By Kallie Plagge on Jan 19, 2018 09:30 pm
Lost In Limbo
2017 was absolutely packed with games, from long-awaited ones like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Persona 5 to surprises like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. There were also big announcements, like Dragon Ball FighterZ and Metro Exodus. But amid all the news and excitement, there are games that have dropped off the radar almost entirely. The long-missing Cyberpunk 2077 finally reemerged with a recent one-word tweet, presumably a hint that developer CD Projekt Red will have more to say in the near future. It's a very small thing, but it's enough to release Cyberpunk from our missing games list after three straight years of nothing. However, not all games are so lucky; there are quite a few that we've heard very little about in years, some announced ages ago and others only hinted at with no official word. These games haven't been canceled outright, either, leaving them in limbo. From the Final Fantasy 7 Remake to Borderlands 3 and beyond, these are the biggest missing games we're still waiting to hear more (or anything) about.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake
You probably remember that a Final Fantasy VII Remake is happening, but it's faded into the background in recent months. It was announced at Sony's E3 2015 press conference, and we even saw a gameplay trailer later that year. There was also an interview in March 2017 with director Tetsuya Nomura that detailed some gameplay systems (including stealth and taking cover). The last bit of news came in May 2017, when it was revealed that Square Enix would be developing the game internally (rather than with outside help, as was previously announced). But that didn't come with many details. So far, we know that the FF7 Remake will be split into multiple installments and will feature full voice acting--what's missing is more gameplay and any information about a release date.
The Star Wars Games
EA shuttered developer Visceral Games last October, putting the status of its Amy Hennig-led Star Wars game up in the air. It's not clear what will change about the game as it continues development elsewhere--EA's Patrick Soderlund said the company "needed to pivot the design"--but it's not canceled outright. There's also Titanfall developer Respawn's Star Wars game, which was announced on May the 4th, 2016. We know it's supposed to be an "all-new third-person action adventure game set in the Star Wars universe," but that's about it. EA purchased Respawn in November 2017, and that announcement didn't come with an update on the untitled Star Wars game.
Pikmin 4
Back in 2015, Pikmin 4 was announced and apparently "very close to completion." After almost a year with no news, Miyamoto himself assured Pikmin fans that the sequel was still happening--and that was it. Though spinoff Hey Pikmin came out on 3DS last year, it's not at all clear what's happening with Pikmin 4 besides the fact that it's, well, happening.
Resident Evil 2 Remake
A remake of Resident Evil 2 was confirmed in 2015, a year after a fan-made version was first shown off. (Capcom even asked for feedback on the fan-made remake.) The team behind the Resident Evil HD Remaster was to tackle 2, but the last we heard from them was in April 2016, when producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi discussed the impact of Resident Evil 6 feedback on the remake project. We still don't know if the Resident Evil 2 Remake will retain the original's camera angles or adopt the newer styles, even.
Phantom Dust
Phantom Dust has entered its fourth year running on our missing games list with no sign of news any time soon. The reboot of the 2005 Xbox game of the same name was first announced at E3 2014, but its original developer, Darkside Game Studios, closed down the following February. We saw some leaked gameplay footage in 2015 and got confirmation that the game wasn't dead, but we still haven't heard anything since. That said, a separate Phantom Dust re-release with slight improvements arrived in May 2017.
Allison Road
Allison Road has had a rough journey. The fan project was supposed to be a spiritual successor to P.T. and promised to fill the void left behind by Silent Hills. It was originally on Kickstarter before abandoning crowdfunding in favor of publisher Team17, and it was canceled in June. Allison Road was then revived in August by its creator, who formed a new studio to continue development, which means Team17 is no longer publishing it. So Allison Road technically came back from the dead, but we haven't heard anything else about it since. All we have to remember it by is a small amount of gameplay footage.
