Life Support: Games in Danger

March 3, 2010 -

For every blockbuster videogame that's released, there are five that never see the light of day. Whether it's due to financial woes, creative differences among the development teams, publisher problems or just plain bad luck, some games are announced to great fanfare, only to disappear with a whimper months or even years later.

So to help you keep up with the ever-growing list of games with uncertain futures, we created Life Support to track them all. Below you'll find a list of games whose fates are in question, along with an icon denoting their status. When we get new info about a Game in Danger, we'll update this page forthwith.

• Recovering: Out of the woods and heading toward eventual release. There is concrete evidence that these titles are more than vaporware.
• Stable: Don't scare us like that! Once thought to be goners, these titles might just make it after all. All they need is some intensive care.
• Comatose: Time to call friends and family. Games in this category don't even know us anymore. Drooling vegetables, they linger between life and death.
• Critical: So much blood. Things are not looking good for these games. If something doesn't happen soon, we'll lose them.
• Flatlined: It's the circle of life. Some games have to die in order for others to be born. The only thing that will bring them back is the zombocalypse.
• Dead: Visit the Graveyard to pay your respects to the games that didn't make it.

Updated March 3, 2010: Here's a handy list of the games we've added or updated in Life Support this month. Clicking on a title will take you directly to that game's listing on the page. You can also jump directly to a section of the alphabet by clicking the appropriate sections of the image below. Better yet, just read the whole thing. What else do you have to do?

• Beyond Good & Evil 2 (Updated!)
• Edge of Twilight (New!)
• Eyedentify (New!)
• Fallout MMO (Updated!)
• Hei$t (Updated!)
• Huxley: The Dystopia (Updated!)
• I Am Alive (New!)
• Kane & Lynch 2 (Alive!)
• Six Days in Fallujah (Updated!)
• They (Updated!)
• This is Vegas (Updated!)
• Tomonobu Itagaki (Updated!)

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
For: Xbox 360
Read the Latest Age of Conan News >>

Persistent online games have had a tough run on the Xbox 360, which is to say they have had no run at all. Funcom's Age of Conan had a rocky PC release, but the company continued to assure fans the title would come to Xbox 360 eventually. In a February 2009 financial statement, Funcom said it's still working on the game, but there's no official publisher for it just yet. Crom say finish it already!

Beyond Good & Evil 2
For: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Watch the Beyond Good & Evil 2 Teaser Trailer >>

Ubisoft showed unmistakable footage of Beyond Good & Evil 2 at its 2008 Ubidays event in Paris, but the publisher has been squirrely about its future ever since. Billed as Michel Ancel's next project at Ubidays and then subsequently ignored by the company at E3 2009, the title was left conspicuously out of the company's follow-up financial report. Ubisoft's North America President Laurent Detoc said in a July interview: "Whether or not it comes out remains to be seen." Well, sacre bleu, Laurent. That wasn't very helpful at all. Luckily, Ubi's PR team came to the rescue in January, telling IGN's Jim Reilly that a Beyond Good & Evil project is "still in development." Good enough for us. We're bumping this one up from Comatose to Stable. Can we get an 'E3!?' (this is the part where you yell 'E3!') No? Anyone? Fine.

Black 2
For: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Learn More About Black 2 >>

Oh, publishers. When are you going to learn to not include unconfirmed sequels in your long-term financial plans? We will see them, and we will chomp onto them with the single-minded fervor of a Labrador with a slobbery racquetball. In 2007, Criterion and Electronic Arts released Black, a first-person shooter lovingly referred to in the gaming press as "gun porn" by people who have clearly never seen real porn. Despite its drawbacks, Black became a fan favorite. And it was one of those ideas you just knew would reach its full potential in a sequel. So where is it? EA mentioned Black 2 in its forward-looking 2007 financial statement but has been mum ever since. I reached out to the company about a potential Black sequel but received only this response: "EA Criterion does not have any new news at this time." We're optimistically calling Black 2 comatose.

Champions Online
For: Xbox 360
Read the Latest on Champions Online >>

Back in February 2009, I wrote about the disappointing lack of massively multiplayer online (MMO) games on consoles, naming Cryptic Studios' Champions Online as one of the titles gamers were falsely promised for game consoles. Originally picked up by publisher 2K Games, Champions migrated to Atari for its eventual PC release, with no official word along the way regarding the game's Xbox 360 version. Jack Emmert, Chief Creative Officer at Cryptic, told me that the technical hurdles to getting a cross-platform MMO up and running were quite high. "I think once there are some standard engines and technologies available, this might change, but I'm unsure that'll happen anytime soon." I reached out to Atari for an update on the status of the Xbox 360 version of Champions Online, but a spokesperson simply said there is "nothing to talk about yet" regarding the game. You know what else doesn't say much? A corpse. This superhero is stumbling.

Chrome 2
For: Xbox 360, PC
See the Latest Chrome2 Screens >>

Chrome is a PC first-person shooter from Polish developer Techland. Chrome 2 is a game that is never coming out. It has all the ingredients of vaporware. Announced five years ago? Check. No official website? Check. Grand ambitions but limited worldwide brand recognition? Check. Prove me wrong, Techland. Until then, I'm wheeling Chrome 2 into a corner to die with dignity.

Croteam Untitled Project
For: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
See Screenshots of the Croteam Project >>

Serious Sam III may be officially a go, but the unnamed military shooter that developer Croteam was working on with now-defunct publisher Gamecock looks to be MIA. A rival publisher bought Gamecock in 2008, and many of the games Gamecock was working on dried up, including the Croteam project. According to a Croteam statement, "that development was halted some time ago by investors and publishers. We were doing a 'work-for-hire' development there, so after the game was put on hold, there was nothing more to do there and we moved back to our projects." Consider this game dead for now.

Dead Island
For: Xbox 360, PC
Watch the Dead Island Teaser Trailer >>

I'm not entirely sure why, but the game Dead Island has been a particular focus for me ever since developer Techland (makers of the Call of Juarez series) announced it in 2007. Maybe it's the juxtaposition of a beautiful tropical island and flesh-eating zombies. Perhaps it's the promise of an innovative open-world design. Or it could be the fact that Poland-based Techland is so mysterious about the game that it keeps me compulsively checking its Web site. Said Web site, incidentally, is currently "under reconstruction," and is in its third iteration since I've started watching it. Now that Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is out the door, maybe TL will get down to business on Dead Island. However, the company is also apparently is working on Chrome 2 and Warhound, which makes for a pretty large development pipeline for a small developer. I reached out to the company for more info on all three games but received no response. Damn you Techland! That only intrigues me more! Comatose.

Doom 4
For: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Read Our Interview With Carmack >>

It's always tough when videogame companies merge, disappear or change ownership. Sometimes it can be a disaster. Other times, it opens up new possibilities and clears the air. In the case of id Software's merger with ZeniMax Media, the latter seems to be the case. The house that Doom built is now a sister company to Bethesda, makers of Fallout 3 and the Elder Scrolls series. What's more, id Technical Director John Carmack is now openly talking about Doom 4, the latest installment in the shooter series that changed the gaming world. Id was about to start shopping Doom 4 around to publishers when the ZeniMax deal popped up. There's still no release window for Doom 4 just yet, but in an interview with IGN PC's Steve Butts, Carmack said, "Doom 4 would be the first ZeniMax-only distribution title and that's still a ways off." Good enough for me.

Duke Nukem Forever
For: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
Watch the Duke Nukem Forever Trailer >>

Duke Nukem Forever has the dubious honor of being the only game on this list announced during the Clinton Administration. And after the legal mess that erupted last year over the still unfinished game, it's looking like the Duke is down for the count. Developer 3D Realms has said it still owns the rights to the game and has some publishing options, including shareware distribution. Here's hoping Duke Nukem Forever remains on life support forever. Seriously, I'm never taking it off.

Edge of Twilight
For: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
See the Edge of Twilight screens >>

Edge of Twilight was announced in 2007 as a steampunk action game to be published by SouthPeak Interactive. But late last year, developer Fuzzyeyes laid off a large chunk of its staff and sold a chunk of itself to another company. In the aftermath, some employees said the game was cancelled, while others insisted work was continuing. We've reached out to SouthPeak and a spokeswoman confirmed that Edge of Twilight "is not cancelled and is still under development." We also tried to contact Fuzzyeyes, but its web site no longer works. Comatose.

Eternal Darkness 2
For: Wii
Read Our Latest Eternal Darkness 2 Query >>

Once upon a time, Silicon Knights made a game called Eternal Darkness. Apparently the Canada-based developer has made some other games, too, but their names escape me. Too Vampire-y? Legacy of Snakes? I can't remember. But none of that matters anyway, because all anyone ever asks company founder Denis Dyack about is Eternal Darkness 2. People want a sequel to the Nintendo GameCube survival horror game, and they want it yesterday. A few months ago, we asked the affable Dyack the question he never tires of answering. His response? "I get that question asked probably about once a week," he said. "You know we love Eternal Darkness. We're big fans of it. I think the future is bright in that regard, but there's no comments to make whatsoever." Ah, but you did comment, good sir. The future is bright, you say? That's enough to get you a Comatose rating. Well played.

Eyedentify
For: PS3
Watch the Eyedentify trailer >>

Do you want hot female spies in bikinis to talk directly to you? If you just leaned forward in your chair ever so slightly, then you'll be sad to know that Sony has no plans (that we know of) to make that dream a reality for you. After releasing the Eyedentify trailer in (wait for it…..) 2005, Sony has never even mentioned this PlayStation Eye game again. Sony has already released the EyePet in Europe, and yet I still can't order scantily-clad spy girls around? Lame. We've asked Sony to give us an update on the status of this title, but we're not expecting good news. Put this one in the tech demo category. And then cover it with dirt. And then invite its family over to your house and serve a bunch of food.

Don't hold your breath. Actually, don't hold anything. Stop it.

Fallout MMO
For: PC
Read the Latest on the Fallout MMO >>

It's never a good sign when one of the top stories on your Web site boasts that you just hired a new lawyer. Or, in Interplay's case, re-hired your old lawyer. When the company that created Fallout sold the license to Bethesda, Interplay retained the rights to make a massively multiplayer online game based in the Fallout universe. That deal has since spiraled into a messy legal battle, with Bethesda looking to wrest the rights to a Fallout MMO back from Interplay, which continues to work on its own Project V13 (believed widely to be a Fallout MMO) apace. The most recent wrinkle in the story? Interplay announced in January that gamers can expect a public beta for Project V13…… in 2012. Um, ok. That may be enough to convince a judge they're actually working on the game, but it'll take more than that to move it off Life Support. Sorry, still comatose.