It’s never all sunshine and rainbows behind the scenes in the gaming industry. Many popular franchises rake in millions of fans, but sometimes, a single misstep leads to a delay or cancellation of future projects. This breeds wasted time, resources, talent, and funds. In some cases, it’s so severe that studios go bankrupt and fan-favorite IPs join other forgotten games in the shadow realm.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Having said that, the video game industry is still going strong and continues to strive every year. There are some chapters in the past, though, that still sting to this day. So, from Prince of Persia to Silent Hill, here’s a look at canceled sequels to popular franchises that could have been.
Project Sabbath, the Canceled Sequel to Batman: Arkham Knight
Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham franchise needs no introduction. Each entry of the legendary action-adventure series, from 2009’s Arkham Asylum to 2015’s Arkham Knight, set the bar for graphics, gameplay, and storytelling during their times. As such, Warner Bros. Games giving the green light to an Arkham Knight sequel isn’t a surprise. What is surprising, however, is its decision to backtrack and cancel the project during its early production phase.
Internally known as Project Sabbath, the Arkham Knight sequel would have taken place 10 years later, roughly adapting the Batman Beyond story from the comics. A young Damien Wayne was to be featured as the protagonist this time around and an aged Bruce Wayne would serve as the Alfred to Damien’s Batman. Other confirmed details mentioned a bigger Gotham City with a dense population of patrolling civilians, the Batbike as Damien’s primary means of transportation, and new combat mechanics based on the Nemesis System from Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Additionally, it would’ve included a terrifying rogues’ gallery featuring the likes of Harley Quinn, the Court of Owls, Black Mask’s daughter, Gorilla Grodd, and many more supervillains.
Project Sabbath was scrapped before it entered full production and the why has always been a mystery. Though, given how Warner Bros. decided to go all-in on live service games following the release of Arkham Knight, most people would argue that this was the reason for Project Sabbath’s demise, and they would probably be right.
Hideo Kojima’s Silent Hills Project (P.T.)
Among the most infamous canceled sequels in the horror landscape is Hideo Kojima’s Silent Hills. Starring Norman Reedus and directed by Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro, it would have been the eighth mainline installment of the Silent Hill series. Kojima Productions even released a short playable teaser in August 2015 to build intrigue. The P.T. demo had a sensational reception. However, what nobody could have predicted was Hideo Kojima later being fired by publisher Konami, which led to Norman Reedus and Guillermo del Toro subsequently exiting the project as a result.
Months later, the Silent Hills project joined other games like Batman Project Sabbath in the long list of canned video games. Alas, we never got to see how uncanny a Hideo Kojima horror game would have turned out. On the bright side, Norman Reedus and Guillermo del Toro did collaborate with him on his next project, Death Stranding.
Prince of Persia: Redemption
In 2020, footage of an abandoned Prince of Persia game surfaced. Ubisoft didn’t comment on any of this, but after the gameplay video gained traction, an ex-employee claimed it was for Prince of Persia: Redemption, a sequel pitched in 2011.
The gameplay showcased Assassin’s Creed-like parkour and the Prince having the ability to turn back time. While nothing became of the project ultimately, you can still find concept art for it on the web.
Sleeping Dogs 2
Sleeping Dogs is hailed as a cult classic today and many around the world ponder why there wasn’t a second instalment. Well, the thing is, there was a sequel in development, but it was scratched after an ROI evaluation by publisher Square Enix. A direct sequel continuing the story of Wei Shen was planned and a pitch was made. Unfortunately, while Sleeping Dogs sold well, the figures weren’t high enough for Square Enix to give the nod for a sequel.
Looking back, it’s a shame since extensive pre-production work had been done on Sleeping Dogs 2. Per the original report of the cancellation by Vice, the sequel was canned in late 2013. Square Enix instead had the developer, United Front Games, make a spin-off multiplayer game called Triad Wars, which was also canceled because of poor reception of the beta. Consequently, United Front Games was defunct by the end of 2016. It’s been a long time since Sleeping Dogs was the center of attention, but every time the name comes up, the nostalgia comes running back.
Dead Space 4
Dead Space 4 has faced not one, but two cancellations. When Dead Space 3 was released in 2013 and missed revenue targets, plans for a fourth game were scrapped. According to Dead Space’s producer, Visceral Games already had ideas for the next chapter in Isaac’s story. That’s the first time Dead Space 4 was canceled, and only a few months later, Visceral Games shut down.
A decade later in 2023, EA’s Motive Studio revived the IP with a remake of Dead Space. It was critically successful but once again commercially fell short of expectations. It was reported that there were talks of making Dead Space 4 had the remake been successful, but since it wasn’t, the IP was put on ice again.
