News on Cancelled Video Games & Lost Media

World of Mercenaries is a canceled military Free-to-Play multiplayer First-Person Shooter developed and published by City Interactive around 2011-2012, exclusively for the PC.

Not much is known about World of Mercenaries as information about it covered only 4 months. The game was officially announced in March 2012 by its developer, the Romanian subdivision of City Interactive, as we can read on MMOBomb:

Powered by Unreal Engine 3 and to be distributed digitally via Steam, World of Mercenaries is a skill based competitive FPS with stunning graphics, fluid controls, customizable weapons and focus on teamwork as a core element for player progression. Immerse in the life of a fearless mercenary!
“Our veteran team is comprised of some of the most devoted FPS fans in the world and we’re excited to use our knowledge and experience to fuse the best elements of previously released games in the genre with new and exciting advancements – be it in terms of graphics, controls or skill based game play.” says Bogdan Oprescu, Executive Producer for the title. “Our closed beta program will be an integral part of the development process for World of Mercenaries, as it is our goal to deliver a game made by, for and with FPS fans. We are shaping the future of competitive FPS, and are fully confident it will be achieved with the enthusiasm and help of our beta testers.”

World of Mercenaries was launched into closed beta in May 2012, and further details were shared:

City Interactive has announced the launch of the closed beta phase for World of Mercenaries. Beginning today, anyone with a beta key can redeem it through Steam and start playing it. The closed beta comes with two maps in two different modes. These two modes are described as a ‘classic’ and a ‘heavy team-oriented’ one. There are currently six different weapons and a dual health system to use.
Play your own way: get into fierce battles and mow down your enemies, back up your team members by blasting from afar; navigate skillfully and master the map; plan your own strategy and have your game evolve along with your style and each map’s unique terrain!
Purists will find a new battlefield for fame and glory; casual players will be more than just targets. World of Mercenaries is all about combat action and having fun!

However, after only 3 weeks of closed beta, City Interactive announced, on the now-defunct website of the game, that they putted the beta on-hold, in order to focus on the feedbacks by beta testers:

We would first like to thank all of you for applying to the game’s closed beta, for the interest and enthusiasm you have showed and that helped us go forward each day, and to our beta testers – for all the feedback you provided us with.
We are very grateful that such a great community has started to shape around World of Mercenaries, thanks to each and every one of you.
We are entering a phase where we need to process all this information, as well as work on taking the game to another level.
As such, we will be putting the closed beta on hold as of today.

This was officially the last time World of Mercenaries was mentioned. In August 2012, City Interactive went into a major restructuration which resulted from the cancellation of a Sniper: Ghost Warrior game on iOS, as well as a reboot of Alien Fear and Enemy Front, whose developments were chaotic. The company was rebranded as CI Games and made the decision to only focus on AAA games. During the Enemy Front reboot, it was announced that City Interactive Bucharest would be in charge of developing the game’s multiplayer mode:

(…) Recently, we also decided to create an extensive multiplayer mode, in which our team in Romania is responsible for.

It is more than likely that World of Mercenaries was canceled during this process. In March 2013, Polish website Gram.pl confirmed that the game was officially canceled by CI Games during the report on the activities of the company:

“On February 13, 2013, the Issuer’s Management Board informed that due to the verification of the commercial potential of the game World of Mercenaries, the City Interactive S.A. Management Board has decided to stop development work on this game. In connection with the above, an impairment was made on the value of unfinished development work on World of Mercenaries for an amount of PLN 5.7 million.

Former members staffs from CI Games Bucharest founded Big Blue Studios in 2018.

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Unseen News

Brave 2 (PS2) — Cancelled Sequel

FreeckyCake

01-09-2024

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Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer is a relatively unknown 3D action-adventure developed by Vis Entertainment and released by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe in 2005. The game was released late into the PS2’s lifespan and couldn’t compete with the many blockbuster hits of yore. Consequently, the game fell into obscurity due to poor marketing, critical acclaim, and sales. Eventually, Vis Entertainment shut down in 2005, laying off all of its employees in the process.

However, before Vis Entertainment’s demise, the company was actually working on a sequel that was 25% complete according to producer Robbie Graham. Not only this but according to assistant director Pete Shea, the sequel was going to be an open-world action adventure with a sophisticated AI wild-life experience akin to what Far Cry 2 managed to achieve. All in all, it was envisioned as a step above its predecessor. Unfortunately, the sequel was never finished and neither any images of it were preserved online. All that remains is a mention of Brave 2 in the archived portfolio blog of artist Mathew Cooling.

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Not only this, but after reaching out to the main writer Brian Gomez, he said Brave was, at one point, planned to receive a TV Series adaptation. Unfortunately, that idea never came to fruition. It seems that Vis Entertainment had good plans for Brave, but they never materialized.

A video exists documenting the history of Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer in full detail, covering how it all began, the main inspiration and other misc tidbits you might find interesting.

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Credit goes to Evan Hanley for finding the archived portfolio blog of Mathew Cooling.

Unseen News

Cursed Mummy [Cancelled — Mobile]

FreeckyCake

31-08-2024

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Sphinx & the Cursed Mummy is a great 3D platformer launched on the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube with a Java iteration released shortly after. The game, despite receiving critical acclaim, failed to reach mainstream appeal and sold poorly. A sequel was in the cards for Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, but it never came to fruition.

