Games Gone Missing 2019: Are We Still Getting These Games?

2018 was filled with an array of fantastic games, from long-awaited ones like Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to pleasant surprises like Into the Breach and Tetris Effect. There were also big announcements, like the reveals of Devil May Cry 5 and Halo Infinite. But amid all the news and excitement, there are games that have dropped off the radar almost entirely.

The long-dormant Resident Evil 2 remake finally debuted at E3 2018 to much fanfare, relinquishing it from our missing games list after three straight years of nothing. And it's releasing at the end of January 2019!

However, not all games are so lucky; there are quite a few that we've heard very little about in years, some announced ages ago and others only hinted at with no official word. These games haven't been canceled outright, either, leaving them in limbo. From the Final Fantasy 7 Remake to Borderlands 3 and beyond, these are the biggest missing games we're still waiting to hear more (or anything) about.

Which games on this list do you think we might finally hear about in 2019? You think there's a chance? Shout out your opinions in the comments section below.

You probably remember that a Final Fantasy VII Remake is happening, but it's faded into the background. It was announced at Sony's E3 2015 press conference, and we even saw a gameplay trailer later that year. There was also an interview in March 2017 with director Tetsuya Nomura that detailed some gameplay systems (including stealth and taking cover).

In May 2017, it was revealed that Square Enix would be developing the game internally (rather than with outside help, as was previously announced). But that didn't come with many details. So far, we know that the FF7 Remake will be split into multiple installments and will feature full voice acting--what's missing is more gameplay and any information about a release date. Following E3 2018, Nomura confirmed the game was in active development, saying his full attention would shift to the project once production of Kingdom Hearts III ends. Given we're about to see the release of that game, it's more than likely we'll start hearing about Final Fantasy VII Remake soon.

EA shuttered developer Visceral Games last October, putting the status of its Amy Hennig-led Star Wars game up in the air. It's not clear what will change about the game as it continues development elsewhere--EA's Patrick Soderlund said the company "needed to pivot the design"--but it's not canceled outright. We've heard little about the game ever since. And it's worth noting that Soderlund has since left the company.

There's also Titanfall developer Respawn's Star Wars game, which was announced on May the 4th, 2016. Respawn founder Vince Zampella confirmed the game's name at E3 2018 to be Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. Aside from its name, we know it's supposed to be an "all-new third-person action adventure game set in the Star Wars universe," but that's about it. It's possible we'll learn more about the game this year, but seeing as Respawn is also working on another project alongside Star Wars, the chances may vary.

Back in 2015, Pikmin 4 was announced and apparently "very close to completion." After almost a year with no news, Miyamoto himself assured Pikmin fans in 2016 that the sequel was still happening--and that was it. Though spin-off Hey Pikmin came out on 3DS in 2017, it's not at all clear what's happening with Pikmin 4 besides the fact that it's, well, happening. It's a new year, though, so who know what surprises Nintendo has in store!

Phantom Dust has entered its fifth year running on our missing games list with no sign of news any time soon. The reboot of the 2005 Xbox game of the same name was first announced at E3 2014, but its original developer, Darkside Game Studios, closed down the following February. We saw some leaked gameplay footage in 2015 and got confirmation that the game wasn't dead, but we still haven't heard anything since. That said, a separate Phantom Dust re-release with slight improvements arrived in May 2017.

Allison Road has had a rough journey. The fan project was supposed to be a spiritual successor to P.T. and promised to fill the void left behind by the cancellation of Silent Hills. It was originally on Kickstarter before abandoning crowdfunding in favor of publisher Team17, and it was canceled in June 2016. Allison Road was then revived that August by its creator, who formed a new studio to continue development, which means Team17 is no longer publishing it.

So Allison Road technically came back from the dead, but we haven't heard anything else about it since. All we have to go by is a small amount of gameplay footage.

