From Star Wars 1313 to Dirty Harry: These 5 canceled video games still hurt when we think about them

There are few things more heartbreaking in the gaming world than hearing that a game you've been dying to play has been taken away from you before it even sees the light of day.

One of the most painful examples is Star Wars 1313a game that promised a lot but was tragically cancelled before we could even get a taste of it. It's not the only game that left a hole in our hearts, as many still haunt us with what could have been.

Whether it was the thrill of bounty hunting in the depths of Coruscant or battling giant dragons, each of these games had potential and was eagerly awaited by countless fans.

Let's take a painful trip down memory lane and revisit five canceled video games that we still wish had been released by their release date.

5) Star Wars 1313

Due to a massive wave of layoffs, the release of this game was wrongly put on hold indefinitely. | Image credit: Lucasfilms

⛶

⛶

⛶

⛶

⛶

It still hurts to think about that game. Revealed at E3 2012, it was an ambitious project set in the seedy underworld of Coruscant, specifically Level 1313 – a dangerous, crime-ridden district deep beneath the surface.

Star Wars 1313 was set to focus on a young Boba Fett and promised a more mature, darker experience. A developer diary video showed the video game running in 64-bit mode on the Unreal Engine 3, so quite a bit of work had gone into it.

Just as quickly as the hype built, it collapsed. In 2013, Disney acquired Lucasfilm, but LucasArts was set to continue development of the game. However, this dream was short-lived, as the project was put on hold after most of the studio's staff were laid off.

On a positive note, the game’s director, Dominic Robilliard, was recruited by Uncharted's Amy Hennig for her star Wars Play at Skydance New Media. It's a small ray of hope.

4) Loot 2

This title was supposed to be a sequel to the 2006 cult classic prey. Unlike the original, however, this project took the series in a bold new direction.

Announced in 2011, Loot 2 was supposed to be an open-world first-person shooter in which players take on the role of Killian Samuels, a US Marshal who becomes a bounty hunter on an alien planet called Exodus.

It's hard to say exactly what this game was trying to achieve, as for most of its creation it was just a vague collection of ideas. At some point it would have revisited the gravity-based gameplay of the first game.

After Zenimax acquired the rights, the game promised a huge, living world full of activities to do, taking some of the inspiration from the release of Red Dead Redemption which had just been published at that time.

The project was plagued by development problems, there were reports of internal conflicts between developer Human Head Studios and publisher Bethesda. By 2014, it was clear that the game would not see the light of day, and Bethesda officially canceled it.

3) Scale-bound

This was one of those games that seemed too good to be true, and unfortunately it was. Scale-bound was an action RPG in which players took on the role of Drew, a young man who had a close bond with a giant dragon named Thuban.

Together they would make their way on foot and in the skies through Draconis, a world full of enemies.

Development of the game began in 2013 at PlatinumGames. The project was quite ambitious from the start. Some interesting aspects include a planned 4-person co-op mode, Drew's ability to transform into a half-dragon, dragon riding mechanics, and more.

It was officially announced at E3 2014 and gameplay was shown at Gamescom 2015. The release date was set for 2016, but was then pushed back to 2017 and finally canceled that same year.

While the exact reasons are unknown, director Hideki Kamiya later mentioned in an interview that the development team was not experienced enough to create a title like this.

2) Silent Hill (PT)

When it comes to Cancelled games that left deep scars in the gaming community, silent Hill—often referred to as a playable teaser, PT– is at the top of the list.

Announced in 2014, this was supposed to be a sequel to the iconic silent Hill franchise, with Hideo Kojima, Guillermo del Toro and actor Norman Reedus all involved in the project.

The game's teaser was a masterpiece of psychological horror, offering a terrifying, repetitive experience that was so successful it went viral. Despite the overwhelming excitement surrounding the project, it never took off.

In 2015, a public dispute arose between Konami and Kojima, which led to the game being discontinued and PTremoved from the PlayStation Store. The news was devastating and many have still not recovered from it, vociferously wishing on social media that the game somehow gets another chance.

1) Dirty Harry

This game is based on the legendary film series starring Clint Eastwood as the tough, badass cop Harry Callahan. The game was meant to continue the story of the 1972 film. DirtyHarrywith Eastwood lending his voice and appearance to the game's protagonist.

Despite a promising concept and the involvement of such a legendary actor, the game never made it past the development phase.

Loose Cannon Studios pitched the concept to Warner Bros in 2006. After it was given the green light, development began under The Collective. It featured an innovative gameplay mechanic where AI-controlled NPCs would react to the player's actions, influencing how crooks and cops would interact with them.

A year later, the game was canceled due to rushed development and budget issues, possibly caused by a major studio change at the time.

These five canceled games each had the potential to be something special (or a complete disaster), but unfortunately we'll never know what they were meant to be.

Are there any games you like or feel are missing from this list? We'd love to hear all about them in the comments below!