The gaming landscape has changed considerably since work first began on Dead Island 2. Groundbreaking games like The Witcher 3 and GTA 5 have been released, brand new genres have been created and an entire console generation has come and gone. Despite all of this, however, there's still no sign of Deep Silver's zombie smashing title.
Although arguably the most prominent, the long awaited action RPG is just one of many games to have run into issues during production. Some have changed developers multiple times, while others have suffered due to recent global events. One thing that they all have in common, however, is that they're all seemingly trapped in development hell.
7 Dead Island 2
The sequel to Techland's hugely successful survival horror game was first announced at E3 back in 2014, although its troubled development dates back further still. Problems first began when Techland opted to step away from the project to focus on its upcoming Dying Light franchise, leaving publisher Deep Silver without a developer for the game.
A deal was eventually made with Yager Development in 2012 and the studio began work with a view to the game releasing at some point during 2015. After two years of work, the game seemed to be in pretty good shape, but in mid 2015 it was suddenly announced that Yager would no longer be working on the project. A copy of the studio's build was leaked some five years later though, and, to this day, this is the closest that fans have ever come to playing Dead Island 2.
Sumo Digital took over development the following year, with Deep Silver reassuring fans that the game was still happening on numerous occasions around this time. Fast forward a little to August 2019, however, and development on the project once again changed hands; this time to one of Deep Silver's internal studios, Dambuster. 2 years have now passed since the change, but there's still no word on when Dead Island 2 will finally arrive.
6 Routine
Routine is a first-person horror exploration game that is being developed by LunarSoftware. It was first announced in 2012 and had an expected release date of 2017. Unfortunately, however, unknown circumstances have led to the game's future sliding into uncertainty, with fans now wondering whether it will ever see the light of day. As of the moment though, it still hasn't been officially cancelled.
The game's Subreddit remains surprisingly active considering the lack of meaningful development updates, with many of its posters trying to piece together exactly what's going on. Some believe that the studio simply ran out of money before it was able to complete the project, although there are plenty of other interesting theories as well. Either way, the game continues to linger in limbo and will remain there until LunarSoftware decides to provide an update.
5 Six Days In Fallujah
Six Days in Fallujah is a tactical shooter centered around the events of the Iraq War. More specifically, it focuses on the Second Battle of Fallujah, one of the deadliest urban conflicts to have taken place in the modern era. Naturally, this premise attracted a lot of criticism from both former and active military personnel and this in turn led to the game's original publisher, Konami, stepping away from the project in April 2009.
Just a few years after losing its publisher, the game also found itself without a developer when Atomic Games filed for bankruptcy. It's unclear how much of the game had been developed at this time, although some reports suggest that it was complete and ready for release. Ready or not, Atomic's collapse saw the project fall into a state of dormancy that would last for almost a decade.
As the years passed, all memories of the failed project faded into obscurity. Until, that is, they were pulled right back into focus in February of 2021. A surprise announcement from Highwire Games revealed that the studio had taken over development of the project and that the game would be releasing for both PC and console before the end of the year; finally bringing an end to a development cycle that has now spanned three different decades.
4 Bayonetta 3
Although it started life as a cross-platform series, Platinum Games' Bayonetta is now considered to be a Nintendo exclusive. The second entry was one of the few standout titles for the Wii U and, as a result, fans were delighted when Nintendo announced a third Bayonetta game for the Switch during The Game Awards 2017. More than three years later though, and there's been very little word on when the game will actually arrive.
Much like Nintendo's Breath of the Wild sequel, all those involved remain incredibly tight-lipped when it comes to the current status of Bayonetta 3. Series creator Hideki Kamiya did recently hint that there may be an update on the game later this year, although whether or not that will actually happen remains to be seen. Interestingly, Kamiya also mentioned that the team at Platinum are currently working on multiple projects, which may explain why development and updates have been so slow.
3 Beyond Good & Evil 2
Ubisoft's Beyond Good & Evil was a big hit with fans and critics when it released back in 2003. Unfortunately, however, the game's commercial performance was not nearly as impressive, although this wasn't enough to stop rumors of a sequel from cropping up in the years that followed. These rumors were seemingly confirmed in 2008, when a trailer for a then untitled project was revealed at an Ubisoft conference.
The trailer seemed to use both assets and characters from the original game, leading many to believe that a second Beyond Good & Evil game was finally in the works. A second trailer the following year all but confirmed this, although it would not be until 2016 that Beyond Good & Evil 2 would be officially announced by Ubisoft. Rather than a sequel, however, the game was instead revealed to be a prequel, with this change in focus used to explain the long development cycle. Well. That and director Michel Ancel's work on Rayman Legends.
Things seemed to be moving along nicely in the years that followed, but the game's future was once again thrust into uncertainty in mid 2020 when Ubisoft came under fire following a series of public allegations from its former workers. A few months later, Michel Ansel took to Instagram to announce that he planned to stop working on video games so that he could "fully focus on [...] wild life." Despite his departure, subsequent comments from Ubisoft suggest that work is still continuing on Beyond Good & Evil 2 and that things are "progressing well." There's still no sign of a solid release date though.
2 Skull & Bones
Video game piracy is a touchy subject for many developers, but none more so than Ubisoft Singapore. Not quite in the conventional sense though. The studio has now been working on its swashbuckling action-adventure Skull & Bones for more than four years and yet there's still no clear date for when exactly it will be taking to the seas.
The game was first announced at E3 in 2017 and was slated for release towards the end of the following year. Several delays later, however, and Skull & Bones now finds itself in uncharted waters. In 2019 it was announced that the game should be releasing before March 2022 and a subsequent update revealed that Ubisoft Berlin would be co-developing the title. Since then though, Ubisoft seems to have battened down the hatches when it comes to updates on the project.
1 Star Citizen
Much like the universe itself, the scope of Star Citizen seems to be constantly expanding, with the current vision for the game almost unrecognizable from the one that was first pitched on Kickstarter back in 2013. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing for the game itself, it is somewhat problematic for those who just want to sit down and play the game that they paid for almost a decade ago.
To the developer's credit, Cloud Imperium has done an excellent job updating backers and other investors on the current state of the game. What's more, the alpha gameplay suggests that the ship is on the right course to meet the lofty expectations that have come as a result of Star Citizen's ever inflating budget. Unfortunately, though, the slow speed at which things are currently moving is a little concerning, with some now wondering whether the game will ever reach its final destination.