From a very unique take on bounty hunting to cool takes on espionage, several excellent ideas have been buried by their studios, with a variety of factors coming into play that didn’t let them see the light of day. We’re taking a look at a few that we would have loved to play, but sadly never got the chance to.

Let’s dive right in.

1. Crackdown 3

While its Wrecking Zone multiplayer mode drew heavily on Microsoft’s bold idea to bring cloud computing to the Xbox One, Crackdown 3 didn’t really catch on the way it should have, despite being a lot of fun. The final product was sadly nowhere close to the high bar that was set for it, with the result being a very destructible city that was largely devoid of the players it was meant to host.

The dream of entire city blocks collapsing in front of you with your console handling core tasks and the cloud rendering all of the destruction just didn’t materialize, and the game suffered for it as a result.

2. Project Milo

This was a tricky one for a long time, with a lot of back and forth about whether it was actually intended to be made into a game taking place between its creators and Microsoft. Still, it would have been cool to see a game with AI actively responding to you and acting on your voice commands.

This was a relationship sim that could have been quite innovative for its time, but it simply faded away into the background amid all the noise surrounding its “release”.

3. Star Wars 1313

We’d be lying if we said that this one didn’t sting a little. For starters, it was supposed to have Boba Fett as its frontman with a fast-paced gameplay loop that relied on gadgets and more traditional weapons in lieu of lightsabers and The Force. As if that wasn’t enough, it was purported to emulate Star Wars Bounty Hunter while bringing a gritty, darker tone to its story.

Sadly, LucasArts never got to make this one a reality, and we never got to explore District 1313 and see what the underbelly of Coruscant had to offer.

4. Silent Hills/PT

A Silent Hill title that was going to feature a collaboration between Hideo Kojima and filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (whose horror credentials are quite well known), with Norman Reedus playing its protagonist, sounds like a dream, right? That’s sadly all it was to most of the gaming world, with Konami pulling its playable demo from the PlayStation Store shortly after its cancellation.

All we can do is look back fondly at the supernatural time loop being brought to the table, and of course, shudder at the thought of Lisa constantly lurking out of sight just waiting to jump at us. A Playable Teaser was all this one was ever going to be in the aftermath of Kojima’s exit from Konami.

5. Prey 2

Aside from the obvious draw of an amnesiac protagonist affected by the presence of The Sphere from the first game, the chance to be a bounty hunter on an alien planet while uncovering the truth about his abduction sounded too good to be true. That was probably a valid insight when we look back at this one, with the game’s plans to make you embody a bounty hunter never coming to fruition.

We would have loved the chance to make use of all the agency this one gave us as we took on the role it wanted us to, but all we can do now is smile somberly at what could have been.

6. Scalebound

An action-RPG that gave fans of the Eragon novels a lot to be excited for, this one might have been a legendary title had it actually made its way to its audiences. Getting to command a literal dragon in the heat of battle, and even directly take control of it to unleash its fearsome abilities, is an idea that we’re yet to see even in the current generation of games. And that’s without even considering the co-op potential that the concept could bring to the table.

Its eventual cancellation after years of development is a showcase of how even the best of ideas may not translate to commercially viable titles in the long run.

7. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Patriots

Although this one did make way for Rainbow Six Siege, the thought of being part of a unit led by a morally grey former Navy SEAL against a terrorist group that was willing to impose its own beliefs on New York’s residents had all the makings of a Tom Clancy story that was true to the author’s vision and tone.

However, the decision to cancel the title and scrap this unique concept is a choice that we continue to question to this day.

8. The Lord of the Rings: The White Council

An open-world RPG where you would work under the guidance of the White Council, with its story and themes drawing from both the films and books, sounds like a Lord of the Rings adventure that might have put even Frodo and Sam to shame.

But it seems that the idea was cast into the fires of Mount Doom, and while we do have Shadow of War to help us cope, we can’t help but wish for a Palantir to view what it might have turned out to be if its version of Middle-earth was allowed to take shape.

9. Agent

Set in the Cold War and rumored to place its players at the heart of all of the espionage, political assassinations, and counter-intelligence that the era brought along, Agent was a great idea. Even Sony seemed to think so, locking down its IP with the belief that it could “set the bar for the industry” as per Michael Shorrock, who headed SCEA’s third-party relations at the time.

A stealth-action game with Rockstar at the helm certainly fits that description, but like the agents it aimed to bring to life, this one quietly vanished, presumably sacrificed in order to focus more resources on the development of GTA V.

