Founded all the way back in 1991,Blizzardhas been in the gaming industry for over 30 years now, delivering some of the most beloved games of all time. FromWorld of WarcrafttoOverwatch 2, Blizzard’s back catalogue is full of high-quality gaming experiences, leading to the developer/publisher being one of the biggest on the planet right now. But with 30 years in the industry, Blizzard’s bound to have taken some missteps over the years, and that’s led to quite a few canceled projects.
Being one of the biggest companies in gaming for the last three decades, most ofBlizzard’s projects are made common knowledge long before they’re even announced. So, when any of these projects are put on indefinite hiatus, or eventually canceled, fans tend to be extremely disappointed, even if the game was never revealed in any real detail. This has happened a lot over the last 30 years.
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Crixa
Back in the mid 1990s, Blizzard hired the Indie development studio Qualia Games to create a top-down 2D shooter. TitledCrixa, an old developer on the game, David Seah, detailed the experience of creating the game on his blog. In an attempt to keep the failing Indie studio afloat, the team approached a range of different publishers, with Blizzard being the first to take notice.Crixawas aclassic 2D top-down spaceship shooter, hearkening back to games likeStar Maze, albeit with some modern elements thrown in, such as fully-rendered 3D ship models and the ability to move around a base ship for support. Unfortunately,Crixawas deemed to be non-competitive for the 1996 gaming market, and the project was canceled, leaving Qualia Games to shut-down just a few months later.
Pax Imperia 2
Around the same time asCrixawas in development, Blizzard was also partnered with Changeling Software to produce a sequel toPax Imperia,a Sci-Fi RTSthat performed fairly well a few years prior. However, towards the end of development, Blizzard dropped the partnership, instead handing the licensing rights over to THQ. A sequel would eventually release in 1997, titledPax Imperia: Eminent Domain. It’s widely believed that part of the reason for this cancelation is that Blizzard was set to releaseStarCraft, its own Sci-Fi RTS, and didn’t want the competition.
Shattered Nations
Another potential victim tothe originalStarCraft,Shattered Nationswas a Blizzard-developed Sci-Fi RTS that was also in the works in the mid-1990s. Just one teaser trailer exists for the game, where fans can some general dystopian future imagery, some Sci-Fi helicopters, and mechs. Though the reason behind its cancelation has never been revealed, some theorize thatShattered Nationswas also sacrificed to make way forStarCraft.
Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans
One of the most notorious cancelations in Blizzard’s history,Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clanswas a graphic adventure game in the works during the late 1990s. Putting players in the boots of the orc leader Thrall,Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clanswas heavily inspired by LucasArts' various graphic adventure series and would take a similar approach to gameplay. Despite working on the game for 18 months, Blizzard’s internal review team decided to cancel the project.Warcraft Adventures' story would go on to be used in both a novel andthe 2016Warcraftmovie, and a rough version of the game was leaked online in 2016.
Nomad
In the early 2000s, Blizzard was prototyping a Sci-Fi squad-based strategy game titledNomad. One of the more well-known canceled projects in this list,Nomadallegedly took a great deal of inspiration from theWarhammer 40,000spin-off tabletop gameNecromunda, where players build squads of soldiers and engage in skirmishes underground. Apparently, the development team was divided on a setting for the game, with some wanting to go down the futuristic Sci-Fi route, while others preferred a conventional fantasy setting. Eventually,Nomadwas canceled, and the team moved to work onWorld of Warcraft.
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StarCraft: Ghost
Possibly themost infamous Blizzard cancelation of all time,StarCraft: Ghostbegan development in the early 2000s, soon after the release of the originalStarCraft. Said to be a third-person shooter with an emphasis on stealth, players took control of a Ghost operative named Nova, who would use a range of futuristic Sci-Fi gadgets to reach her objectives covertly. Players would also have access to a range of psionic abilities, which would help Nova increase her speed, reflexes, and acrobatic skills.StarCraft: Ghostwould also feature an extensive multiplayer mode that took a more conventional third-person shooter approach, putting players in teams and giving them objectives such as capture the flag or king of the hill.
After its announcement in 2002,StarCraft: Ghostquickly became one of the most anticipated Blizzard titles of all time, with console players finally getting to experience theStarCraftuniverse in a title specifically made forXbox, PS2, and GameCube.StarCraft: Ghostwas delayed repeatedly throughout 2003 and 2004. In 2005, Swingin' Ape Studios was brought on to co-develop the game alongside Blizzard and Nihilistic Software, and the game was shown once again at that year’s E3, with the GameCube version being cut, and the PS2 and Xbox version now being given a 2006 release date. With the advent of a new console generation, Blizzard putStarCraft: Ghoston hold, where it remains to this day. While Nova has appeared in a variety ofStarCraftcontent, including expansions forStarCraft 2, her own adventure has likely been canceled altogether.
Titan
The most recentBlizzardgame to get canceled,Titanwas a Sci-Fi, class-based MMO that was in development from 2007 to 2013. Very little is known aboutTitan, but ex-Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime has confirmed that the game was canceled as the team failed to narrow down its scope and spent too much time and money creating a new engine as opposed to creating gameplay assets. Following its cancelation, some ofTitan’s development teamwere tasked with creating a new project that eventually becameOverwatch, which apparently carried over some assets from the canceled MMO.
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