A playable build of StarCraft: Ghost, Blizzard's stealth action-shooter for the PS2, GameCube, and Xbox, has apparently leaked 15 years after its cancelation. Most video game fans in 2020 have likely forgotten, or never heard of, Blizzard's attempt to expand the StarCraft franchise in new directions, yet somehow a copy of the game, said to be for the original Xbox, has been found. Images and videos from the game are being leaked from third-party sources.
It's unclear exactly where the videos and screenshots are coming from, but one person with access says that the full game has leaked. The resulting video and screenshots are being shared through surrogates and "various Xbox groups." There's some speculation that the game file was loaded onto an old Xbox devkit that found its way into someone's hands and that they uploaded the files and shared them in circumspect groups.
The gameplay itself is about what one would expect from a 2002-2005 game. The ghost protagonist can jump, climb, crouch, and fire her weapon. She combs through industrial locations where the Zerg have killed any number of Terrans. She works through trenches in what might be the frontline against the Zerg on an alien planet. It's very Blizzard in many regards, but also shows inspiration from games like Perfect Dark.
What's especially surprising is how complete StarCraft: Ghost looks. It could very easily be a finished product, at least from the perspective of a 2005 gamer. The video footage only shows a couple of levels from the game, but given the state of those levels, development had to have been quite a way along when the game was ultimately canceled.
It should be noted that StarCraft: Ghost was not a game developed by Blizzard itself. Instead, the game was handed to Nihilistic Software, known at the time for making Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption. Years later, the developers would blame Blizzard for the game's cancelation. Blizzard reportedly kept asking for new features and experimentation that eventually resulted in the game never coming together.
StarCraft: Ghost would eventually be given to a different studio, Swingin' Ape Studios, that would focus more heavily on action gameplay and multiplayer. It just was too little too late, especially with Blizzard so focused on World of Warcraft by that point. StarCraft: Ghost ended up on a shelf for fans to rediscover in 2020. That's video game development in a nutshell.
StarCraft: Ghost was in development for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox, but was canceled in 2005.
Source: Kotaku