10. Project Titan

The World of Warcraft killer that spent seven years in development continues to have us wondering whether it might have been able to live up to its lofty ambitions.

Despite the best of Blizzard coming together to bring this sci-fi MMO to life, complete with cool mech suits and rumored superhero-esque powers for its characters, along with a unique twist where you play as a normal citizen of the world by day while battling it out at night, Project Titan was unable to get off the ground. This is a cancellation that still rankles, if we’re being honest.

11. The Last of Us Online

Among the many projects that were cancelled in the aftermath of Sony’s ill-fated live-service push, this one was the most disappointing to us. The concept definitely had its merits, with a massive world filled with The Infected being the perfect stage for a survival-horror gameplay loop, complete with a standalone story to keep things interesting.

Unfortunately for it, the concept was scrapped after concerns about its long-term viability began to rear their head. For our part, we would have played this one for hours on end if it had made its way into our hands.

12. Duke Nukem Forever

While Duke was a hero who was quite clear about where he stood on alien invasions, the creative team behind this one could have emulated his conviction. That wasn’t the case, and this title switched engines during its development so many times that it’s hard to think about the game it was meant to be versus the one that we got.

Its vision was ultimately diluted by a needless focus on technical relevance, and as one of the record holders for being the longest game in development, we can’t help but feel that this was a game that deserved to be greater than the sloppy experience it ultimately devolved into.

13. Final Fantasy Versus XIII

The darker, more gothic take on the franchise was quite appealing when it first came to light, and Prince Noctis was quite an intriguing character. But with Final Fantasy XIII and eventually Final Fantasy XIV constantly dividing the attention of its team, and engine issues caused by the PS3’s aging tech, this one was pulled back and repurposed into FFXV.

When the trailer for the game eventually came around, it felt like it had changed almost completely, ditching its darker tone for something better aligned with the franchise’s overall light-hearted trappings. It would then be a solid five years before XV came out, and Versus XIII quietly vanished from the hearts and minds of its potential players.

14. The Getaway 3

We were quite fond of the original Getaway’s unique way of presenting its world, with the sort of cinematic quality that comes along quite rarely. With its parallel storylines and lack of a HUD and other elements, it was quite immersive and also fun to play as a Sony-backed sandbox. The sequel carried on those traditions, and we were delighted to know that a third title was in the works.

But The Getaway 3 was lost to the annals of time, with its cancellation never actually being announced, but quite clearly understood by the gaming world at large.

15. Deep Down

A sci-fi fantasy co-op adventure that would have its players exploring time-hopping dungeons is something we’re still waiting to see. It doesn’t help that Deep Down had its gameplay drawing inspiration from Dark Souls, which was already among our favorites to begin with.

But its 2013 reveal, and the lack of any concrete evidence of its development over the years has essentially made this once unique concept nothing more than vaporware. We’re holding out hope that it eventually becomes a great game, but we’re not going to hold our breath.

BONUS: Wonder Woman

Monolith’s proprietary Nemesis System, a unique mechanic that worked so darn well in the Shadow franchise, was the perfect way to craft a Wonder Woman story that could really dig into the character’s lore who could defy challenges and come back stronger.

That’s probably why the cancellation of this one continues to be an annoyance to us, as the concept is probably not going to make it to any other titles in the near future.

And that’s a wrap on our picks for great gaming ideas that showed a lot of promise but did not ultimately make their way to their players. Here’s to hoping that we don’t have to make another one of these lists over the next few years, though!

Agent

Yeah, you’ve probably heard of Agent, Rockstar’s electrifying spy opus. First announced as a PS3 exclusive way back in 2009, Agent pledged a Cold War era thrill-ride through the dangerous world of espionage, counterintelligence, and assassination, but much like the silent death knell of a secret agent, Agent’s fate has been silently snuffed. Rockstar have never officially announced its cancellation, so technically Agent could still be in the works. Given the evocative concept art which leaked a while back, let’s hope so – Agent looked great.

Slitterhead

Gory body horror from Team Silent originators meant Slitterhead’s 2021 announcement was met with much fanfare. Even – exclaim expectant fans – Silent Hill composer-in-chief Akira Yamaoka is along for the ride, lending his blend of warped ambience and bone-crushing guitar riffage to the game’s grisly take on shape-shifting parasites. Last we heard of Slitterhead was a dev diary back in June 2023, so not that long ago, meaning, you know, that Slitterhead is probably still in the works. Be nice to hear something affirmative as to release dates from Bokeh Game Studio though.

