While it’s often a matter of last resort, video game cancellations are unfortunately a reality of the games industry.

There’s no single cause for why games don’t reach the finish line after months, or more often, years of development. Reasons for canceled games range from fast-shifting market dynamics and corporate restructuring to ballooning development costs and other creative challenges.

In 2025, 17 games have been confirmed or reliably reported to be canceled so far. Each of these games is listed below, ordered chronologically by the official announcement, or a report, of its cancellation.

Transformers: Reactivate

On January 8, 2025, it was announced that Transformers: Reactivate, an online action game in development at the Tencent-owned studio Splash Damage (Gears Tactics), was canceled. A statement shared on the studio’s X account did not provide a reason for the cancellation.

“This decision did not come lightly, and it is a difficult time for the studio and our people,” Splash Damage said at the time. “We want to take a moment to thank the team who worked on Transformers for their dedication and passion.”

Transformers: Reactivate was first announced in December 2022 at the Game Awards.

Two Unannounced PlayStation Live-service Games

On January 16, 2025, Bloomberg reported Sony had canceled two unannounced PlayStation games: a live-service project in development at Bend Studio (Days Gone) and a live-service God of War game in development at Bluepoint Games (Demon’s Souls remake).

Sony confirmed in a separate statement that despite the cancellations, neither Bend Studio nor Bluepoint Games would be shut down, and that Sony would work with the studios to determine their “next projects.”

While reasons for the cancellations weren’t reported, the decisions may have been related to Sony’s previous efforts to downsize its live-service plans. PlayStation had previously shuttered Concord developer Firewalk Studio and canceled other live-service projects such as Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us multiplayer game, a rumored Spider-Man online game, a live-service Twisted Metal game, and a Destiny spinoff called Payback.

Earthblade

On January 22, 2025, Extremely OK Games announced that it had canceled Earthblade, a 2D platformer meant to be a follow-up to its celebrated platformer, Celeste. The news of the cancellation came three years after Earthblade was first revealed at the 2022 Game Awards.

In a blog post explaining the cancellation, Extremely OK Games revealed the decision to cancel Earthblade was made in December 2024 following a disagreement between members of the studio and a former art director over the IP rights to Celeste. In the aftermath of the dispute, the team evaluated the state of Earthblade and decided it wasn’t “as far along as one would expect after such a protracted development process.”

The studio said it’s now “prototyping again and exploring at our own pace, and trying to rediscover game development in a manner closer to how we approached it at Celeste’s or TowerFall’s inception.”

Football Manager 25

Football Manager 25 was canceled on February 6, 2025. It’s the first time the annual sports sim has skipped a release in its 21-year history.

Football Manager 25 had been delayed twice prior to the official cancellation, and the decision to end development ultimately came when developer Sports Interactive concluded it “would not achieve the standard required [to release the game], even with the adjusted timeline.” The studio specifically cited issues with “the overarching player experience and interface.”

Sports Interactive is expected to resume the series with the release of Football Manager 26 later this year.

Wonder Woman

In February 2025 it was announced that the Wonder Woman game was canceled and the developers, Monolith Productions, would be shut down. Wonder Woman would have been the studio’s follow-up to its acclaimed Middle-earth seires, and was expected to utilize its patented Nemesis system.

The decision came from parent company/publisher Warner Bros. amidst a corporate restructuring. In a statement, a Warner Bros. spokesperson said, “Our hope was to give players and fans the highest quality experience possible for the iconic character, and unfortunately this is no longer possible within our strategic priorities.”

Following Wonder Woman’s cancellation, comic writer Gail Simone, who worked on the project, said the now-canceled game was “gorgeous and expansive,” adding, “[Monolith] made sure it had WW and DC lore on every aspect of the game.”

Wonder Woman was first announced at the 2021 Game Awards.

Respawn Multiplayer FPS

An unannounced, multiplayer first-person shooter from Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment was canceled in early March 2025. It was considered an incubation project, meaning it was in the very early days of its development.

IGN reported the shooter was being worked on by a group of Respawn developers that spun off from the team creating a Star Wars first-person shooter that was canceled in early 2024.

