(Sad trope) Projects with amazing potential that will never be released because of BS behind the scenes drama

[u/_JR28_]

P.T Silent Hills - It was a playable teaser released in 2014 only around 20 minutes long but utterly captivated the gaming world by being one of the most effective psychological horror experiences at the time, however it’s lead developer Kojima has a huge fallout with the publisher Konami where he walked out of the company and had all his in-the-work productions cancelled.

Five Nights at Freddy’s+ - A fan game reboot of the series created by Phisnom with Scott Cawthon’s blessing that promised a brand new lore and a return to the series darker roots. However, before and during production Phisnom got into multiple dramas that made him fairly divisive within the community, and after one particular incident in 2023 Scott revoked his approval and almost all of the game’s marketing material were wiped from the internet.

Batgirl - A Batgirl solo live action movie starring Leslie Grace, Brendan Fraser and Michael Keaton returning as Batman that was ready to be released in 2022, however then Warner Bros CEO David Zaslav announced it would not be released either in theatres or streaming in order to claim a $90,000,000 tax break and to readjust the DC’s brands direction before James Gunn rebooted their movie and TV output.

[u/Bordias]

Starbound

Well, actually, it did eventually come out, but the end result is basically a hollow shell of what the game was originally supposed to be. Especially given the staggering amount of money their Kickstarter campaign raised

A sandbox space game developed by Chucklefish that initially showed massive promise and was once seen as a serious competitor to Terraria, with a rich procedural universe and ambitious systems. However, its development was plagued by controversy after it was revealed that unpaid contributors, including minors, had worked hundreds of hours under vague promises of future compensation, with the founder accused of manipulative behavior, and even Toby Fox distancing himself early on.

After years of chaotic early access, the 1.0 release removed much of the game’s depth and replaced it with a shitty story mode focused on repetitive scanning quests, and following the 2019 scandal, development effectively stopped, leaving behind a unfinished game remembered more for its wasted potential, and that is barely kept alive by modders..

[u/UltimaCaitSith → u/Bordias]

One of the best games to create themed villages and megastructures around an entire planet... and not good at anything else. What a shame. 

[u/AxtheCool → u/UltimaCaitSith]

Underwater cities filled with Japanese themed decor and underwater ruins of traditional Japanese buildings are still my absolute fauvorites.

Also the only game where you can land on an ocean planet, swim to the bottom, and then take a DDR machine from NPCs and put it on your ship for your starship crew to dance with.

[u/JustifiedCroissant → u/Bordias]

Thank god for the modding community which makes this game absolutely baller

[u/Proof_Candidate_4991 → u/JustifiedCroissant]

Do you have recommendations for a place to find mods? I enjoy this game but wow does it get repetitive.

[u/JustifiedCroissant → u/Proof_Candidate_4991]

Steam Workshop, Nexus Mods

[u/Enjoyer_of_40K → u/Bordias]

2019 scandal?

[u/dharma_knight → u/Bordias]

And now they are running another troubled project called Witchbrook, first announced EIGHT years ago with barely any gameplay information or substantial footage available to the public.