Ferocious

If it weren’t for the devlogs shared on February 26^th and April 15^th, we’d think prehistoric survive-a-thon Ferocious had gone extinct. This first-person shooter risks being overshadowed by incoming Jurassic Park: Survival if it doesn’t drop soon, but to be fair it’s blend of jungle stealth, strategy, and survival – with a healthy dose of axe swinging mayhem – looks spot on. Let’s hope the situation at developer OMYOG isn’t as grim as the game’s dinosaur infested isolation.

Pragmata

The sci-fi dad-in-space adventure Pragmata has been delayed indefinitely, so we at least know that this ambitious game has vanished for sure. Why though, the developer haven’t stated. Announced in 2020 with numerous release dates coming and going, the most recent of which was last year which passed without explanation. Even stranger was the developer releasing a brief trailer before the mysterious delaying – almost to remind us it exists before flinging into a black hole. Pragmata might not be in the deepest of development hells, but a window on when we can get our hands on it drifts endlessly further.

Perfect Dark

Just what has happened to Joanna Dark’s rebooted saga? Announced at The Game Awards 2020 with little data forthcoming in the three-and-a-half years since, this Xbox exclusive is likely a number of years from release. What does this mean for Perfect Dark? Well, nothing probably, just that development is probably happening at a very slow pace. The incredible graphics, slick movement, and tight gunplay will remain we hope.

Beyond Good and Evil 2

Despite little evidence, this long-awaited sequel to 2003 Beyond Good and Evil is apparently still in the works. First announced in 2008, it’s genuinely farcical how back in the developer stated in an investor call that development of Beyond Good and Evil 2 was still in its early stages despite contrarily announcing progress as trundling along nicely. The tragic sudden death of Beyond Good and Evil 2’s creative director might understandably have scuppered progress since, but the outlook for this game was bleak either way.

Project Awakening

Let’s be honest, how awesome was Project Awakening’s gameplay reveal? The slick, lifelike dragon slaying looked truly next-gen, but with radio silence for what seems like eons now, maybe next-gen at the time meant next next-gen. The Japanese developer behind Project Awakening Cygames isn’t some faceless corporation though, with Granblue Fantasy: Relink the most recent of their output. Most likely is Project Awakening has been shelved despite it still being listed on the developer’s website as a ‘next-gen’ title advertised as PS4 exclusive.

PLAN 8

This exo-suit MMO shooter was announced in 2019, yet in what is an increasingly crowded sphere of the video game-verse PLAN 8 still seems like it has enough to stand out in 2024. Shame then that the most recent glimpses on its progress date back to screenshots shared in January 2020. The writings on the wall with this one: it’s dead in the water. The developers are supposedly still working on the title but it’s next-gen, genre-defying announcement is going to be woefully out of date by now.

Everwild

Hopefully still incoming from legendary British studio Rare, now owned by Microsoft, is magical nature adventure Everwild. We say hopefully as the glimpses we’ve seen are utterly spellbinding. An MMO in the vein of Sea of Thieves but in a fantasy setting, Everwild looks to meld multiple genres and gameplay mechanics in what is a hugely ambitious project. Every scene in the trailers seen so far look like oil paintings so let’s hope an official reveal is not too far away.

ILL

One of the Unreal Engine 5 tech demo games that drum up reasonable hype but never actually see the light of day, ILL has immense intrigue in it’s The Evil Within-­style torment spliced within a setting reminiscent of John Carpenter’s The Thing. This narrative driven first-person horror has all the ingredients to be a game changer, it’s just that tech demos are hard to believe at the best of times, let alone for a game with little to no update barring a glimpse into gameplay over six months ago.

The Last Night

This is a strange one, as the most hype-accelerating aspect to The Last Night was a tweet some five-or-so years ago which shared a screengrab of its cyberpunk aesthetic comparing it to The Matrix. The loss of esteemed indie game publisher Raw Fury and controversy surrounding game director Tim Soret have likely contributed to The Last Night’s lengthy development., the former especially as developer Odd Tales had to work to reclaim their publishing rights. 19^th November 2023 was the last official update we had of The Last Night. It’s likely still in development, just that progress has been stifled by misfortune.

Vigilancer 2099

This one will ride on the coattails of Cyberpunk 2077 when it eventually drops, it’s neon-soaked cityscapes are so reminiscent of Night City. In Vigilancer 2099 you’ll play as a secretive bounty hunter in a densely populated open world, with limitless traversal options on hand to get to grips with the verticality of Vigilancer’s megabuilding. There’s been next to no news for a couple of years now, so maybe this small-team developer has unfortunately folded.