New Titanfall Game

A month later, Bloomberg reported EA had canceled an unannounced Titanfall game as part of wider cuts to the company that impacted roughly 300 workers. Of the 300 employees affected by the layoffs, 100 came from Respawn Entertainment, where this Titanfall project and the aforementioned multiplayer shooter were in development. No further details about the project were reported.

Titanfall is a fan-favorite FPS series that launched as a tentpole console exclusive for Microsoft’s Xbox One in 2014. A multiplatform sequel, released in 2016, was lauded for its addition of a single-player story, which IGN named the second-best FPS campaign of all time.

Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link

Square Enix canceled Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link on May 14, 2025. The planned mobile game was set to be an action-RPG that told a brand-new Kingdom Hearts story and would utilize Pokemon GO-like GPS mechanics.

In a statement from Square Enix, Missing-Link was canceled once it was “determined that it would be difficult to offer a service that players would find satisfactory over a long period of time.”

Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link was announced alongside Kingdom Hearts 4 in April 2022. As part of the cancellation announcement, Square assured fans development of the next mainline Kingdom Hearts is ongoing.

Battle Aces

An action-focused real-time strategy game called Battle Aces was canceled on May 23, 2025. It was in development for PC and set to be developer Uncapped Games’ debut release.

“Battle Aces represented a bold vision — our attempt to reimagine real-time strategy for a new generation,” the studio wrote on Steam. “We set out to create something fast, tactical, and approachable, while still delivering the depth that makes RTS special.”

Development was stopped due to “the returns from early testing [not being] strong enough to support continued development.”

EA’s Black Panther

The second comics-based game canceled in 2025 was EA’s Black Panther game. The cancellation, announced on May 28, 2025, came alongside the closure of Cliffhanger Games, which was developing Black Panther as its first project.

Speaking to the cancellation and accompanying layoffs, EA said the decision was made to “sharpen our focus and put our creative energy behind the most significant growth opportunities.”

Black Panther was planned as a single-player, open-world game and was led by Kevin Stephens, former studio head of the now-shuttered Monolith Productions. Cliffhanger was also comprised of veteran game developers who previously worked on titles like Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Halo Infinite, God of War, and Call of Duty.

Black Panther was announced in July 2023 and was in development as part of EA’s multi-game deal with Marvel. EA said Black Panther’s cancellation hasn’t affected the structure of the deal and will still develop at least three Marvel games, beginning with EA Motive’s Iron Man.

Hytale

Hytale, a Minecraft-inspired sandbox game, was canceled in June 2025 alongside the closure of the developer Hypixel Studios.

In a statement, Hypixel said it “couldn’t bring Hytale to life in a way that truly delivered on its promise.” The developer said it required “a lot more time to get [Hytale] to a place where it could support the ambitious vision for the game” and compromising on that vision wasn’t an option, as “it wouldn’t have been the game we set out to make.”

Hytale began development in 2015 by a group of developers who previously worked together on a Minecraft multiplayer server called Hypixel. Riot helped fund Hytale before acquiring Hypixel Studios in 2020.

Perfect Dark

On July 2, 2025, Microsoft announced over 9000 layoffs, including roles at Xbox. As part of the cuts, Xbox canceled its Perfect Dark reboot and shuttered its developer, The Initiative. Perfect Dark was also being co-developed by Tomb Raider studio Crystal Dynamics.

Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty confirmed the cancellation in an internal email obtained by IGN. “We have made the decision to stop development of Perfect Dark and Everwild as well as wind down several unannounced projects across our portfolio,” it read. “As part of this, we are closing one of our studios, The Initiative. These decisions, along with other changes across our teams, reflect a broader effort to adjust priorities and focus resources to set up our teams for greater success within a changing industry landscape.”

The Initiative was built from the ground-up by Xbox to be a first-party studio that set out to make “AAAA” games for Microsoft. The reboot of the classic 2000 FPS developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 was the studio’s first and only project.

Perfect Dark was revealed at the 2020 Game Awards followed by a debut gameplay trailer in June 2024.

Everwild

Rare’s Everwild was canceled alongside Perfect Dark on July 2, 2025.

Xbox confirmed the cancellation to employees in the aforementioned internal email from Xbox’s Matt Booty, which cited “a broader effort to adjust priorities and focus resources to set up our teams for greater success within a changing industry landscape.”

