5 Blizzard Games We Almost Got (And Why They Were Never Made)

by

Blizzard is a major player in the gaming world, known for creating many highly successful games. Titles like StarCraft, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch have become defining examples of their genres, and the Diablo series has consistently proven the company’s strength. Despite this success, not all of Blizzard’s games have been hits.

Like most large game companies, Blizzard has started many projects that were ultimately cancelled. Some, such as StarCraft: Ghost, have well-documented histories, but others were promising ideas that never made it to completion. Here are five significant Blizzard games that were never released, and the reasons why fans didn’t get a chance to play them.

Blizzard’s Star Wars

I’ve always been fascinated by the stories of games that never quite made it, and Blizzard’s attempt at a Star Wars game is one of the most interesting to me. Apparently, as detailed in the book Play Nice, they actually started working on a Star Wars adaptation even without getting permission from LucasArts! It all began after they cancelled a strategy game called Shattered Nations. Blizzard’s president at the time, Allen Adham, told the team they’d be pivoting to create a real-time strategy game set in the Star Wars universe, which is just wild to think about!

The team worked on the project for several months, creating concept art featuring iconic Star Wars vehicles such as the AT-AT. Although LucasArts decided not to move forward with the idea, the work wasn’t discarded. Blizzard removed all Star Warsspecific imagery and elements, but retained the gameplay concepts and overall science fiction theme. This ultimately formed the foundation for the development of StarCraft*.

Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans

Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans was planned as a significant departure for the Warcraft series. Instead of the real-time strategy gameplay the series was known for, it would have been a story-focused point-and-click adventure game, similar to Monkey Island. The game aimed to further develop the story of Thrall, a key orc character who has become central to the Warcraft universe.

The game was in development for eighteen months with a budget exceeding $100,000. However, Blizzard grew worried that the game wasn’t shaping up well and didn’t want to release a flawed product. According to sources, the puzzles felt awkward and the development team disliked the art style. Ultimately, they decided the game couldn’t be fixed and canceled the project. Thrall’s story was later explored in novels and the 2016 Warcraft movie. A very early version of the game was also leaked online, giving fans a glimpse of what it might have been like.

Project Hades

Originally planned as the next installment after Diablo 3, Project Hades was intended to dramatically change the Diablo series. After the difficult development of Diablo 3, the team wanted to try a new approach. Project Hades would have been an action game played from a third-person perspective, focusing more on intense combat. It would have also featured permadeath – a roguelike feature where defeated characters would pass on their progress to new characters.

Initially, Project Hades drew ideas from games like Dark Souls and Batman: Arkham Asylum, quickly evolving into something unique from the existing Hades game. However, the team struggled to combine the combat mechanics with multiplayer functionality, a crucial aspect of what made Diablo successful. When the project lead left Blizzard, the game was cancelled, and the company decided to return to the established Diablo formula for Diablo 4.

Titan

Blizzard, the creator of World of Warcraft, once started developing another online game called Titan. It was meant to be a superhero-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Around 2007, many companies were trying to compete with World of Warcraft, so Blizzard decided to create its own rival. Titan was unique because it blended traditional MMORPG gameplay with life simulation elements. Players would have lived double lives – managing everyday tasks like jobs and friendships in their civilian identities during the day, and then fighting crime as superheroes at night.

The initial versions of the game were enjoyable to play, but it was surprisingly difficult to create a good flow between the daytime and nighttime sections. The project was in development for years and cost Blizzard $80 million before being cancelled. Luckily, the ideas weren’t lost; some of the superhero world’s concepts were later used to build the foundation for a new team-based shooter, which ultimately became Overwatch.

Odyssey

Blizzard has recently focused on its existing game franchises, but Odyssey would have been a completely new one. Development started in 2017, and the game was planned as a survival experience set in a fantastical world with a strange connection to Earth. It was designed to support a large number of players—between 100 and 200—all playing on the same map at the same time.

The game initially received positive feedback from previews in 2022, but faced ongoing internal problems. Switching from Unreal Engine to Blizzard’s Synapse system caused significant delays, and the development was further prolonged by a sexual harassment scandal within Blizzard’s management and Microsoft’s acquisition of the company in 2023. Although many hoped Microsoft’s involvement would help complete the project, the game, titled Odyssey, was ultimately canceled during a company restructuring following the acquisition.

Read More

2025-12-25 19:45