Tekken x Street Fighter
Tekken x Street Fighter was announced in 2010 for PS3 and Xbox 360, and it's been kind of a mystery ever since. Producer Katsuhiro Harada assured fans in 2014 and reiterated in 2015 that the crossover fighting game wasn't canceled. However, in April 2016, Harada revealed that Tekken x Street Fighter was "no longer in active development" and that publisher Bandai Namco was waiting for "the right time" to release it. GameSpot reached out for comment in 2016, and at the time, Bandai Namco said the team was focusing on Tekken 7, which came out in 2017. When we reached out again for this feature, Bandai Namco told us that the Tekken team is focused on Tekken 7 DLC--which means we'll probably have to wait longer for an update on the crossover. It's worth noting, however, that Street Fighter's Akuma is a character in Tekken 7, so the two styles are definitely merge-able.
Dead Island 2
Zombie survival game Dead Island 2 came out of the gate with a very memorable trailer at E3 2014--and memorable is good, since we've heard so little since. The game's original spring 2015 release window was later delayed to 2016, and then it lost its developer, Yager, in July 2015. Still, publisher Deep Silver assured us it wasn't canceled. There's been no news on Dead Island 2 since March 2016, when it was announced that LittleBigPlanet 3 developer Sumo Digital had taken over the game's development. Last we heard, Dead Island 2 is set in California and will have four playable characters and eight-player co-op.
Battlecry
Battlecry, a MOBA-like with historical inspirations and a focus on melee combat, was announced in 2014. Developer Battlecry Studios, which was created with the express purpose of creating a multiplayer arena game, apparently put extra effort into designing the female warrior with care. Battlecry had a trailer and even signups for a global beta in 2015, but publisher Bethesda expressed concerns about its quality. It's been two years and we haven't heard anything--good or bad--about the game.
Deep Down
Now in its third year on our missing games list, PS4 Souls-like Deep Down was revealed in 2013. It didn't disappear right away; we got details and trailers up through TGS 2014, and it was supposed to have a public beta in early 2015. The beta never happened, and in a February 2015 interview, producer Yoshinori Ono said that the game wasn't canceled but might be reworked. In 2016, Capcom told us that a western release was never even confirmed for Deep Down, but the publisher filed a new patent for the game in the US in early 2017. It remains to be seen if the game comes westward, but even the Japanese version has been out of the news for quite a while.
Agent
It wouldn't be a missing games list without Agent! The Cold War-era espionage game was teased way, way back in 2007 and announced in 2009 as a PS3 exclusive from Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar North. Since then, the game hasn't been canceled, but it's barely more than a murmur. The first images from Agent were released in 2011, when Rockstar parent Take-Two confirmed the game was still in development. Two full years later, Take-Two renewed trademarks for Agent. It renewed the trademarks again in 2014, just before E3. New images emerged in 2015, and at the end of 2016, Take-Two refiled the Agent trademarks yet again. Since then, there's been silence--but it's still not canceled.
Wild
We know as much about Wild as we did last year, which is not a lot. The PS4-exclusive survival adventure game was revealed at Gamescom 2014, and we saw some gameplay during Paris Games Week in October 2015. We know that Wild casts you as a shaman who can possess animals--and that's about it.
The Next Borderlands Game
What's being called Borderlands 3 hasn't actually been announced, but it's been heavily hinted at. In January 2015, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford tweeted that the developer was recruiting for the "next Borderlands game." (He specifically said that it was "the big one.") Since then, Pitchford has continued to dance around an official announcement; he instead gave a few more details in April 2016 and confirmed that it was in the works, and he tweets sly hints from time to time.
BioShock Creator Ken Levine's Untitled Game
BioShock creator Ken Levine appeared on NPR at the end of 2015 and discussed general design goals for his next game--it's supposed to be highly replayable. Levine also described it as a "small-scale open-world game" with a sci-fi theme. As far as anyone knows, the mystery game is still happening.
Half-Life 3
We pretty much have to mention Half-Life 3, even long after it hit peak meme status and transcended to the realm of "never going to happen." Half-Life 2: Episode 3 was announced back in 2006 but never materialized; it also wasn't canceled, either. In a Reddit AMA in early 2017, Valve boss Gabe Newell said there was still a possibility of more games in the Half-Life/Portal universe, so that's something. And there's also the leaked story summary from former Valve writer Marc Laidlaw, which confirms nothing but is a wild read.
Recent Articles:
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment