Vaporware is a word gamers never want to hear. Indicates a game or product that is publicly announced, but never officially released or cancelled. The kind of product that’s stuck in a limbo where it’s not “dead” but it’s unclear if it’s actually being worked on.
When developers and publishers talk about these games, they may stare and hesitantly clarify that the game is still being made, but it almost feels like the window of opportunity is closed. Waiting any longer feels fruitless because why wait for something that probably doesn’t exist?
In 2022, there is no shortage of games that can be classified as vaporware. Here are five such titles that we’re pretty sure aren’t coming anytime soon.
Prince of Persia Remake: The Sands of Time
It’s weird to think that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake ever had a release date in the first place. Announced at the Ubisoft Forward 2020 event, this revival of the long-dormant franchise is set to release on January 21, 2021. Players should have had this over a year ago by now.
Instead, criticism arose from the original trailer, with the game initially being pushed back to March 18, 2021, before being removed from the release schedule altogether. Although Ubisoft reported that it would be released during fiscal year 2022-2023, the publisher has since delayed it indefinitely.
Aside from the announcement that Ubisoft Montreal would take over development of the game, we haven’t heard anything of substance since its initial announcement. If the game is still in development, it may be a long time before it arrives.
star wars eclipse
Announced at The Game Awards 2020, Star Wars Eclipse has been mired in controversy ever since. The game is being developed by Quantic Dream, a developer that has faced a lot of criticism for hostile workplace accusations that it has dealt with since 2018.
This has caused an outcry from fans and seems to be affecting the development of the game. It was initially reported that it wouldn’t be ready for another three or four years, but the game may not be released until 2027-2028. It appears that Quantic Dream has been having trouble hiring talent, which may be a result of the allegations.
It might be strange to call a game that was recently announced “vaporware”, but it has all the hallmarks of a title that will languish for a long time without seeing a release. It’s not the only Star Wars game going through trouble, either: the Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic remake has recently changed developers and also appears to be delayed indefinitely.
metroid prime 4
It’s painful to call Metroid Prime 4 “vaporware”, but as the days go by, it looks more and more like that. The game was announced at E3 2017, the Nintendo Switch’s first year of life, but we haven’t seen anything since.
The biggest news we got from Metroid Prime 4 was that it changed developers in 2019, with Retro Studios back at the helm. Otherwise, Nintendo has been extremely tight-lipped about it, aside from occasional “we promise it’s still happening” statements in financial reports and Nintendo Directs.
Thankfully, Metroid has seen a revitalization thanks to last year’s Metroid Dread, which became the best-selling entry in the franchise and even received some major gameplay updates this year. The interest in Metroid is there; it’s just a matter of whether Nintendo wants to stick to it.
Beyond good and evil 2
At this point, no list of vaporware feels complete without the inclusion of Beyond Good & Evil 2. It’s a title that has been mired in rumor and speculation for over a decade, so much so that even a new announcement hasn’t allayed concerns about its release. existence.
First unveiled by Ubisoft in 2008, Beyond Good & Evil 2 wasn’t officially announced until 2016, and we didn’t see anything of it until a CGI trailer was shown at E3 2017. After one more look during E3 2018, Ubisoft has returned to silent mode. With this.
While we’ve gotten occasional feedback about how it’s “progressing well,” nothing has come of it other than series creator Michel Ancel leaving the company in 2020. At this point, any news of the game will be met with awe on the web. Best of cases. , and mocking disbelief at worst.
Pikmin 4
It’s easy to forget that it’s been five years since Shigeru Miyamoto last spoke about Pikmin 4. After first announcing that it was “very close to completion” back in 2015, Miyamoto noted at E3 2017 that it was “progressing.” Since then, there has been no news of a fourth main Pikmin game.
Miyamoto’s comments may have been about recent spin-off titles, Hey! 2021’s Pikmin and Pikmin Bloom. Still, it’s fair to wonder where a new main Pikmin game is, given that we haven’t gotten a whole new entry since 2013’s Pikmin 3. It’s nice that Nintendo has offered spin-offs in the meantime, but a proper Pikmin 4 is long. late.
star citizen
When it comes to vaporware, hardly any game comes close to what space trading/combat simulator Star Citizen has done. After an initial $2 million Kickstarter was successfully funded in 2012, the developers would go on to sell ships and other forms of in-game content that made the project the most crowdfunded video game in history at $495 million.
It might be hard to believe, but despite raising all that money, the game has yet to be fully released. Its development history and legal battles have become so notorious that you’d be forgiven for knowing more about it than the game itself.
Cloud Imperium Games, the team behind Star Citizen, have continuously released videos about the development of the game, but it is currently only in a playable alpha form. Even with its incredibly massive budget, it’s still hard to tell when it will receive a full release.
in the valley of the gods
Of all the games on this list, In The Valley of Gods may be the one you’ve heard the least about. Developed by Campo Santo, the team behind 2016’s Firewatch, this single-player first-person adventure was to be the developer’s first game following its acquisition by Valve in 2018.
However, a year later, it was confirmed that the game would be discontinued, as members of the team were helping Valve with other projects, including the upcoming Half-Life Alyx. However, in that same year, various members of Campo Santo removed the game from their Twitter descriptions and it disappeared from the company’s website while its trailer was made private on YouTube.
Campo Santo never commented on her disappearance, and we haven’t heard from her since. While his team members may just be busy helping out with other Valve projects, it’s entirely possible that the game has taken its last breath. It hasn’t been officially canceled yet, but if it’s still quietly in development, we may not see it for several years.
This is just the tip of the iceberg that is vaporware. What are some other idle games that seem stuck in development limbo? Give us your picks in the comments below!
