10 canceled games that had great potential

When a studio announces a project, the expectation is always high, but not all games reach the shelves, as some are sacrificed halfway, even carrying ideas and concepts with huge potential.

The gaming industry has seen in recent a large number of projects being canceled, and many of them have not even been presented to the public, while others were already advanced in development.

Among so many projects that were canceled, there was recently one more victim: the new Perfect Dark, which also had its studio closed by Microsoft.

Perfect Dark da The Initiative

The new Perfect Dark would be a first -person shooting experience with immersive -Sim elements, with innovative gadgets and futuristic setting. The 2024 gameplay trailer impressed fans with its faithfulness to agent Joanna Dark and the Noir Sci -Fi atmosphere that consecrated the original Nintendo 64.

The project faced years of troubled development, until on July 2, 2025, during a large wave of layoffs on Microsoft, the company announced the end of Perfect Dark’s development and the closure of The Initiative as part of internal restructuring.

Scalebound da platinumgames

Developed in partnership with Microsoft for Xbox One, Scalebound united Platinumgames frantic style with a dragon combat system. The art direction was vibrant and the gameplay trailer showed fluid and mechanical action animations that excited both Hack’n’Slash fans and action RPG.

Despite this, Scalebound faced severe technical challenges. In addition, creative disagreements between Platinum and Microsoft ended up delaying the schedule too much, and Microsoft chose to cancel the game. Even with promising prototypes, deliveries did not reach the required quality level.

Everwild from rare

Set in a mystical world full of fantastic creatures, Everwild prepared a unique experience. The game would have vibrant forests, interactive creatures and an almost peaceful game proposal, something unprecedented from a studio known as Sea of Thieves and other classics.

As in the case of Perfect Dark on July 2, 2025, as part of a large wave of Microsoft Xbox Division layoffs, the end of Everwild’s development was confirmed. The project has been long in development and will never see the light of day.

Pantera Negra (Black Panther) da Cliffhanger Games

Black Panther would be a third -person action and adventure game, open -world in Wakanda, with branched narrative and high level of immersion, led by Middle – Earth: Shadow of Mordor veterans. The goal was to offer the player full control over history choices, being faithful to the Black Panther universe.

In May 2025, Electronic Arts officially canceled Black Panther and closed Cliffhanger Games as part of a great restructuring that prioritized its focus on its own franchises such as Apex Legends, Battlefield, The Sims etc…

Wonder Woman (Wonder-Woman) of Monolith Productions

Wonder Woman’s game promised to be an open world experience, set in iconic scenarios of Themyscira, with a nemesis system that sought to recreate Shadow of Mordor’s success in a DC universe. The team had Middle -Earth veterans: Shadow of Mordor.

In February 2025, Warner Bros. Games announced the closure of Monolith Productions as part of a strategic restructuring. With this, the development of Wonder Woman was interrupted and the game officially canceled.

The Last of Us Part II Multiplayer (Factions) da Naughty Dog

With Naughty Dog quality seal, the multiplayer project of The Last of Us Part II promised to expand the franchise universe. With an ambitious scope, the game was canceled due to difficulties in finding a viable monetization model and the high cost of development.

The studio explained that to support the title as Live Service, with updates and support for years, would have to allocate almost all of its resources, damaging the future single -player games that define their identity. They then chose to maintain the tradition of unique narratives and canceled the project.

Silent Hills (P.T.) da Konami

Directed by Hideo Kojima in partnership with Guillermo Del Toro, Silent Hills (PT) has practically reinvented the first -person psychological horror, with intelligent breakfast and tense atmosphere that made players really scared.

However, after misunderstandings between Kojima and Konami, the project was abruptly canceled and Silent Hills (PT) was removed from the PS Store, being only a legend of what could have been a new Silent Hill saga, which is now returning with remakes and unpublished projects.

Prey 2 da Human Head Studios

Prey 2 promised to reinvent the SCI -Fi shooter in a more open world, putting you in the role of a human reward hunter on aliens, with refined shooting mechanics and an exotic scenario that promised a lot of freedom of exploitation and combat.

After years of delays and conflicts, the game was canceled, being replaced by a different reboot in 2017 made by Arkane Studios. The original concept is still remembered as a lost opportunity.

Wild da Wild Sheep Studio

Directed by Michel Ancel, Wild would have a prehistoric open world of continental proportions, where you had animals, from wolves to bears, using shamanic powers to explore, spy on rival tribes and participate in tribal conflicts in a procedural environment full of day and night cycles and seasons.

After years of development marked by long silences, Wild was eventually filed and never saw daylight again according to Shuhei Yoshida, former president of PlayStation Studios, amazing ideas simply did not materialize in a solid product.

Odyssey da Blizzard

Considered to be Blizzard’s first new IP since Overwatch, Odyssey was a survival game where up to 100 players would explore gigantic maps. The first concepts showed beautiful and mechanical collection and construction and construction scenarios that promised to reinvent the genre of survival.

In January 2024, a few days after the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, Odyssey was officially canceled. The graphic engine exchange generated insurmountable technical limitations, delays and continuous rework, leading to the premature end of the project.

Which of these canceled games did you want to have played? Tell us in the comments!