Game development is daunting. It's an arduous and often thankless process to craft hours of engaging content, and that sense has only increased with advancing hardware. As systems get better, the games take longer and longer to build. Nevertheless, consumers want products, and it'd up to producers to generate the excitement needed.
Sometimes, though, their quest to fuel the hype train backfires. Publishers might preview the product before it's ready, which is never good for anyone. Not only can this lead to development issues, but it runs the risk of wearing down audience interest. After waiting so long, gamers might just move on to something else. These titles learned that lesson the hard way.
10 Duke Nukem Forever
Developer 3D Realms announced the fourth entry in their irreverent action franchise in 1997. This news came only a year after Duke Nukem 3D in 1996. How serious they were with such an announcement is unclear, but it nevertheless came with exciting expectations.
Despite that enthusiasm, the project remained silent for several years. Fans finally got a teaser trailer in 2007, but this also fell by the wayside due to downsizing and lawsuits between developer and publisher. A new team at Gearbox picked up the pieces and finished Duke Nukem Forever in 2011. Sadly, many saw the final product as dull and outdated, so maybe it should have been left in the past.
9 LA Noire
No one can fault Team Bondi for confidence. Soon after this six-person developer came together in 2003, they announced LA Noire. While a small team should have led to a clearer vision, though, the project had a shroud of ambiguity surrounding which system would house it and even what type of game it would be. The most consumers were given was that it was a "detective thriller."
Rockstar got involved as publisher in 2006, and this should have accelerated things. They indeed planned the game as part of their 2008 fiscal year, but they missed the deadline. Fast forward past a few more delays, and the title debuted to glowing reviews in 2011. The tragic irony is that audiences seemed to have lost interest, as sales severely suffered.
8 Final Fantasy 15
Practically a punchline in the JRPG crowd, Final Fantasy 15 didn't even start as a mainline entry. It began in 2006 as Final Fantasy Versus 13, part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis project. This was a sub-series of games connected thematically and mythologically, the others being Final Fantasy 13 and Final Fantasy Type-0.
With the former being maligned and the other failing to gain mainstream attention, Versus 13 was in an awkward position. Amidst this and numerous developer departures, the title slowly morphed into its own entry over a decade. It came out in 2016 to generally higher praise than its predecessors. In the future, perhaps developers should make sure they have a stronger foundation before building a multi-game project.
7 Kingdom Hearts 3
The other infamously delayed title from Square Enix has a similar trajectory and even a similar time frame to Final Fantasy 15. This title was teased after Kingdom Hearts 2 ended with a cliffhanger in 2005. Following years of spin-offs, prequels, midquels, and sequel setups, they officially announced Kingdom Hearts 3 in 2013. However, this was still premature.
The company split its resources between this and Final Fantasy 15. Series creator Tetsuya Nomura was even directing both titles at once before leaving the latter and committing entirely to the former. He himself admitted that 2013 was too early for an announcement, as they had little to show at that point. This explains why the game didn't release until 2019. Despite being the grand finale to the overarching story, the entry had its own share of cliffhangers setting up future adventures. Let's hope those don't take nearly as long.
6 The Last Guardian
For as reputable as they are, Team Ico hasn't crafted many games. They hit it big with abstract gems Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, and people eagerly awaited their next masterpiece. Thankfully, the developers were just as eager, beginning work on The Last Guardian in 2007 before announcing it in 2011.
Unfortunately, the project soon ran into trouble. It started with creator Fumito Ueda and crew separating from Sony, and it only compounded when they decided to go from PS3 to PS4 in 2012. This meant that they likely had to start from scratch, updating all the assets for next-gen hardware. The great irony is that the eventual 2016 release didn't garner nearly the universal praise of its predecessors.
5 Cyberpunk 2077
The RPG that made the entire gaming community feel (cyber) punked, this ill-fated title first piqued players' interest in 2012. In hindsight, this is where the first mistake lay, as most of CD Projekt Red's team was still working on their acclaimed Witcher series. Development on Cyberpunk 2077 didn't ramp up until after Wild Hunt's last expansion--Blood and Wine--was released in 2016. This explains why it took so long to showcase any gameplay.
After a seemingly endless string of delays, the anticipated product stumbled into stores in December of 2020. What soon became clear was that it still wasn't done. Cyberpunk 2077 is now infamous for its rampant technical issues at launch, with bugs, glitches, and crashes aplenty. While the developers have continued to patch the game, they've once again pushed promised DLC and PS5/Xbox Series X upgrades to 2022. It's no wonder they're now keeping quiet on sequels and future IPs.
4 Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2017)
After their 2015 remake of Star Wars: Battlefront, EA, and DICE quickly set to work on a sequel, with the official announcement coming in May 2016. This project thankfully wasn't stuck in development hell for years like prior entries; Battlefront 2 was released in a timely fashion during the 2017 holiday season.
The problem was that the first entry wasn't finished when the follow-up news came. 2015's Battlefront was starved of content beyond standard first-person shooter gameplay and online multiplayer modes. Developers promised to remedy that with DLC, but stating that they were focusing much of their attention elsewhere seemed like a slap in the face. The fires of fans' rage hadn't even died down before they were blindsided with another swindling. EA wasn't voted the "Worst Company in America" multiple times for nothing.
3 Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
The original Marvel vs. Capcom 3 suffered the same shortage of content as Battlefront, limited in gameplay modes, characters, and stages. These should have been included from the get-go, but the developers assured fans they'd add such elements as DLC. An act of God soon intervened, though. After staff health problems and the Tōhoku earthquake/tsunami of 2011, producers decided to package the planned additions as a separate release.
Capcom promptly announced this Ultimate edition in July 2011 with a swift November release. For reference, the original game came out in February of that same year. The new entry was essentially the same experience with a few new bells and whistles. Releasing an unfinished title is insulting enough; putting out a better version a few months later is a new low.
2 Metroid Prime 4
It's tough to find fresh ideas for a storied series like Metroid. Longtime fans rejoiced at this new entry's announcement in 2017, excited for what developer Bandai Namco had in store. After that, the project went mysteriously quiet, showing nothing substantial at subsequent presentations.
The reason for that came in 2019 when development completely restarted with new helmer Retro Studios. The move reportedly came from Nintendo's dissatisfaction with the work thus far. The finished product still hasn't come out, but the studio did include a job posting in October 2020 for those interested in pitching in. Plus, maybe the recent attention of Metroid Dread will speed things along.
1 Star Citizen
Another unreleased entry, Star Citizen started with a 2012 announcement. The project was a multiplayer space combat sim and spiritual successor to Wing Commander. It had no money to realize that ambition, but it soon found the funds through Kickstarter donations from fans. This wasn't enough, however, so developers gathered additional cash by pre-emptively selling in-game content like ships and hangars. When they still came up short, they reached out to external investors for yet more money. Who knows where else they'll get their backing?
That's a legitimate concern since the game's still not out. Players have gotten appetizers, such as testing the ship combat through open-access modules, but they've never tasted the full course. This has led to the debate surrounding the creators taking so much money with no concrete result. If Star Citizen ever releases in its entirety, one has to ask if it was truly worth the hassle.