Xbox’s Recent History Of Missing And/Or Canceled Games

An unfortunately frequent occurrence in games is the announcement of a cool and exciting new project from a team followed by months, even years, of radio silence. Typically, these titles are announced far ahead of time–at times without gameplay and often with little more than a logo–to drum up excitement (as well as recruitment numbers) before beginning a prolonged development in earnest. Sometimes, it just takes a long time to cook up the hottest new thing (like Hollow Knight: Silksong) and other times, these tantalizing new worlds just don’t make it to the finish line.

Microsoft, which has experienced a series of canceled games and studio closures amidstconstant layoffs, has accrued a portfolio filled with cancellations and games that have simply disappeared over the years. Since the beginning of the Xbox One era in particular, many of its most exciting prospects–games like Scalebound and Everwild–have faced lengthy delays before being canned, while others, like the now-canceled MMO from ZeniMax, never even see the light of day. Between the silence and the cancellations, it’s hard to know exactly what’s coming from Xbox, so it felt worth collecting everything we know into one place and taking stock of what’s been put on the curb and what might still be on the back burner.