Splinter Cell Remake

From rumour to full-blown conclusion, it’s been a few years now that a remake to Sam Fisher’s first outing in Splinter Cell has been on the go, but at present it doesn’t feel like we’re close to reliving Sam’s formative missions. For what it’s worth, Splinter Cell remake is confirmed to feature an updated story that will appeal to a modern audience. As and when we get to relive the game, we don’t know, but info will hopefully be forthcoming soon.

Routine

Nearly a decade after it was first announced, sci-fi moon base horror Routine received a new trailer during Summer Game Fest 2022. It’s 80’s retro-future and creepy atmosphere conjure a deep feeling of dread through juxtaposition of style and gameplay, and whilst development has been restarted at least once since its original announcement the aforementioned indie publisher Raw Fury is on board to see this one through to completion. Routine looks genuinely exceptional.

Deep Down

Despite being near completion and never being officially cancelled action role-player Deep Down has still never been released. Instead, this souls like game has been treated to titbits of info over the years since its first announcement in 2013. The developer stated in 2019 that hope wasn’t completely lost on Deep Down, but all hope has all but died. Development might always pick up again seeing as the assets were reportedly close to conclusion, but there’s no sign of that presently.

Freedom Fighters 2

IO Interactive delivered one of the most enjoyable shooters with 2003’s Freedom Fighters, a game that beautifully meshes tactical elements along with pure adrenaline-pumping action and an emotionally charged narrative of overthrowing oppression – and fans absolutely lapped it up. There have been scant rumblings of a sequel over the years, but nothing much has come to fruition. While the IP continues to be under the possession of now-independent IO Interactive, the chances of a full-fledged sequel happening anytime soon are extremely slim. 

Sleeping Dogs 2

Sleeping Dogs might have felt like yet another one of those cheap GTA clones, but United Front Games’ open-world offerings were as much a product of their creativity as it was derivative of Rockstar’s works. Wei Shen’s story of navigating through the criminal underbelly of Hong Kong is a consistently thrilling ride that’s punctuated with great gameplay variety and fun open-world activities, and the ideas were ripe to be built upon with a sequel. United Front Games had some ambitious plans in place, but those were gone to waste as the developer closed doors permanently in 2012 – leaving us with faint hopes that will probably never come true.

Star Wars 1313

There is no shortage of Star Wars-based games in the current market scenario, but it’s hard not to reminisce about the canceled Star Wars 1313 project. The game was being developed by LucasArts themselves at one point, and it would be telling the story of Boba Fett in his early days of navigating the galaxy. Initial showings of the game looked impressive with its cinematic gameplay and faithful rendition of the popular sci-fi setting, but the project was put on hold when Disney purchased the studio – putting the final nail in its coffin.

Agent

Rockstar is behind some of the best games of the last couple of generations, and the studio is also behind the mysterious vaporware that was Agent. First announced all the way in 2007, Agent was supposed to be an open-world game with elements of espionage and fans were understandably excited to see what was in store. Months and years passed with little in the name of concrete information on the game, and Agent slowly faded into the void with no hopes of emerging back once agai

Bully 2

Since we are on the topic of canceled Rockstar games, we should also discuss Bully 2. The original Bully felt like a breath of fresh air with its school setting and a narrative that let you experience the highs and lows of a teenager living in a boarding school, and those ideas were ripe to be built upon with a sequel. While nothing was ever announced in an official capacity, there have been several rumors and reports that state that Bully 2 was at least in the cards at some point if not in active development. Rumors continue to churn out even to this date, but the chances of anything coming to fruition are pretty low.

Scalebound

PlatinumGames has rightfully established its reputation as one of the best names when it comes to developing action games brimming with style and substance, and Scalebound felt emblematic of the studio’s biggest strengths. Scalebound’s idea of using dragons as your companions was enough to send fan expectations off the charts, and initial showings were looking really promising. However, development wasn’t the smoothest and the team faced several problems in trying to create a cohesive experience with online functionality built into the game eventually leading to Microsoft canceling the project altogether. It’s a shame that such an amazing idea was let go to waste, and Scalebound could have genuinely turned out to be a great time if PlatinumGames was given the creative freedom they wished for.

Silent Hills

Konami’s Silent Hill franchise is set to make a grand comeback with several new entries set to release in the near future, but we can’t help but think about the canceled Silent Hills project. Silent Hills was Kojima’s take on the popular horror franchise, and the playable teaser was more than enough to leave fans salivating for the final release. But the infamous Konami-Kojima breakout left the project in ruins, eventually leading to it being canned and our hopes and dreams unfulfilled. 