After years of waiting for a potential comeback of Sphinx, Ex-Eurocom employees formed the Eight Pixels Square to work on a mobile instalment. This instalment, however, differed from its 3D counterpart. From the prototype demo found online, we can see the game was going to be an infinite runner-type of game. The player would be tasked with guiding the mummy through endless corridors by swiping on the mobile screen. Unfortunately, this attempt by Eight Pixels Square to reach a broader audience, and potentially revive the franchise was met with cancellation. All that remains is a short demo gameplay uploaded on Vimeo by Jose Luis Garcia Camara.

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Others, PC / MAC

Bastard!! Online [Cancelled — PC]

FreeckyCake

04-08-2024

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On July the 20th 2005, Tecmo once unveiled a lineup of their upcoming games. Among these games was Bastard!! Online, an MMORPG based on the Bastard!! manga by Kazushi Hagiwara. According to various media outlets, the game was initially slated to be released exclusively on PC in Asian territories.

When rumours began to circulate that the game was cancelled, GameKult.com uploaded an article featuring many images and other minuscule details. From the site, we can read:

The project Bastard !! Online is not aborted, as evidenced by the first real images of the game, released two years after the development was announced. For those who are still wondering, it will indeed be an MMORPG adaptation of the famous manga by Kazushi Hagiwara, plunging players into the chaos of Meta-Licana. PvP oriented, the game will offer allegiance to one of the competing factions, at the command of generals Nei, Gara, Karsu or by joining the camp of the oppressed led by Princess Shira. It remains to be seen whether the universe heroic fantasy, the game system and the presence of the charismatic Dark Schneider will prove convincing enough to captivate the Japanese public. The launch of the game is still planned for 2007 in the land of the Rising Sun.

Despite plans for a 2007 release, Bastard!! Online was never launched. However, in 2008, Gamekult.com published another article titled “Bastard!! Online Lives Again.” The article revealed that the developers had spent an additional year enhancing the graphics to make the game much more visually appealing than what was previously shown. The website provided the following details:

Announced almost four years ago, the project Bastard !! Online is still relevant. As immortal as Dark Schneider, this impossible MMORPG is reborn from its ashes through these new images, enhanced with a trailer extra. Don’t laugh, the developers were particularly keen to highlight the efforts made on the graphics part of the game in a recent interview. For the rest, we know that this MMO based on the work of Kazushi Hagiwara will require allegiance to one of the game’s factions, commanded by the highly charismatic characters Nei, Gara and the others. The game is now scheduled to go live in 2009, at least until further notice..

Years have passed, and Bastard!! Online was never released. Ultimately, the game was cancelled on December 18, 2009 as Tecmo concluded that the development time required, coupled with their market forecasts, made continuing the project unfeasible. What remains of the game are a few screenshots and trailers.

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: Cutscene from the game

: The original cover of the game

Microsoft, PC / MAC, Sony

Allison Road [Cancelled – PC/PS4/Xbox One]

FreeckyCake

21-07-2024

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After the tragic cancellation of Kojima Productions’ Silent Hills, many were taken aback by the sudden announcement. The concept felt new and fresh. Horror enthusiasts were ready to savour it as soon as it launched, but in the end, it didn’t. Only a playable teaser was made and a couple of trailers here and there.

The community wasn’t content to let go of the idea of a first-person Silent Hill iteration. Thus, a fan-made spiritual successor in the name of Alison Road was born. Developed by Lilith Ltd, Alison Road was originally shown as a tech demo on July 1st, 2015 via YouTube. After the positive reception from the audience, development began shortly after. To help fund the project, Lilith Ltd launched a Kickstarter campaign around September 2015. The goal was to reach its $322,974 target before the October 21st deadline. While the Kickstarter campaign did receive funds from 4482 backers, earning Lilith over $188,564, the Kickstarter campaign was later cancelled on October 12, 2015. Just a few days before the original deadline.

The campaign was cancelled after Lilith Ltd signed a deal with Team17 to publish the game. At this point, with Lilith Ltd having the support of a publisher, things were proceeding smoothly, and a release for the quarter of 2016 was on the cards. However, on June 4th, 2016, the game’s development came to an ultimate halt when Alison Road’s official Twitter account announced the news.

Shortly after the game’s cancellation, Lilith wrote this statement on Facebook:

After a long consideration between Team17 and ourselves, we have reached a mutual agreement to end our collaboration on publishing Allison Road under Team17’s Games label. Sometime things pan out differently than expected as game development and publishing have so many layers of complexity… We’d like to especially thank everyone for their support through-out, it has and will always be appreciated!

Then Team17 followed with another statement after speaking to VG24/7:

After a long consideration between Lilith owner Chris Kesler and ourselves, we have reached a mutual agreement to end our collaboration on publishing Allison Road under Team17’s Games label. We love the concept and value Chris’ talent highly, but sometime things pan out differently than expected as game development and publishing have so many layers of complexity. The whole team here wish all the best to Chris on his current and future projects for which, before being a business partner, we are also a fan.

Neither Lilith Ltd nor Team 17 explained the circumstances that led to the cancellation of the game. However, on 22 August 2016, the game’s creator Christian Kesler, told IGN that he would resume development on the game, alone. This time around, Lilith Ltd was disbanded and development would be transitioned to the auspices of Far From Home, a new studio he had co-founded with his wife.

At this point, there was still a glimmer of hope that Alison Road would come to fruition. However, that hope was shattered when no new announcements about the project were forthcoming. Eventually, both the Facebook and Twitter accounts of Alison Road were silently shut down around September 2019. Time has passed, and Alison Road was forgotten. The game now lives in the spirit of Supernormal, a spiritual successor to Alison Road.