to be the “Secret LucasArts Project” on Free Radical’s design website. In July of 2008 it was listed on Amazon.com to come out for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PSP on March 15 2009, but it was eventually removed. Then in December of 2008 character renders surfaced from a laid off employee of Free Radical, and included a Starwars: Battlefront III watermark. Since then more and more leaked renders and artwork have been released, leaving many gamers wondering just what the hell is going on with the game.

Why aren’t we playing it now?

In October of 2008, Free Radical Design announced that they had lost the rights to develop Star Wars: Battlefront III after being acquired by game developer Crytek. The latest rumor is that Rebellion Studios are now developing the game, but again, just rumors. We may get our first official look at the game at this year’s Spike VGAs according to a recent tweet from Geoff Keighly. There may be hope after all.

Perfect Dark 2





Like Battlefront III, Perfect Dark 2 was never officially announced. Rare had begun work on the game in 2007, but by late-2007 it was never greenlighted. It merely served as a prototype for an upcoming first-person shooter by Rare for Natal.

Why aren’t we playing it now?

Mainly because it was never given the greelight, and the development team was eventually cut down to just three guys. Shame…

Honorable mentions: