While it's often a matter of last resort, video game cancellations are unfortunately a reality of the games industry.
There's no single cause for why games don’t reach the finish line after months, or more often, years of development. Reasons for canceled games range from fast-shifting market dynamics and corporate restructuring to ballooning development costs and other creative challenges.
In 2025, 17 games have been confirmed or reliably reported to be canceled so far. Each of these games is listed below, ordered chronologically by the official announcement, or a report, of its cancellation.
Transformers: Reactivate
On January 8, 2025, it was announced that Transformers: Reactivate, an online action game in development at the Tencent-owned studio Splash Damage (Gears Tactics), was canceled. A statement shared on the studio's X account did not provide a reason for the cancellation.
"This decision did not come lightly, and it is a difficult time for the studio and our people," Splash Damage said at the time. "We want to take a moment to thank the team who worked on Transformers for their dedication and passion."
Transformers: Reactivate was first announced in December 2022 at the Game Awards.
Two Unannounced PlayStation Live-service Games
On January 16, 2025, Bloomberg reported Sony had canceled two unannounced PlayStation games: a live-service project in development at Bend Studio (Days Gone) and a live-service God of War game in development at Bluepoint Games (Demon’s Souls remake).
Sony confirmed in a separate statement that despite the cancellations, neither Bend Studio nor Bluepoint Games would be shut down, and that Sony would work with the studios to determine their "next projects."
While reasons for the cancellations weren’t reported, the decisions may have been related to Sony’s previous efforts to downsize its live-service plans. PlayStation had previously shuttered Concord developer Firewalk Studio and canceled other live-service projects such as Naughty Dog's The Last of Us multiplayer game, a rumored Spider-Man online game, a live-service Twisted Metal game, and a Destiny spinoff called Payback.
Earthblade
On January 22, 2025, Extremely OK Games announced that it had canceled Earthblade, a 2D platformer meant to be a follow-up to its celebrated platformer, Celeste. The news of the cancellation came three years after Earthblade was first revealed at the 2022 Game Awards.
In a blog post explaining the cancellation, Extremely OK Games revealed the decision to cancel Earthblade was made in December 2024 following a disagreement between members of the studio and a former art director over the IP rights to Celeste. In the aftermath of the dispute, the team evaluated the state of Earthblade and decided it wasn’t “as far along as one would expect after such a protracted development process.”
The studio said it's now "prototyping again and exploring at our own pace, and trying to rediscover game development in a manner closer to how we approached it at Celeste's or TowerFall's inception."
Football Manager 25
Football Manager 25 was canceled on February 6, 2025. It's the first time the annual sports sim has skipped a release in its 21-year history.
Football Manager 25 had been delayed twice prior to the official cancellation, and the decision to end development ultimately came when developer Sports Interactive concluded it “would not achieve the standard required [to release the game], even with the adjusted timeline.” The studio specifically cited issues with “the overarching player experience and interface.”
Sports Interactive is expected to resume the series with the release of Football Manager 26 later this year.
Wonder Woman
In February 2025 it was announced that the Wonder Woman game was canceled and the developers, Monolith Productions, would be shut down. Wonder Woman would have been the studio's follow-up to its acclaimed Middle-earth seires, and was expected to utilize its patented Nemesis system.
The decision came from parent company/publisher Warner Bros. amidst a corporate restructuring. In a statement, a Warner Bros. spokesperson said, “Our hope was to give players and fans the highest quality experience possible for the iconic character, and unfortunately this is no longer possible within our strategic priorities."
Following Wonder Woman's cancellation, comic writer Gail Simone, who worked on the project, said the now-canceled game was "gorgeous and expansive," adding, "[Monolith] made sure it had WW and DC lore on every aspect of the game."
Wonder Woman was first announced at the 2021 Game Awards.
Respawn Multiplayer FPS
An unannounced, multiplayer first-person shooter from Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment was canceled in early March 2025. It was considered an incubation project, meaning it was in the very early days of its development.
IGN reported the shooter was being worked on by a group of Respawn developers that spun off from the team creating a Star Wars first-person shooter that was canceled in early 2024.
New Titanfall Game
A month later, Bloomberg reported EA had canceled an unannounced Titanfall game as part of wider cuts to the company that impacted roughly 300 workers. Of the 300 employees affected by the layoffs, 100 came from Respawn Entertainment, where this Titanfall project and the aforementioned multiplayer shooter were in development. No further details about the project were reported.
Titanfall is a fan-favorite FPS series that launched as a tentpole console exclusive for Microsoft’s Xbox One in 2014. A multiplatform sequel, released in 2016, was lauded for its addition of a single-player story, which IGN named the second-best FPS campaign of all time.
Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link
Square Enix canceled Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link on May 14, 2025. The planned mobile game was set to be an action-RPG that told a brand-new Kingdom Hearts story and would utilize Pokemon GO-like GPS mechanics.