A New Metal Gear by Hideo Kojima

The Metal Gear Solid series has continued to deliver hit after hit with each new entry, and it continues to be one of the most revered franchises thanks to the incredible attention to detail that Kojima and the team have poured into each and every aspect of the experience. While the series is also making a comeback with the upcoming release of Delta Snake Eater, we would love to see another new Metal Gear directed by Kojima san himself, but the infamous Konami-Kojima break-up leaves little chance of that happening anytime soon.

 A New Burnout

Criterion’s Burnout series was one of the best arcade racers of its time, and its gameplay loop of crashing into rival cars and emphasizing a generally aggressive driving style was what helped the franchise stand out from the crowd. But with EA eventually moving Criterion to work on the Need For Speed series, the Burnout IP was kept hostage and it slowly turned dormant over the years. Without a shadow of a doubt, there are more than thousands of fans who are hoping for a revival, but the current state of EA and its obsession with continuing to invest in NFS means that a new Burnout game isn’t likely to come out anytime soon. 

Portal 3

The Portal games continue to be some of the best puzzle games of all time, thanks to an ingenious central mechanic that forms the basis of all gameplay and the witty writing that came along with it. Many games have tried to create similar experiences since then, but none have managed to capture the magic of Valve’s works – which has left us craving for a potential Portal 3 even after all this time. But given the current stance of Valve’s game development division, it seems like Portal 3 would probably never see the light of day. 

New Dino Crisis 

Dino Crisis was very much a product of its time, a game confident in its ability to deliver a consistently thrilling experience despite being based on a concept so weird. We have had some really fond memories of shooting down dinosaurs with machine guns, and we would really love to get a new entry with the same level of eccentricity and fun that is so characteristic of the franchise. However, it feels highly unlikely that the developer would be making much effort to breathe new life into this now stagnant IP. And no, Exoprimal doesn’t count.

Deep Down

Yet another one of the developer’s failed projects, Deep Down was put forth as one of the PS4’s launch titles. Deep Down featured impressive graphics for its time, and the concept of working your way through procedurally generated dungeons with friends sounded like a really fun idea that could have genuinely turned out to be a big hit. Development wasn’t obviously the smoothest, which eventually led to the game being delayed to an indefinite date. We still think about what Deep Down could have been, but all we can do is hope.

Titanfall 3

Titanfall 2 was a great game that y featured one of the best FPS campaigns of all time but it failed to capture much of an audience since it was sandwiched between the highly overrated Battlefield and a Call of Duty series- making it a commercial failure. The future of the franchise already looked bleak after that failure, and now that the developer has been focusing majorly on Star Wars – a potential Titanfall 3 is most likely not on the cards. 

The Next Dark Souls

It’s safe to say that FromSoftware has birthed an entire genre with Dark Souls, and the entire trilogy remains one of the best experiences of recent memory. The developer has already moved on to bigger experiences with the likes of Elden Ring, but there’s undoubtedly a void for a new Dark Souls game. Between this and the fact that the trilogy brought a definitive end to the endless cycle of fire, a new game coming out feels like a distant dream that probably won’t come true.

Prototype 3

Radical Entertainment’s Prototype was a really great open-world game that provided a really satisfying power fantasy as you mow down entire squadrons of enemies in moments unnoticed, and those elements were taken to the next level with Prototype 2. Radical Entertainment was slowly devolved into a support studio for Activision’s bigger franchises before it was closed sometime in 2014, leaving the dreams of any potential Prototype 3 dead in the dust.

Everwild

Everwild is the latest game in development from Rare, one of the most prestigious studios around the globe. Announced way back in 2019, Everwild will see players taking control of Eternals on a quest to save the flora and fauna of the game’s magnificent world. We don’t know what the gameplay will look like, but Rare has said that it wants to explore peaceful interactions with the game’s world which is definitely one of the more exciting parts of the game. Everwild‘s development has been far from smooth, as after a prolonged period of silence – rumors have indicated that it restarted development last year. Furthermore, it’s been claimed that the team is still figuring things out, so it doesn’t seem likely that the game would reappear anytime this year. That said, one can surely hope for the best.

So what happened to it? Well, even some people who should know don’t know at all. Speaking with Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, former Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shawn Layden was asked what happened to Deep Down, to which his response was a brief silence, followed by him saying, “I have no idea.”

