Summary
The open-world genre is an ever-expanding landscape with developers seemingly trying to outdo one another. X game is ten times bigger than Y game and so on. Developers like Rockstar Games even try to outdo themselves with each new release. One could argue that their games are perhaps too big.
That’s the tricky part about creating open-world games. Some companies could make the biggest in the world, but if said world is desolate and without much to do, then there’s little point in exploring it. So they then have to figure out what to stuff it with, and serve it up on budget and on time. These issues, and many more, have seen many open-world games get canceled before they even got started, like these examples.
Updated on November 30th, 2024, by David Heath:Like Zeno’s Paradox, it’s a wonder any game gets completed and released. Developers have to go through multiple steps before their projects even reach the alpha stage. That’s why canceled games can be so interesting, as they could’ve been fun final products if time constraints, budget concerns, shutdowns, and plain bad luck didn’t work against them.
Some of the most interesting canceled games are open-world games, as companies have tried offering players these sandbox experiences waybefore Shenmue and Grand Theft Auto 3. Some companies managed to offer whole worlds for players to explore at their leisure, and others fell by the wayside, including some that could’ve revolutionized the industry if they made it to release. With that in mind, this list has been updated with some more intriguing canceled open-world games, alongside format and info tweaks to the older entries.
15The Simpsons: Hit & Run 2
Publisher Give Up IP License During the Developers' Pre-Planning Stages
The Simpsons: Hit & Runwas one of the betterSimpsons-based games, if notthebest, as it was essentiallyGTA: Springfield. Players took each Simpson (bar Maggie in favor of Apu) as they tackled different missions in seven levels based on their hometown. They could run around the city collecting coins and other items, or smashing boxes (and people) with melee attacks or from behind the wheel of various vehicles. The game was a one-off that’s been kept alive today bySimpsonsfans and a keen speedrunning community.
However, YouTube channelDid You Know Gamingdiscovered Radical Entertainment had plans to makeThe Simpsons: Hit & Run 2. It would’ve had a wider variety of missions, taking inspiration fromGTA: Vice City, while offering a wider world where different characters could access different parts of Springfield. With the first game being a hit, Radical thought the sequel would be greenlit soon after talks. Instead, they lost the license to EA, who’d get Rebellion Developments to makeThe Simpsons Gameinstead. Everyone lost out on that deal.
14South Park
The Crude Cartoon’s Open-World Adventure Was Shut Down By A Problematic Producer
Did You Know Gamingalso revealedthat players almost got to explore the podunk little mountain town in 2005 through Buzz Monkey’sSouth Parkgame. Players can even emulate and play a rough alpha build of their work. It would’ve been similar toThe Simpsons: Hit & Run, as players would’ve taken on differentGTA-ish missions with Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny, but with more focus on puzzles and adventure.
For example, the alpha build shows Cartman sneaking into a sanitarium to try and get a straitjacket, complete with cutscenes with voices by the show’s cast (sans Parker and Stone). It might’ve been finished if it wasn’t for one of the producers, who put extreme pressure on the developers to complete the game, among other issues. The game only got as far as pre-production when Ubisoft stepped in, canceled the project and, according to sources, fired the problematic producer shortly afterward.
13Star Wars: Project Orca
EA Ends Vancouver Studios' Attempts to Revamp Visceral Studios' Star Wars Project
Visceral Games had the worst sort of luck with theirStar Warsgames. First, theirProject Yumagame about a Han Solo-esque space pirate got canceled when EA needed more developers forBattlefield Hardline. Its replacement,Project Ragtag, didn’t get far either. It would’ve been anUncharted-like third-person adventure game, with former Naughty Dog producer Amy Hennig at the helm. It proved too expensive, and led to Visceral’s shutdown in 2017.
From its ashes, EA Vancouver planned to makeStar Wars: Project Orca, an open-world game where players would explore mini open-worlds on different planets as a “scoundrel or bounty hunter”. It was worked on for 2 years before being shut down in 2019 to make way for a smaller, more budget-friendlyStar Warsgame. While it’s not an open-world game,Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderat least managed to give players a taste of whatOrca’s forebearProject Ragtagmight’ve been like.
12Mercenaries 3: No Limits
Sequel Scuppered By Financial Woes And Studio Closure
Speaking ofStar Wars, Pandemic Studios made their name by developing theStar Wars Battlefrontgames for LucasArts. But they also had their own original IPs, likeMercenaries: Playground of Destruction. It was a third-person shooter that let players go all around the North Korean setting on foot or in various vehicles toblast their way through opposing forcesfor one faction or another. It led to a follow-up,Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, which offered minor improvements, but wasn’t as popular as its first installment.
Still, Pandemic planned to make a third game,Mercenaries 3: No Limits, alongside an unnamed racing game for the Wii, and a tie-in game forThe Dark Knight. Based on its few screenshots and one gameplay video, it would’ve been set in Cuba, and would’ve had a new lead character over the original blond, mustachioed Mercenary. Alas, that was as far as the game got before Pandemic was closed and reintegrated within EA.
11The Lord Of The Rings: The White Council
EA Skips Open World LotR RPG For A Standard Action Game
Before EA struck downProject OrcaandMerc 3, they brought the dwarven axe down onThe Lord of the Rings: The White Council. It would’ve taken inspiration from both Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy and the original books to produce an open world where players could go on different Story Quests across its different locations. The player would make a custom character, be they Human, Dwarf, Elf, or Hobbit, and they’d aid the White Council on an adventure when they weren’t doing side quests.
