Last September, Capcom answered many fans' prayers and announced that the long-anticipated third installment of the Mega Man Legends series was coming to the Nintendo 3DS. Since the game's announcement, Capcom has implemented ways to allow the game's fan-base to become involved with the development of the actual title, and has shown off some new characters designs, rough gameplay, and even one of the new bosses. Unfortunately, the future of Mega Man Legends 3 may not be as bright as we once thought.

According to Capcom Community Manager Seth Killian, Mega Man Legends 3 has yet to even be greenlit by Capcom, and the game is currently sitting without a publisher. What this essentially means is that Capcom wants to see what form the project is starting to take before it lays down more money to make the game a reality. Mega Man Legends 3 was supposed to be sent for review to determine whether or not the title would be given Capcom's seal of approval last month, but apparently that has still yet to happen.

However, Killian recently spoke to Siliconera about Mega Man Legends 3, and he seemed optimistic about the project.

"It’s been really cool, but it’s been kind of scary in a lot of ways also. Just recently we had a post where the team talked about how the game hasn’t been greenlit. They were saying like ‘well, we got an extension, so we’re going to keep working on the game.’ Does this mean it’s actually going to be made? Not 100% and that’s true. It’s kind of weird because we were talking about it internally and maybe we shouldn’t say that. It’s sort of a weird message or maybe it will upset some people. And it did actually upset some people. But, the team really does have this idea that they want to share things with people for real. And they did. There is a chance that we won’t see the game for real, but we are all crossing our fingers. That’s the real story of game development, they get canceled all the time."

Many factors have likely contributed to the possible cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3, but the one major factor that has likely slowed the game's development the most is the departure of Mega Man creator Keji Inafune. His absence could very well have acted as a catalyst to Capcom's new found lack of faith in the title, and therefore could bring about its eventual cancellation, if the game does indeed head down that route.

In all honesty though, fans shouldn't grow overly concerned quite yet. Odds are that the game has yet to receive corporate backing because Capcom is still testing the waters of a brand new system. They've only just recently released Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition as a launch title for the 3DS in Japan, so they are probably waiting to see if third party titles do better on Nintendo's new handheld than they do on Nintendo's Wii. Sales of past Mega Man Legends games have never really met expectations, so keeping a close eye on the game's development and its potential market is a smart move.

Are you bummed to learn that Capcom may not release Mega Man Legends 3? Do you think the title will ever see the light of day?

Stay tuned to Game Rant for more information on Mega Man Legends 3 and its future on the Nintendo 3DS.

Source: Siliconera