While the gaming industry can be filled with excitement and anticipation as developers announce upcoming titles, unfortunately, not all games make it to the finish line. Each year, a handful of projects face unexpected setbacks or unforeseen circumstances, leading to their cancellation. In 2023, there were several highly anticipated games that met an unfortunate demise. Join us as we explore 10 video games that were cancelled in 2023.
Revenant Hills (Finji)
The title that inspired this article, Revenant Hills was the most anticipated game on this list. The May announcement of the game came with glee as the trailer dropped for the spiritual successor of 2017’s Night In the Woods. However, in November 2023, publisher Finji and developer The Glory Society announced that the project was no longer in development.
The team commented in a press release that “unfortunately, recent serious health issues meant that two key members had to step away from the project indefinitely. The reality of schedules, budgets and the fraught task of reworking the whole project meant that they could no longer continue with development.”
Revenant Hills was to be released on PC, PS4 and PS5.
Hyenas (Sega)
Hyenas, an extraction shooter developer by Creative Assembly and published by Sega was cancelled. The game was believed to be in the final stages of development, so the cancellation came as a shock to many. In September 2023, Sega Holdings announced in a press release that they made the incredibly difficult decision to end the development of Hyenas. The cancellation was a response to lower profitability within the European region.
Hyenas was originally meant to be released on PC, PS4, Xbox ONE and Xbox Series.
Evil Dead: The Game (Saber Interactive)
Sad day for Evil Dead fans, since Evil Dead: The Game was cancelled, at least for those who were looking forward to playing it on the Switch. Evil Dead: The Game will no longer receive additional content updates, nor will there be a Switch version of the game.
Evil Dead: The Game originally launched for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as well as the PC in May 2022. According to a message from Saber Interactive in which they announced this new development, they stated that they will no longer be making new content for the game as well as not making anything for the Nintendo Switch.
It has been speculated that this change in direction may be due to the decline in popularity throughout 2023 and they may have no need for a Nintendo Switch version of the game. Nevertheless, Saber has stated they will keep the servers up for the “foreseeable future” and will “address any issues that arise.”
Quantamancy: The Purgatory (Corecell Technology)
Quantamancy: The Purgatory was announced in October 2022. The rogue-lite RPG was originally planned to be released across multiple platforms such as the PS5, PS4, Xbox Series and Xbox One as well as the PC, however, fans were met with disappointment after it was announced by Corecell Technology that development was cancelled.
According to the developer, the cancellation was a result of a conflict over the game’s creative direction. In an announcement made in May 2023, the Corecell Team explained that Quantamancy was a passion project between two friends however after two years of development, creative differences have caused them to go their separate ways.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns (2K)
Marvel’s Midnight Suns, a tactical roleplay game, was cancelled for the Nintendo Switch, but the reasons behind the cancellation have not been explicitly stated by Firaxis and 2K, the developers of the game. They only mentioned that a Nintendo Switch version of Midnight Suns is no longer planned.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns was released on PS4 and Xbox One in May 2023, and the PS5 and Xbox Series in 2022.
E3
This is not a game, but the video game industry’s biggest Expo, E3, was also cancelled, at least for this year. E3 was an anticipated event within the game industry, but this year it was cancelled due to the reported withdrawal of major publishers like Ubisoft and Sega. The ESA president and CEO, Stanley Pierre-Louis, mentioned that the cancellation of E3 2023 was due to a combination of publishers adjusting their strategies and the overall shift in the industry landscape.
Knockout City (Electronic Arts/Valen Studio)
Knockout City was an action video game developed by Velan Studies and published by EA. In June 2022, Valen Studio took over publishing duties from EA making the game free to play. However, in June 2023 Valen Studio announced that the servers would be shut down and that Season 9 would be the last season of Knockout City.
Just Cause Mobile (Square Enix)
Just Cause Mobile, an upcoming free-to-play game, was cancelled in July 2023 by its publisher Square Enix. The cancellation was confirmed by global brand lead, Anne-Lou Grosbois-Favreau, who stated that development for Just Cause Mobile was officially ending.
Just Cause Mobile was going to be released on Android but was removed from the Google Play stores.
Battlefield Mobile (Electronic Arts)
Electronic Arts (EA) cancelled Battlefield Mobile in January 2023. The cancellation was announced by EA, indicating that the development of Battlefield Mobile was officially terminated. This came alongside the cancellation of Apex Legends’ own mobile game. According to EA’s press release, they decided to pivot from their current direction to better fit their vision for the Battlefield franchise and will continue to work on the Battlefield 2402 title.
Battlefield Mobile was going to be released on Android and iOS.
Evolve (2K Games)
We were pretty sure this one was cancelled in 2018, but apparently, it was just the dedicated servers that were shut down, and peer-to-peer servers remained. In July 2022, multiplayer servers for Evolve: Stage 2 were reenabled, and in October 2022, 2K Games acknowledged the game’s revival. Nevertheless, this was short-lived and in July 2023 the servers were taken down for the final time.
Evolve was originally released in 2015, for PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One. It was a multiplayer game.
So, there you have it: ten video games cancelled in 2023. Did you know about any of these? Did any of them upset you? Comment below and let us know!