The game met its end shortly after its announcement, when it was put on indefinite hiatus in February 2007 before being canceled outright. The reason given was management issues, with EA opting to makeThe Lord of the Rings: Conquestwith Pandemic Studios instead. All that’s left of the project is some concept art, which Unseen64 helpfully compiled intheir article on the game.
10Steambot Chronicles 2
The Sequel To Bumpy Trot Gets Bumped Off By The 2011 Tohoku Earthquake
Steambot Chronicles, akaBumpy Trot, is an unusual action RPG, where players can choose to make protagonist Vanilla R. Beans (seriously) a hero or a villain by roaming the world in their Trotmobiles. All trade, transport, and battles take place through the Trotmobile’s controls, and they can be modified in a variety of ways, be they fast but frail, strong but slow, or (if players work hard to get them) perfect in all stats. It got fair reviews, and it was popular enough to get two PSP spin-offs, inSteambot Chronicles: Battle TournamentandBlocks Club with Bumpy Trot.
Irem also planned to give it a sequel, tentatively titledSteambot Chronicles 2(orBumpy Trot 2in other territories), via a teaser trailer. It suggested it would’ve been less RPG-like and more like an open-world action game. The game was originally made with the PS2 in mind before development shifted to the PS3. Given most developers had trouble getting the hang of the PS3, it’s assumed Irem already had trouble working on the game before the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake scuppered its further development, so it was quietly canceled soon afterward.
9The Getaway 3
London-Based GTA Clone Goes Through 3 Developers Before Fizzling Out
The Getawaywas one of manyGrand Theft Autoclones in the PS2 era, which aimed to do things differently by being more realistic. On top of taking place in a (for the time) accurately modeled version of London, it avoided using a heads-up display to show stats in favor of other, more subtle elements. For example, the car would let players know which way to go by flashing its blinkers left or right. It did well enough to get a sequel,The Getaway: Black Monday, albeit by a different team of developers.
Original developers Team Soho broke up, with founder Brendan McNamara spendingthe following decade makingL.A. Noirewith his new studio, Team Bondi.Black Mondaydevelopers London Studio switched to making EyeToy, VR andSingstargames. ButThe Getaway 3almost became a reality via Kainco Games, who teased its reveal via a tech demo at E3 2005, before confirming it would take place in London and Amsterdam. The game was officially canceled in 2008, likely due to the dour response to the series' PSP spin-offGangs of London.
8Crimson Skies 3
World’s First Open-World Flying Game Gets Shut Down For Shadowrun Game
Calling this canceled gameCrimson Skies 3is a bit of a misnomer. It would’ve been the third video game, after 2000’sCrimson Skiesand 2003’sCrimson Skies: High Road to Revenge. But it began lifeas a board gamein 1998, playing like FASA’s other tabletop games likeShadowrun. Only it used airplanes in a steampunk 1930s world instead of being a sci-fi future world.
The first two video games played more like a cross between a flight sim and an arcade flying game. ButCrimson Skies 3would’ve broadened its scope by letting players roam at their leisure, taking part in on-foot missions in cities as well as flying around, expanding onHigh Road’s open levels by being the first open-world flying game. But it was canceled to free more developers to work onShadowrun’s 2007 game, which ended up being a so-so adventure game.
7Pirates Of The Caribbean: Armada Of The Damned
A Promising Pirate Game Shut Down In Favor Of A Tron Game
There are plenty of games based on thePirates of the Caribbeanmovies, and most of them have been the usual licensed tie-in guff. But one project,Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned, showed promise. It would’ve been an open-world action RPG set before the first movie, where players would help Captain James Sterling (not that one, son) sail across the Caribbean Sea and make a name for themselves. Through him, players could explore different islands, find different treasure hordes, amble about the shoreside towns, etc.
In short, it would’ve been like a third-person version ofSea of Thieves. It had a lot of coverage too, like screenshots, interviews with developers, and even firsthand descriptions of the gameplay from reporters who got to try out its demos. Unfortunately, it was shut down when Disney Interactive Studios restructured Propaganda Games, who focused their efforts on finishingTron: Evolutionbefore getting shut down. The only trace left of it was some of its musical score, which ended up in theLego Pirates of the Caribbeanvideo game instead.
6Strider
Ninja Fans Almost Got A Reboot From The Bionic Commando Developers
The defunct developer Grin had a pretty good run for a while, producing theGhost Recon Advanced Warfightergames, and a revival of Capcom’sBionic Commandoseries. That beingBionic Commando Rearmed.The morenotoriousBionic Commandorebootended up being a fiasco that only lives on through its awkward plot turns, and its version of Nathan ‘Rad’ Spencer being a pretty decent character in theMarvel Vs Capcomgames.
Before Grin closed its doors in 2009, the developer was hard at work on several promising titles. There was an original hack & slash game calledVultures, a potential sequel toWanted: Weapons of FateinThe Cult, aFinal Fantasy 12spin-off calledFortress, a remake ofStreets of Rage, and an open-world reboot of Capcom’s other arcade classic,Strider. It didn’t get far into development before Grin’s end, but judging byits concept art on Unseen64, it would’ve been as gritty asBionic Commando’s reboot, complete with a more generic-looking Strider ninja.