Over a year ago, it was claimed in reports that Deep Down had actually progressed pretty far in its development before it was eventually shelved. Interestingly enough, back in 2019, Capcom said that they still hadn’t completely given up on the property, what with the trademark still being registered. Read more on that through here.

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1433896671050666005

For a year afterward, Capcom continued to provide sparse updates on the game, revealing new tidbits of information here and there, but soon afterward, it looked like that well of information had suddenly all but dried up. Updates on Deep Down faded away into the background, before stopping altogether, and it went from being a hotly anticipated upcoming release, to a game that had been in development hell for years, to what’s now looking like a cancelled project that might never see the light of day.

But as we and countless others have done innumerable times in the last few years, we’re putting this out there once again, hoping that Capcom will finally listen- Deep Down needs to make a comeback, in spirit, at least, if not in any other way. There are multiple reasons for why we feel that way, and here, we’re going to talk about some of the biggest ones.

The first is one that simply cannot be said enough- the value of new IP can never be overstated. New IP is the lifeblood of this industry, it’s what drives creativity, innovation, and new ideas more than anything else. That’s not to say that those things simply wouldn’t exist without new IP, but when a developer is establishing a completely new property, creativity and innovation become more necessary than they are for sequels in established franchises.

Capcom in particular is currently riding the wave of multiple successful IP. The likes of Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, Devil May Cry, and Street Fighter are all going strong, and based on recent reports, other properties like Onimusha, Mega Man, Phoenix Wright, and Dragon’s Dogma also seem to have bright futures ahead of them. And what’s distinctly missing in that list of names? A new franchise, that’s what. Yes, Capcom do have Pragmata coming up, which will hopefully fill that void, but how exciting would it be to have both Pragmata and Deep Down leading Capcom into the next generation of gaming?

Beyond that though, there are several aspects of Deep Down’s concept itself that make it seem like such an alluring prospect. One element that we feel would be a perfect fit for the industry as it exists right now is the game’s purported free-to-play nature. When Capcom announced in 2013 that Deep Down would be a free-to-play title, they were met with plenty of skepticism, but the state of the industry in 2021 is markedly different. Free-to-play has become an extremely viable model. Games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, and countless others have proven that games using the free-to-play model can provide compelling experiences just as well as premium titles can. Hell, even Destiny 2: Beyond Light and Rocket League have adopted the free-to-play model.

When Deep Down was still in active development, Capcom had envisioned it as a live service title, one that players would be able to jump in for free, spend money on microtransactions and post-launch DLC if they wanted to, and continue playing for a prolonged period of time. Its focus on procedural generation and co-op gameplay was obviously going to help bolster the experience’s longevity, while one can only assume (given the game’s focus on dungeon crawling) that Capcom would keep releasing new content for players to tackle as well.

It’s entirely possible that back in the early years of the decade, Capcom were struggling with coming up with a viable model for the game to follow, but given the abundance of excellent examples they have now that they could follow, a resurgent Deep Down makes a ton of sense. From raids and post-launch expansions to post-release content drops that could, say, include things like new playable classes or, taking a leaf out of their own Monster Hunter’s book, new monsters to fight, there’s no shortage of ideas for Capcom to experiment with should they ever choose to bring Deep Down back from the dead.

Then there’s the engine. When the dungeon crawler was first unveiled back in 2013, it was also accompanied with the reveal of Capcom’s Panta Rhei Engine, which they were then positioning as their next primary development tool, and the engine that would replace MT Framework as their main internal toolset for creating games. That, of course, didn’t pan out, and Panta Rhei turned out to be more than a little problematic, while those issues no doubt must have proven to be major hurdles during Deep Down’s development as well.

Here’s the thing though- Capcom now do have the perfect engine that they could build the game on. Over the last few years, RE Engine has essentially done everything they were hoping at the beginning of the previous generation that Panta Rhei would do, and become their primary development toolset. Multiple Resident Evil games have used it (and will continue to use it), Devil May Cry 5 was built on it, and hell, even Monster Hunter is adopting it with the upcoming Monster Hunter Rise, while the aforementioned Pragmata is also being built on it. RE Engine is clearly an impressive toolset, and as the wide range of games using it proves, it’s also a very versatile one. Should Capcom ever choose to revisit the idea of Deep Down, they wouldn’t have to look to far for an engine to build the game on.

