Canceled AAA Game Was Supposed to Be Xbox’s Uncharted Rival (So What Went Wrong?)

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The *Uncharted* series from Naughty Dog is incredibly popular, and for good reason. Players get to experience thrilling adventures as treasure hunters searching for lost artifacts. Because the games are published by Sony, they’re typically only available on PlayStation consoles. Xbox once tried to create a similar action-adventure series, known as Project Ranger, but the project was ultimately cancelled. A recent report has revealed more details about why that happened.

Back in 2013, Microsoft announced Project Ranger with a short trailer showing a spy descending a building. The game was intended to be an exclusive title for Xbox, aiming to compete with Sony’s *Uncharted* series. Unfortunately, after that initial glimpse, not much else was ever shared about the project, and it was ultimately cancelled. Now, over a decade later, a video from Liam Robertson at *Did You Know Gaming* is shedding some light on what went wrong with Project Ranger.

Why Xbox Abandoned Its Uncharted Rival, Project Ranger

When Xbox first showed a preview of Project Ranger, also known as Shangheist, they presented it as a new game only available on Xbox. However, Phil Spencer later described it as more of an experimental idea than a full-fledged game. This left fans curious about the project and why it was ultimately cancelled. Journalist Jeremy Robertson spoke to former employees of Black Tusk Studios, previously Zipline Studios, to uncover the story behind what happened.

The project started because Xbox lacked a major action-adventure game like Sony’s *Uncharted*. Xbox wanted to create its own equivalent, envisioning a game that combined the thrilling action of *Uncharted* with the spy elements of *Mission Impossible*. Essentially, the goal was to deliver a similar, high-quality action-adventure experience for Xbox players.

Initially, the game was designed to work with both a standard controller and the Xbox Kinect, hoping to encourage people to buy the motion-sensing device. Development of what was known as Project Ranger began in early 2012, and the team grew rapidly. However, the large team size, combined with unclear goals, created problems from the very beginning.

Despite its eventual cancellation, the game’s initial development phase included some innovative concepts, like controlling spy gadgets with voice and Kinect motion controls. However, after receiving feedback from Microsoft, the team decided to abandon these ideas, as well as multiplayer functionality, and instead concentrate on creating a more standard, high-budget game. According to Robertson’s detailed account, Project Ranger was surprisingly well-developed, considering how little of it was ever shown to the public. The team had cast actors, recorded motion capture, and even created a playable demo that they shared with Microsoft executives. This raises the question: what ultimately led to the game’s cancellation?

Following feedback on the demo, Microsoft executives requested significant changes to Project Ranger. They scaled back some of the game’s more imaginative features, aiming for a style similar to *Uncharted*. This happened at a time when the project was already struggling to define its core vision, with ideas constantly changing and hindering development. This instability resulted in high costs and limited progress, but the biggest problem wasn’t the money spent.

The project was cancelled when Microsoft bought the rights to *Gears of War*. Microsoft believed Black Tusk’s work on the project showed they were the perfect studio to continue the *Gears of War* series. Because of this, they decided to focus on the established *Gears of War* brand instead of taking a risk on a new, unproven game. In early 2014, the project was officially cancelled, and Black Tusk began developing the next *Gears of War* title.

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2025-10-08 17:40