Tekken x Street Fighter was announced in 2010 for PS3 and Xbox 360, and it's been kind of a mystery ever since. Producer Katsuhiro Harada assured fans in 2014 and reiterated in 2015 that the crossover fighting game wasn't canceled. However, in April 2016, Harada revealed that Tekken x Street Fighter was "no longer in active development" and that publisher Bandai Namco was waiting for "the right time" to release it.

GameSpot reached out for comment in 2016, and at the time, Bandai Namco said the team was focusing on Tekken 7, which came out in 2017. Bandai Namco told us that the Tekken team was focused on Tekken 7 DLC. It's worth noting, however, that Street Fighter's Akuma is a character in Tekken 7, so the two styles are definitely merge-able. Harada has since confirmed during a 2018 year-end party livestream that the game is about 30% complete.

Zombie survival game Dead Island 2 came out of the gate with a very memorable trailer at E3 2014--and memorable is good, since we've heard so little since. The game's original spring 2015 release window was later delayed to 2016, and then it lost its developer, Yager, in July 2015. Still, publisher Deep Silver assured us it wasn't canceled.

It was announced in March 2016 that LittleBigPlanet 3 developer Sumo Digital had taken over the game's development. In July 2018, Deep Silver reiterated that the game is still in the works and to watch its Twitter account for more details at a later date. In terms of what the game will be like, we know that Dead Island 2 is set in California and will have four playable characters and eight-player co-op.

Battlecry, a MOBA-like with historical inspirations and a focus on melee combat, was announced in 2014. It had a trailer and even sign-ups for a global beta in 2015, but publisher Bethesda expressed concerns about its quality. It's been three years and we haven't heard anything--good or bad--about the game.

The developer, which was originally branded as BattleCry Studios LLC and was created with the express purpose of making a multiplayer arena game, was rebranded Bethesda Game Studios Austin in March 2018. It recently worked alongside Bethesda Game Studios on Fallout 76.

Now in its fourth year on our missing games list, PS4 Souls-like Deep Down was revealed in 2013. It didn't disappear right away; we got details and trailers up through TGS 2014, and it was supposed to have a public beta in early 2015.

The beta never happened, and in a February 2015 interview, producer Yoshinori Ono said that the game wasn't canceled but might be reworked. In 2016, Capcom told us that a Western release was never even confirmed for Deep Down, but the publisher filed a new patent for the game in the US in early 2017. In June 2018, Capcom extended the trademark for the game. It remains to be seen if the game comes Westward, but even the Japanese version has been out of the news for quite a while.

It wouldn't be a missing games list without Agent! The Cold War-era espionage game was teased way, way back in 2007 and announced in 2009 as a PS3 exclusive from Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar North. Since then, the game hasn't been officially canceled, but it's barely more than a murmur.

The first images from Agent were released in 2011, when Rockstar parent Take-Two confirmed the game was still in development. Two full years later, Take-Two renewed trademarks for Agent. It renewed the trademarks again in 2014, just before E3. New images emerged in 2015, and at the end of 2016, Take-Two refiled the Agent trademarks yet again. But in November 2018, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office declared the "Agent" trademark as abandoned. It's likely now more than ever, especially after the release of Red Dead Redemption 2, that Agent is no longer a project that Rockstar is pursuing.

We know as much about Wild as we did two years ago, which is not a lot. The PS4-exclusive survival adventure game was revealed at Gamescom 2014, and we saw some gameplay during Paris Games Week in October 2015. Director Michel Ancel took to Instagram in January 2017 to confirm the game was still in production. But given that he's now wrapped up in development on Beyond Good and Evil 2, it seems like Wild has been put on hold. As of this writing, we know that Wild casts you as a shaman who can possess animals--and that's about it.

What's being called Borderlands 3 hasn't actually been announced, but it's been heavily hinted at. In January 2015, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford tweeted that the developer was recruiting for the "next Borderlands game." (He specifically said that it was "the big one.") Since then, Pitchford has continued to dance around an official announcement; he instead gave a few more details in April 2016 and confirmed that it was in the works, and he tweets sly hints from time to time with his most recent tweet confirming the game wouldn't be at E3 2018.

