Video game development is a long, complicated process, and not everything makes it to store shelves. It’s pretty common for games to get canceled, with some triple-a games never seeing the light of day. Such is the case with New Frontier, a canceled Capcom game with a swashbuckling sci-fi aesthetic, recently revealed by Did You Know Gaming’s Liam Robertson.
The game would have apparently been “Destiny before Destiny,” according to the video, with some comparing New Frontier the canceled TV show Firefly. The game was going to be an open-world action RPG, with roughly six months being invested in creating a vertical slice, a proof of concept used by developers for demos. However, Capcom canceled the game in late 2013, largely due to the cost of developing the game.
Players would have explored planets and found ancient alien technology, which is where the Destiny comparison is intended to come into play, with gameplay instead putting a heavy emphasis on third-person melee combat. Screenshots from the game look fairly impressive considering the time that it was being developed, and it’s interesting to think what could’ve become of the game had it released.
Information about the game starts around 5:10.
No game is safe from being canceled, an unfortunate reality of game development. EA has canceled Star Wars games many times, despite how large of a franchise Star Wars actually is, proving just how much is at stake. However, Capcom is still creating games today, and it’s always possible that New Frontier, eventually, sees the light of day in some sort of reboot, though that doesn’t seem very likely.
Part of the issues stems from publishers looking to create sequels to long-standing franchises rather than create brand-new IP. New IP is a much greater risk, leading to more difficulty getting those projects off the ground. That has pushed some studios to using Kickstarter to fund development for new games, a method that has proven successful in recent years. Even Obsidian Entertainment used it to get funding for Pillars of Eternity.
There are likely thousands of other games that were canceled before development really kicked off, many of which gamers will likely never hear about. It’s disappointing that they didn’t make it to release, but that’s simply the nature of the business.