There is, of course, also the fact that Deep Down’s central premise is one that’s instantly appealing to a lot of people. Part futuristic sci-fi, part medieval dark fantasy? A hub world set in 20194 New York City, where you use memories to travel to the past to battle against monstrous beasts in dark dungeons? That’s a fascinating setting, to say the least, and seeing it go to waste like this is a real shame. If nothing else, we would at least like to see Capcom revisiting some of these ideas in some way, shape, or form- even if they have to do it in different project. Who knows, maybe Pragmata will be picking up some of these pieces, given its futuristic sci-fi setting.

Ultimately, we are perfectly aware, of course, that the future of Deep Down looks murky at best. Capcom have suggested a few times that the game isn’t completely dead, but given the fact that they seem to be focusing on other things for now (and for the foreseeable future), and the fact that it’s been ages since we heard or saw anything concrete about Deep Down, it doesn’t seem like it is part of their plans for the coming years. There’s also the fact that Capcom veteran Yoshinori Ono, who was leading the Deep Down project, recently departed from the company after a long and illustrious career, which puts the game’s future into even further doubt. No, things don’t look bright for Deep Down- but hopefully, some day, Capcom will decide to come back to the idea and let it out into the world so that it can realize its potential.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

First revealed by Capcom all the way back in 2013 as a PS4 exclusive, the impressive-looking dungeon crawler Deep Down has by now joined the likes of Rockstar’s Agent in the category of vapourware releases. After next to no updates for years on end, most are beginning to doubt that the game will ever release, and even though Capcom said not too long ago that they hadn’t completely given up hope on the game, a new report doesn’t spell good things for it.

In a report concerning the recent Resident Evil 8 rumours published by VGC, tucked away at the very bottom were a couple of sentences talking about Deep Down. According to VGC, sources have indicated that the game had actually come very close to wrapping up development, but that in spite of that, it was eventually shelved.

No other info is given out, and though it doesn’t come as a surprise that the game is as good as dead internally at Capcom, what is surprising is that it was shelved in spite of being almost completely developed. We won’t know the full story until Capcom chooses to tell us about it, of course (if that ever happens, that is), but it’s becoming clearer by the day that Deep Down might never happen.

The footage that was shown was fairly impressive and showed some top-notch graphics of knights battling dragons and other monsters in underground dungeons. With the PS4 line-up focusing so heavily on single-player action games, having a procedurally-generated online co-op dungeon crawler would add some much-needed diversity to Playstation’s portfolio. Alas, all of those games that were announced alongside Deep Down would eventually see their launch days come and go, while news on Deep Down was extremely rare and minimal and eventually the game seemed to fall off of the map entirely. To this day we still really don’t know what the deal is.

If you suspected that Deep Down wasn’t gone for good, well, you’re right. In a recent Eurogamer article Yoshinori Ono said as much and seemed to shed at least a little bit of light on the subject, stating:

“I haven’t been called Mr. Deep Down quite yet. The original team is clearly no longer together at this point, but people might have noticed that we’ve kept the trademark registered, and it’s not been completely given up on. Every year we examine titles we’re doing in the future, and we bring up projects to approve and move forward. There’s not much I can say about it, but if you’ve noticed we’ve kept the trademark it means we haven’t given up on the title completely.

We did have the concept developed a bit further than that [the TGS demo], but yeah…”

The two big things to take from this are that Deep Down is still trademarked by Capcom and that the original team is no longer working on it together at this point. Good news and bad news. The good sign for Deep Down is that, as long as Capcom bothers to hold on to the trademark they must see some value in it, even if it’s next to none. Holding on to a trademark is a sign that they aren’t willing to put the game out to pasture quite yet.

However the fact that the original team is no longer together and working on the game is bad news. It would be unreasonable to say that every game that switches hands a few times during development is guaranteed to turn out poorly, but it would be just as unreasonable to not recognize that it isn’t good for the odds, either.

Obviously the more a game changes hands, the more risk of the project moving away from its original vision, the less likely it is to bring that experience to the players once it’s done. While a change of hands and a change of direction doesn’t always spell critical or commercial failure for a game, it very well could. It also throws the likelihood of a game getting finished into potential peril, which is where we are now with Deep Down. The fact that the original team isn’t together anymore also insinuates that the game isn’t currently being worked on in any major capacity. So even though it does still exist, it’s likely just sitting on a massive hard drive somewhere while other projects get worked on. And there must be a reason for that.

Development of Deep Down does seem to have gone into some abnormal directions. Usually with a game being announced for the launch line-up of a console, there will be lots of time and effort spent on it’s marketing to make sure as many people know about it as possible. Launching a game on a new console is a little bit riskier in a way since the console won’t have as large a player base as another console that’s been around for many years, so in order to ensure sales, the marketing push needs to make sure as many new adopters of the platform buy the game as possible.

