It once seemed like having Hironobu Sakaguichi and Nobuo Uuematsu, respectively the famed designer and composer of Final Fantasy fame, coming to work for Microsoft was a huge win for the Xbox 360. However, the two have failed to capture the hearts of gamers in any big way since Mistwalker Studios was formed. Both of the studios' titles, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, were solid games that didn't make much of a splash at retail. Now, the company's third Xbox 360 title has been canned.

AQ Interactive, the Japanese publisher of Mistwalker's games, used Christmas Day to quietly announce its plans to cancel Cry On, the third title from the studio, which was due for the Xbox 360. An action RPG featuring the artwork of famed Japanese artist Kimihiko Fujisaka, Cry On remained largely shrouded in mystery—little information and no in-game media were released. "[We] decided to cancel the project after analyzing the current market environment and forecasts for the future," 1UP was told by a spokesperson. "We deeply apologize for troubling those who were awaiting its release."

It's disappointing to see what could have been a big, and potentially exciting, JRPG for the Xbox 360 disappear into the industry's growing dead-game sea, but it's clear that the traditional style of play offered by Mistwalker titles isn't necessarily attractive to Xbox gamers worldwide. There's no word on what, if anything, Mistwalker Studios plans to work on now.