5 Soul-Crushing Game Cancellations Like the Prince of Persia Remake

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Man, I was really shocked to hear Ubisoft cancelled the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake. It was one of the games I was actually looking forward to, and it sounded like it was getting close to a 2026 release! But honestly, it’s not the first time this has happened, is it? There have been so many awesome games over the years that just… never came out. It’s super frustrating to think about all that wasted potential and what could have been.

Games get cancelled for many reasons, like poor quality or when too much money is spent without a good result. Sometimes a series doesn’t get another installment, and other times, a really promising game is stopped before it’s finished. The most disappointing cancellations happen when a game generates excitement and a fanbase, only to be halted due to issues beyond the developers’ control.

5. PT (Silent Hills)

Many consider Silent Hills to be one of the most anticipated horror games ever made. It was being developed by renowned creators Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro, and would have starred Norman Reedus of The Walking Dead. The game aimed to revitalize a classic survival horror series with groundbreaking new concepts. While the game’s secrecy fueled excitement, disagreements between those involved ultimately led to its cancellation in 2015.

The cancellation of Silent Hills remains disappointing, especially because a playable teaser, PT, already existed. This demo was exclusive to the PlayStation 4, but was later removed from the PlayStation Store, effectively making it lost media. Thankfully, gameplay videos and preserved copies on some consoles still allow people to experience its terrifying atmosphere. Even this short sample was incredibly gripping, and suggested the full game could have been one of the greatest horror games since Silent Hill 2. Unfortunately, that potential will never be realized.

4. StarCraft: Ghosts

It’s often easier to move on from cancelled games if we never see what they were like, but a playable prototype of StarCraft: Ghosts leaked online, letting fans get a glimpse of what could have been. This game was planned as a spin-off of the hugely popular real-time strategy game StarCraft – a game that was once likely the most popular in the world. Because of StarCraft‘s popularity, the news of a game that would expand on its story really excited fans.

Originally planned as a stealth-action shooter similar to Gears of War, StarCraft: Ghosts was announced in 2002 but faced years of development challenges. It was put on hold in 2006 and officially cancelled in 2014, disappointing fans who had waited for nearly a decade. While some long-awaited games, like Hollow Knight: Silksong, eventually succeed, StarCraft: Ghosts couldn’t overcome the hurdles of changing gaming consoles and prolonged development problems.

3. Scalebound

Game trailers, such as the one for Scalebound, can create huge expectations and build massive hype among players. Originally shown in 2014, Scalebound looked set to deliver exciting action gameplay, featuring a dragon partner that would evolve alongside the player. Like The Last Guardian, which launched two years later, Scalebound was being developed by Platinum Games, a studio known for influential games like Bayonetta.

Platinum Games’ vision for Scalebound was incredibly ambitious, but ultimately too much for them and their partner, Microsoft, to handle. Disagreements arose over the game’s direction, particularly with adding complicated features like four-player co-op and a strong online component. The studio was also new to the technology powering the Xbox One, which added to the challenges. These combined issues made finishing Scalebound impossible, and the project was officially cancelled in 2017.

2. Perfect Dark

The cancellation of the Perfect Dark reboot is a particularly disappointing loss for gamers. The original Perfect Dark was a hugely influential first-person shooter, alongside titles like Halo: Combat Evolved. Fans had been hoping for a remake for years, and their wishes seemed to come true when Xbox announced a new Perfect Dark project at the 2020 Game Awards. The game was being developed by The Initiative, a first-party studio dedicated to bringing the classic back to life.

Fans grew worried about this game after a long silence. Then, in 2024, a gameplay trailer finally appeared, showcasing smooth first-person stealth gameplay with parkour and flexible combat options. It looked like exactly what players had hoped for, and excitement quickly returned. Sadly, ongoing creative disagreements and frequent staff changes ultimately led to the game’s cancellation, despite initial promise.

As a long-time fan, it’s been a real rollercoaster with the new Perfect Dark. Development bounced around between different teams – Crystal Dynamics and Certain Affinity were involved at various points. Apparently, even just a couple of years before it was supposed to come out, the game was still in the very early stages, which meant things were moving incredibly slowly. Then, with the big layoffs at Microsoft in 2025, it felt like everything just… stopped. The game was put on hold, and honestly, after waiting so long, it was a huge disappointment for those of us who were really excited about it.

1. Star Wars 1313

The cancellation of Star Wars 1313 remains a particularly painful loss for gamers, especially since there wasn’t a clear reason for it. The game promised a dark and realistic action-adventure experience in the criminal underworld of the Star Wars universe – a concept explored much later in Star Wars Outlaws. Like the 2002 game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, 1313 would have centered on a young Boba Fett striving to become the galaxy’s most feared bounty hunter, following in his father Jango’s footsteps.

LucasArts’ gameplay reveal at E3 2012 was incredibly well-received, especially because George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, was directly involved in crafting the game’s story. Despite Star Wars 1313 appearing poised for success, the sale of Star Wars to Disney abruptly changed everything. Disney famously closed all of its internal Star Wars studios, including LucasArts, which immediately canceled all ongoing projects.

Disney’s large-scale layoffs coincided with an exclusive deal giving Electronic Arts the sole rights to make official Star Wars games. This meant promising projects like Star Wars 1313 were ultimately cancelled, a particularly frustrating outcome because the game’s fate was sealed by decisions made outside of the development team’s control.

What game cancellation disappointed you the most? Share your thoughts in the comments or discuss it on the ComicBook Forum!

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2026-01-25 21:14