10 Cancelled Video Games With The Most Potential

Mar 14, 2025

By Charlotte Bolton

10 Cancelled Video Games With The Most Potential

Over the years, we've been treated with some incredible games from iconic racing games to action games to terrifying horror. But what about those games that didn't quite make the cut? We've explored the best multiplayer, horror, single player and underrated games, so here's our take on the 10 cancelled video games that had the most potential.

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10 - Is Timesplitters 4 cancelled?

First up on our list is Timesplitters 4, part of the iconic Timesplitters first-person shooter video game series. The previous 3 games became cult classics, so it was only right to create a quadruple series with a 4th additional release in 2007//2008. However, after the poor response to Haze and the cancellation of Star Wars: Battlefront 3, when the Timesplitters 4 prototype was passed on to publishers, it seemed like no one was interested. It had been a few years since the previous Timesplitters 3 had released in 2005, so it was believed that producers (and gamers) were getting bored of the series.

9 - Will Megaman Legends 3 ever happen?

Next is the action-adventure video game Mega Man Legends 3 which was set to release in 2011. In the same year of it's planned release, the games publishers Devroom announced that the project would be discontinued. The main reason was that 'it was not felt that the Mega Man Legends 3 project met the required criteria', and that was all we ever heard about the project. It would have been lovely to see what the concept of the game was, especially considering the Mega Man Legends 2 game that was released in 2000 was so popular.

8 - Is Primal Rage 2 going to be canceled?

Primal Rage 2 was another video game that suffered terrible losses before its inevitable cancellation in 1997. This dimensional fighting video game was constantly hit with several lawsuits, and production chaos internally within the company had caused initial problems. When the 1 (and only) full copy of the game was tested, it was full of bugs, glitches, hardware limitations and more so Atari Games decided to pull the game entirely. It's a shame because the previous game was released in 1994, so gamers had been waiting 3 years, and it appeared like the game was so close to completion. Primal Rage will forever exist as a singular game.

7 - Will Half-Life 3 ever be made?

The Half-Life series was very popular with gamers in the early 2000s. The previous game was released in 2004, and Half-Life 3 was supposed to hit stores in 2009/2010. The first-person shooter video game was cancelled halfway through development after Valve struggled to settle on gameplay mechanics. The company agreed they wanted to create more ambitious games instead of focussing on sequels, therefore ditching the third Half-Life and focussing on the new game engine, Source 2.

6 - Why did Sonic X-Treme get Cancelled?

Sonic X-Treme was going to be a brand new addition to the Sonic universe. It was a platform video game set to release in 1996. When the game was suggested to Japanese Sega executives they weren't fans, plus some minor problems the developers faced like other company politics and obstacles for the game engines planned for use. Sonic was in its prime in the late 90's, so a totally new video game would've been incredible to see.

5 - Why was MK Fire and Ice cancelled?

Mortal Kombat: Fire and Ice was going to be a sequel focussed on Mortal Kombat: Scorpion and Sub-Zero. It was going to join the series as a fighting game that was released in 2006, but financially the game wasn't strong enough to continue. In the end, financial constraints caused the project's cancellation. Co-creator of the Mortal Kombat series Ed Boom stated, 'Monks was FAR and away the best spinoff. We were in talks to do a sequel before the Moorpark studio closed.'

4 - Did Disney cancel Star Wars 1313?

A Star Wars video game is always a great idea, combining two of the biggest audiences of all time, gaming... and Star Wars! 1313 was going to be an action-adventure video game that was set to release in 2012/2013. In the end, the game was terminated when Disney closed down LucasArts and laid off its staff in 2013. Has this closing not happened, we may have been able to see 1313 in action.

3 - Why was Mario 64 2 cancelled?

Another video game that we're shocked never released was Super Mario 64 2. This was going to be a 3D platformer video game of the 1996 classic that was one of the most popular Mario games of all time. The second edition was planned to be released in 1999, but it never happened. The game was set to be released on the Nintendo 64DD, a brand new console, Super Mario 64 2 was going to be its first game. The console didn't take off though, and its advert was a huge failure, because of this Nintendo weren't confident to release the game and it never left development.

2 - Why did PT Silent Hills get cancelled?

Silent Hills was one of the most anticipated, unreleased games to come out of 2015 (when the game was set to release.) It was a horror, survival video game that was cancelled with sudden action, there is no real reason why it was cancelled. Theories believe it was because video game designer Kijima wanted to end his contract at Konami, others think it was related to his work on the Metal Gear Solid series. Either way, it's a real shame this game never went through, it would've been great to see how terrifyingly brilliant this game was, especially because PT in2014 was so popular.

1 - Was Batman: Gotham by Gaslight cancelled?

And finally, the cancelled video game with the most potential was Batman: Gotham By Gaslight. We constantly see other mentioning this long, lost game and what could have been. Issues with the action-adventure video game began at the start, publisher THQ was unable to get licensing rights from Warner Bros. needed to create a Batman game so the concept of the game could never be explored. Set to release in 2008/2009, this would've been the perfect time to take off as a success because Batman Dark Knight the movie had been released in July 2008.

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Conclusion:

Would you have considered any of these games? We think a few of them had some real potential. We have plenty of more video games on our website anyway so if you're ever stuck for something to play, we have you covered!