In May 2018, Take-Two, the parent company of Borderlands publisher 2K Games, confirmed that one of 2K's big upcoming and unannounced games has been delayed. As part of the company's earnings report, Take-Two said the "highly anticipated title from one of 2K's biggest franchises" is now planned to launch in fiscal year 2020. It's more than likely that Take-Two is referring to Borderlands 3, but this has yet to be officially confirmed.

BioShock creator Ken Levine appeared on NPR at the end of 2015 and discussed general design goals for his next game--it's supposed to be highly replayable. Levine also described it as a "small-scale open-world game" with a sci-fi theme. As far as anyone knows, the mystery game is still happening.

We pretty much have to mention Half-Life 3, even long after it hit peak meme status and transcended to the realm of "never going to happen." Half-Life 2: Episode 3 was announced back in 2006 but never materialized; it also wasn't canceled, either. In a Reddit AMA in early 2017, Valve boss Gabe Newell said there was still a possibility of more games in the Half-Life/Portal universe, so that's something. And there's also the leaked story summary from former Valve writer Marc Laidlaw, which confirms nothing but is a wild read.

Spyjinx is the upcoming collaboration between developer Chair (Infinity Blade, Shadow Complex), filmmaker J.J. Abrams (Lost, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), and Bad Robot Interactive. It was first announced in 2015 with a release date of 2016 for PC and mobile, but we've heard little since then. There are no details about what the game will be about or how it'll play. However, Chair creative director and Epic Games CCO Donald Mustard has reaffirmed constantly throughout the years that the game remains in active development. You can still sign up for the game's future closed beta via its official website, so we'll have to take Donald's word for it that it's still coming.

Recently, Marvel Entertainment has been dabbling way more in the world of video games by taking on high-profile collaborations with some of the industry's most prolific developers. We've already received quite a few of these games over the years with the most recent being Marvel's Spider-Man on PS4, which was developed by Insomniac Games (Ratchet & Clank, Sunset Overdrive). However, we've long awaited its other announced game, The Avengers Project. The upcoming game is based on the all-star superhero team of the same name, and it's being developed by Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal.

We first heard about The Avengers Project in 2017 via a bleak teaser that seemed to allude to the iconic team having been defeated. Since then we've received a few updates over the years confirming that it's still in production and that huge progress has been made towards its completion. Crystal Dynamics even opened up a new studio in Washington to help develop the game.

Shadow of the Eternals is the spiritual successor to cult-favorite horror game Eternal Darkness. Veterans from the original game's developer, Silicon Knights, formed a new studio called Precursor Games to work on the survival horror adventure, including former president Denis Dyack. However, the crowdfunding project failed to meet its goal. The lack of funding forced the game's development to be put on hold.

In October 2014, Dyack opened up a new studio called Quantum Entanglement Entertainment to resume development on the project. The studio was quietly shut down in January 2018 and the production of Shadow of the Eternals was once again put on hold. Dyack moved on and renamed the studio Apocalypse Studios and has since announced a free-to-play RPG for the PC called Deadhaus Sonata. Given these events, it's seeming more than likely that Shadow of the Eternals may not be releasing for quite some time, if ever.

Hellraid is an upcoming project from developer Techland. Announced in 2013, it was originally intended as a mod for Dead Island before transitioning its own standalone game. Techland described Hellraid as a mix between Dead Island and The Elder Scrolls series. The game was initially schedule to release in 2013, but then was delayed to 2014 with development transitioning from PS3 and Xbox 360 to PS4 and Xbox One. However, the development of Hellraid was put on hold in 2015 as the game failed to meet the company's expectations, and because Techland wanted to focus on expanding the universe of its other big project of the time, Dying Light.

It's worth noting that a mobile spin-off based on Hellraid was released in 2014, so it's possible that Techland still had the main game on its radar. Time will tell.