Everwild was set to be the first new game from storied developer Rare since its 2018 live-service pirate game Sea of Thieves. Rare announced Everwild in November 2019, and the game was reportedly a third-person adventure set in “a natural and magical world,” though official details were never revealed.

Following the cancellation, VGC reported 35-year Rare veteran Gergg Mayles would be leaving the studio. Among his many accomplishments, Mayles directed the N64 classic Banjo-Kazooie and served as creative director on Sea of Thieves. He was overseeing the development of Everwild prior to its cancellation.

ZeniMax Online’s New MMO

Lastly, Xbox cancelled an unannounced MMO from ZeniMax Online Studios (The Elder Scrolls Online) in July 2025.

Codenamed Blackbird, the game was said to be a new, sci-fi IP without ties to The Elder Scrolls or Fallout. It had been in development since 2018, sources told IGN, and was approaching full production.

The Blackbird development team was laid off in conjunction with the cancellation. ZeniMax Online Studios director Matt Firor, who held that position since the studio’s founding in 2007, also announced he’d be stepping down. He’ll be succeeded by studio general manager Joseph Burba.

Two Games from Dying Light Developer Techland

On July 4, 2025, Polish Media outlet Pulz Biznesu reported Dying Light studio Techland had canceled two in-development games.

Techland acknowledged the report to Eurogamer, and said in a statement, “Game development is never a straight line, and sometimes fresh approaches are necessary to make great games.” Techland also confirmed no jobs were cut due to “the reported changes.”

Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.

The founders of Subnautica 2 studio Unknown Worlds, Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, along with former CEO Ted Gill, are filing a lawsuit against parent company Krafton amid an increasingly bitter row over a $250 million bonus.

In a new statement, Cleveland called recent events “an explosive and surreal time,” and told fans anxiously waiting to play Saubnautica 2 that they “all deserve the full story.” It’s just the latest twist in a long, convoluted dispute between Unknown Worlds’ original management and Krafton, the Korean mega publisher of battle royale behemoth PUBG.

Krafton acquired Unknown Worlds in October 2021 and at the time, said the Sabnautica studio would continue to operate as an independent outfit. Last week, however, former Striking Distance CEO, Steve Papoutsis, joined Subnautica 2 developer Unknown Worlds as CEO. The shock announcement confirmed that the previous leadership team — Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire — were replaced “effective immediately.” In a subsequent statement, co-founder Cleveland responded to what he called the “shock” decision to replace the leadership team, saying that “after all these years, to find that I’m no longer able to work at the company I started stings.” The statement also intimated that while the former leadership team considered the game ready for early access release, Krafton did not.

Then, earlier this week, reports came to light that Subnautica 2 was delayed to 2026 just months before Krafton was due to pay a $250 million bonus to the development team. Bloomberg said the delay was “against the wishes of the studio’s former leadership,” and that the $250 million bonus would have kicked in if Unknown Worlds hit certain revenue targets by the end of 2025. Without Subnautica 2 coming out this year, hitting those revenue targets is unlikely, and the bonus won’t be paid out.

In a statement to IGN, Krafton insisted the decision had nothing to do with “any contractual or financial considerations.” Instead, Krafton claimed, the delay was about responding to feedback from playtests, and delay talks were already under discussion before Cleveland, McGuire, and Gill were outed.

Then, in a new statement that made a series of allegations against the previous leadership team, Krafton claimed it made “multiple requests” to Cleveland and McGuire to resume their responsibilities as game director and technical director, respectively, but allegedly both declined.

“In particular, following the failure of Moonbreaker, Krafton asked Charlie to devote himself to the development of Subnautica 2. However, instead of participating in the game development, he chose to focus on a personal film project,” the statement said. “Krafton believes that the absence of core leadership has resulted in repeated confusion in direction and significant delays in the overall project schedule.”

Krafton then said it allocated 90% of the up to $250 million earn-out compensation to Cleveland, McGuire, and Gill, leaving the remaining 10% for the rest of the development team.

