Nowadays, when we hear about something being cancelled, we expect a story about a celebrity who had the audacity to write a drunken, edgy Tweet twelve years ago, only for it to ruin their career forever. Unfortunately, cancellations don’t just happen to these no-good scoundrels; they happen to our beloved video games as well.
It’s unlikely that a video game’s cancellation will be a result of it using the wrong pronouns in 2008, but there are still a variety of issues that can plague a game’s production. Lack of funding, publisher interference, poor receptions to early marketing and prolonged periods in Development Hell can all lead to a game’s eventual demise.
Regardless of the reason, video game cancellations are devastating for fans on the hype train. This is especially true when a game passes the ideas phase and enters into some stage of production. Arguably the most painful is when developers go as far as releasing a trailer for a soon-to-be-cancelled title.
Much like the time you told your partner you’d been working on your stamina and were ready for a long night of unforgettable passion, the announcements of these games were setting up nothing but disappointment.