In a statement from Square Enix, Missing-Link was canceled once it was “determined that it would be difficult to offer a service that players would find satisfactory over a long period of time.”
Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link was announced alongside Kingdom Hearts 4 in April 2022. As part of the cancellation announcement, Square assured fans development of the next mainline Kingdom Hearts is ongoing.
Battle Aces
An action-focused real-time strategy game called Battle Aces was canceled on May 23, 2025. It was in development for PC and set to be developer Uncapped Games’ debut release.
“Battle Aces represented a bold vision — our attempt to reimagine real-time strategy for a new generation,” the studio wrote on Steam. “We set out to create something fast, tactical, and approachable, while still delivering the depth that makes RTS special.”
Development was stopped due to “the returns from early testing [not being] strong enough to support continued development.”
EA’s Black Panther
The second comics-based game canceled in 2025 was EA's Black Panther game. The cancellation, announced on May 28, 2025, came alongside the closure of Cliffhanger Games, which was developing Black Panther as its first project.
Speaking to the cancellation and accompanying layoffs, EA said the decision was made to "sharpen our focus and put our creative energy behind the most significant growth opportunities."
Black Panther was planned as a single-player, open-world game and was led by Kevin Stephens, former studio head of the now-shuttered Monolith Productions. Cliffhanger was also comprised of veteran game developers who previously worked on titles like Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Halo Infinite, God of War, and Call of Duty.
Black Panther was announced in July 2023 and was in development as part of EA's multi-game deal with Marvel. EA said Black Panther’s cancellation hasn’t affected the structure of the deal and will still develop at least three Marvel games, beginning with EA Motive’s Iron Man.
Hytale
Hytale, a Minecraft-inspired sandbox game, was canceled in June 2025 alongside the closure of the developer Hypixel Studios.
In a statement, Hypixel said it “couldn’t bring Hytale to life in a way that truly delivered on its promise.” The developer said it required “a lot more time to get [Hytale] to a place where it could support the ambitious vision for the game” and compromising on that vision wasn't an option, as “it wouldn’t have been the game we set out to make.”
Hytale began development in 2015 by a group of developers who previously worked together on a Minecraft multiplayer server called Hypixel. Riot helped fund Hytale before acquiring Hypixel Studios in 2020.
Perfect Dark
On July 2, 2025, Microsoft announced over 9000 layoffs, including roles at Xbox. As part of the cuts, Xbox canceled its Perfect Dark reboot and shuttered its developer, The Initiative. Perfect Dark was also being co-developed by Tomb Raider studio Crystal Dynamics.
Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty confirmed the cancellation in an internal email obtained by IGN. “We have made the decision to stop development of Perfect Dark and Everwild as well as wind down several unannounced projects across our portfolio,” it read. “As part of this, we are closing one of our studios, The Initiative. These decisions, along with other changes across our teams, reflect a broader effort to adjust priorities and focus resources to set up our teams for greater success within a changing industry landscape."
The Initiative was built from the ground-up by Xbox to be a first-party studio that set out to make "AAAA" games for Microsoft. The reboot of the classic 2000 FPS developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 was the studio's first and only project.
Perfect Dark was revealed at the 2020 Game Awards followed by a debut gameplay trailer in June 2024.
Everwild
Rare’s Everwild was canceled alongside Perfect Dark on July 2, 2025.
Xbox confirmed the cancellation to employees in the aforementioned internal email from Xbox’s Matt Booty, which cited “a broader effort to adjust priorities and focus resources to set up our teams for greater success within a changing industry landscape."
Everwild was set to be the first new game from storied developer Rare since its 2018 live-service pirate game Sea of Thieves. Rare announced Everwild in November 2019, and the game was reportedly a third-person adventure set in “a natural and magical world,” though official details were never revealed.
Following the cancellation, VGC reported 35-year Rare veteran Gergg Mayles would be leaving the studio. Among his many accomplishments, Mayles directed the N64 classic Banjo-Kazooie and served as creative director on Sea of Thieves. He was overseeing the development of Everwild prior to its cancellation.
ZeniMax Online’s New MMO
Lastly, Xbox cancelled an unannounced MMO from ZeniMax Online Studios (The Elder Scrolls Online) in July 2025.
Codenamed Blackbird, the game was said to be a new, sci-fi IP without ties to The Elder Scrolls or Fallout. It had been in development since 2018, sources told IGN, and was approaching full production.
The Blackbird development team was laid off in conjunction with the cancellation. ZeniMax Online Studios director Matt Firor, who held that position since the studio’s founding in 2007, also announced he’d be stepping down. He’ll be succeeded by studio general manager Joseph Burba.
Two Games from Dying Light Developer Techland
On July 4, 2025, Polish Media outlet Pulz Biznesu reported Dying Light studio Techland had canceled two in-development games.
Techland acknowledged the report to Eurogamer, and said in a statement, "Game development is never a straight line, and sometimes fresh approaches are necessary to make great games.” Techland also confirmed no jobs were cut due to “the reported changes.”
Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.