Deep Down didn’t really get a marketing push like that. Sure there were a handful of interviews and a fair amount of dungeon crawling footage released online, but after that initial push, the game went dark and has stayed so almost entirely since then. Usually when this happens its because of some sort of retooling efforts on the back-end of the game or a complete redesign of the front-end. It might be reasonable to suspect a change in direction was pursued, or a way forward was disputed by enough of the team that it brought the project to a standstill.

Perhaps the Soul-like gameplay is being tweaked to look a little more like it’s own thing, or perhaps the the idea of where the game was supposed to go has changed and alienated enough of the team to where they’d rather work on other things. Or, it could very well be that Deep Down and it’s systems were just a little too aggressive for the current gen hardware, and Capcom decided to shelve it for later time where consoles could support it, rather than compromise the game to get it working now. It’s hard to say for sure, but the answer is likely some combination of those scenarios.

As Capcom picks it’s next projects to work on, is Deep Down being considered and passed over every time in favor of a Resident Evil or a Megaman game? At least for a time, it does appear that way. And now, many of the team that were working on Deep Down have likely been pulled into these different projects if not leaving the Capcom umbrella altogether. So there must be some reason why Capcom wants to dump money into other things instead of Deep Down, despite all of the interest shown to it by gamers, and despite how interesting and promising it so objectively is.

This perhaps gives more credence to the theory that the PS4 just isn’t powerful enough to run the game as it’s currently being imagined, and if that’s the reason, then we probably have nothing to fear other than a long wait. If all capcom really wants is a stronger console to put the game on, then the Playstation 5 will likely meet the requirements. Although getting the original developers back together to resume work on Deep Down could prove difficult depending on what sits on Capcom’s plate at the time and how long it takes to assemble the crew.

Given all of this, the good and the bad, I wouldn’t place your bets on Deep Down being cancelled or released any time soon. Not many games show quite this much consistent interest, especially games that haven’t even come out. But it’s also rare for a game to go through that type of a marketing push just to get shelved for later. Obviously something went wrong, and Capcom definitely sees that. But as long as that interest remains, games can certainly come out of development hell and turn out to be something worthwhile. Hopefully Deep Down turns out to be one of those, and hopefully we’ll hear more soon.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Long ago when the PlayStation 4 was first revealed, Capcom showcased a new project that it referred to as Deep Down. This dungeon crawling action RPG was developed on the company’s Panta Rhei engine and was seemingly set for the PS4. Over the years, it quickly became obvious that Deep Down was in limbo.

So what happened? Eurogamer spoke to Capcom corporate officer Yoshinori Ono about the same. Ono responded that, “The original team is clearly no longer together at this point, but people might have noticed that we’ve kept the trademark registered, and it’s not been completely given up on. Every year we examine titles we’re doing in future, and we bring up projects to approve and move forward. There’s not much I can say about it, but if you’ve noticed we’ve kept the trademark it means we haven’t given up on the title completely.”

When told that the game was played at Tokyo Game Show some years ago and looked promising, Ono responded, “We did have the concept developed a bit further than that, but yeah…”

Recent rumors indicated that Capcom was rebranding Deep Down as Shinsekai: Into The Depths. Unfortunately, the latter was revealed to be something else entirely and made available for Apple Arcade. The last time the trademark had been renewed was in April 2017 but there’s been no further information aside from this.

Could Deep Down possibly make a resurgence in the next generation of consoles? Never say never, especially with how other Capcom properties have been revived over the years. But we’ll have to wait and see.

Quite recently, Capcom filed a trademark for something called “Shinsekai: Into the Depths”, and a large number of people believed that this was going to be a revival for the long-in-development Deep Down, a game that we haven’t heard about for a significant period of time now. We now know what it is and… well, it isn’t Deep Down.

Shinsekai: Into the Depths is an exclusive title for Apple Arcade, the gaming-centric streaming service for iOS devices that launches imminently (via Polygon). Apple have been making significant investments into this service and into securing exclusives for it, and Shinsekai is part of those efforts. The game is an atmospheric, underwater platformer with “simple” controls that will require players to master “shooting while thrusting.”

So yeah. It definitely isn’t Deep Down. So where is Deep Down then? Well, we can probably expect it to launch around the same time as Rockstar’s Agent. Incidentally, with Shinsekai, Capcom’s support for Apple Arcade is officially better than their support for the Nintendo Switch. So that’s something.