“Specifically, in addition to the initial $500 million purchase price, we allocated approximately 90% of the up to $250 million earn-out compensation to the three former executives, with the expectation that they would demonstrate leadership and active involvement in the development of Subnautica 2,” Krafton alleged.

Now, Cleveland has confirmed that the former leadership is taking legal action against Krafton, and disputed the allegation that they wanted to “keep [the earnout] all for ourselves,” calling the claim “totally untrue.” He did not, however, expand on what grounds, exactly, the former management team is suing under.

“It continues to be an explosive and surreal time for the Subnautica team and community. None of this is what we wanted. But we truly appreciate the amazing support we’ve gotten from everyone. It means a lot to us, especially now,” Cleveland stated.

“As I wrote last week, we know in our souls that the game is ready for Early Access — that’s just how we roll. And we’d like nothing more than for you to play it (game devs live for this). But it’s not currently under our control.

“We’ve now filed a lawsuit against Krafton: the details should eventually become (at least mostly) public — you all deserve the full story,” he added. “Suing a multi-billion dollar company in a painful, public and possibly protracted way was certainly not on my bucket list. But this needs to be made right. Subnautica has been my life’s work and I would never willingly abandon it or the amazing team that has poured their hearts into it.

“As for the earnout, the idea that Max, Ted and I wanted to keep it all for ourselves is totally untrue. I’m in this industry because I love it, not for riches. Historically we’ve always shared our profits with the team and did the same when we sold the studio. You can be damned sure we’ll continue with the earnout/bonus as well. They deserve it for all their incredible work trying to get this great game into your hands. Stay tuned.”

Fans are now calling for a boycott, imploring others not to buy Subnautica 2 and accusing Krafton of “shady business practices.”

“I don’t know who’s in the right or wrong here, but honestly, what a bizarre business decision to promise that amount of money on that premise,” commented one fan. “Maybe Charlie didn’t do anything wrong, but no person is going to resist trying to push out a subpar product that isn’t ready when they’re staring 250 million dollars in the face. If Subnautica 2 wasn’t ready, it was going to be pushed out regardless just to get the money.

“Nobody wins in that situation. Well. Except for the person with lots of money, I guess.”

“We are rapidly approaching a ZA/UM level sh*tshow at this point,” added another, comparing the fallout to that of Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM when the studio’s leadership similarly fell out, resulting in three different studios now claiming to be developing a “spiritual successor.”

“I’m honestly not sure who is in the right here. Both sides have provided pretty damning arguments and I don’t think we’ll really know until this lawsuit plays out (and possibly not even then),” suggested this player. “That being said, I would love to see if it’s just those three asking for money (and screwing over the rest of the team) or if they’re including the team in their lawsuit in some respect.”

“Krafton is a massive company with an assuredly sizable legal team. I simply refuse to believe that there is anything that could remotely be construed as libel in their statement considering how explicitly clear their statement is,” reminded another fan.

“I’m sure the truth is somewhere in the middle but I can’t help but notice that nobody has denied Krafton’s allegations so far. They’re also a large enough company that these guys know they will very much agree to settle for a fraction of the 250 million to make this whole problem go away.”

Krafton has yet to comment publicly on Cleveland’s latest statement. IGN has asked for comment.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Resident Evil Survival Unit, the upcoming strategy game spin-off for smartphones, has been given a proper reveal — and now we know it’s set in a parallel universe where you form a squad of characters from the series’ biggest stars (and also Barry Burton) to take on zombies and monsters.

Described by developer Aniplex as “the world’s first full Resident Evil for mobile” during a new showcase video, Resident Evil Survival launches later this year for iPhone and Android devices.

Gameplay sees you building up a familiar-looking mansion as your base, where your characters will live and interact. You’ll then head out onto survival missions against familiar Resident Evil foes, with Aniplex promising a “global multiplayer experience.”

You can watch the full showcase video just below.

For now, it looks like the game’s real-time defense battles will be single-player, but Aniplex says you’ll also be able to “connect and compete in real time across the globe” with other fans.

Survival Unit’s story begins with your player character shaking off the effects of being an Umbrella Corporation test subject, then recruiting a team of Resident Evil stars to fight back. Over time, you’ll upgrade these characters by purchasing items from the Resident Evil Merchant, to take on progressively tougher threats.