The 7 most delayed video games ever and whether they’re worth waiting for

Now that Silksong is finally out, we look at all the other video games that have been silent for years and remain MIA.

Considering Hollow Knight: Silksong was first announced in 2019, and was barely seen in public until it’s release this month, many gave up hope of it ever being released, and wrote it off as vapourware.

And yet here we are in a post-Silksong world, with the game becoming one of the biggest hits of the year so far and proving that sometimes dreams do come true.

But this got us thinking about the other games that haven’t been so lucky. The ones that have also gone missing for many years and whose story may not have as happy an ending as Silksong.

Tomb Raider

We’ve already broached the topic of the next Tomb Raider game recently, but it bears repeating how odd it is that it’s been nearly five years since it was first mentioned and developer Crystal Dynamics still has nothing to show for it.

There is a second (and final) season of the animated Netflix show on the horizon, as well as a live action Amazon show, but they’re sore reminders of how long it’s been since the last new Tomb Raider game.

The official Tomb Raider Instagram account has teased that it has more news on the way, but judging by previous revelations that could just be another cameo in someone else’s game.

Tekken X Street Fighter

In 2021, it was reported that fighting game crossover Tekken X Street Fighter had been cancelled, 10 years after its announcement. Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada later clarified this was incorrect and the game is just ‘on pause.’

There’s clearly hope within Bandai Namco of getting the project up and running again, but it feels increasingly unlikely it ever will. Capcom and Bandai Namco seem far too busy with their respective fighting games, which require constant maintenance and updates, to make time for a joint project.

It’s also much simpler to do lighter collaborations in the form of DLC characters, similar to SNK loaning Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui to Street Fighter 6, in exchange for Ken and Chun-Li in Fatal Fury: City Of The Wolves.

Bioshock 4

Considering it has been nearly 10 years since the initial launch of the BioShock Collection, which consists of all three games in the series, we have to wonder how much of an audience there is for a new sequel.

2K Games has tried to find out, after announcing Bioshock 4 in 2019. But six years later, any progress that was made left upper management so unimpressed that they’ve gutted the development team and requested significant overhauls.

Take-Two Interactive has pledged that BioSsock 4 will eventually see the light of day and former Diablo boss Rod Fergusson has been brought onboard to re-right the ship. But that’s still such a setback that the final product probably won’t launch for many more years. And by that point, there may not be enough of a fanbase left to care.

Mass Effect 4

After 2017’s Mass Effect: Andromeda failed to live up to the standards set by the original trailer, fans were naturally hopeful that the next game (which no one can agree on calling Mass Effect 4 or 5) will get the series back on track.

Updates since that 2020 teaser have been extremely minor and while Dragon Age successfully resurfaced after so many years, with The Veilguard, it wasn’t the sales hit EA wanted.

The new Mass Effect’s development can’t have been going smoothly with all the layoffs BioWare has suffered over the years and EA’s disappointment in Dragon Age is bound to have further repercussions. It’ll probably launch someday, but don’t be shocked if it has some awkward live service game elements attached.

Dragon Quest 12

It’d be a stretch to say Square Enix fumbled the global success of Dragon Quest 11, since the series has still enjoyed new spin-offs and remakes of the older games to capitalise on the new audience.

But that game came out in 2018 and as far as its sequel is concerned, all that’s known about it is a logo and the promise of a darker tone; one that’s reportedly proved troublesome for its development. It’d make sense for there to be uncertainty with the new direction considering Final Fantasy 16 went the same route and was met with a mixed reception and less than stellar sales.

It says a lot that in the time since its announcement, we’ve learned more about the equally mysterious Kingdom Hearts 4, which at least received some new screenshots earlier this year and is said to be making good progress, according to director Tetsuya Nomura.

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic remake

Despite Saber Interactive’s insistence that this game will come out, we honestly don’t think it ever will. For such a huge project, we’re still stunned the original plan was for Aspyr to make it, even though the studio’s mostly known for Mac ports.

Announced as one of the big reveals of a 2021 PlayStation showcase, this remake has proven so troublesome that Sony apparently wants nothing to do with it, quickly becoming embroiled in a confusing saga of mismanagement and firings.

Saber is spread thin as it is, with other projects like a Jurassic Park game, a Hellraiser game, another Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine sequel, and Turok Origins. We’re worried the studio’s taken on too much at once and if anything’s going to fall to the wayside, we suspect it’ll be Star Wars.

Speaking of Star Wars, that Star Wars Eclipse from Quantic Dream hasn’t resurfaced in nearly four years either. Thank goodness we at least have Zero Company to look forward to in the near future.

Beyond Good & Evil 2

Easily the king of vapourware, having taken Duke Nukem Forever’s crown as the most delayed video game ever, and that was three years ago! Beyond Good & Evil 2 has been an easy punching bag for the internet for its lack of updates, but even that has got old and most people seem to have lost interest.

Ubisoft tried to keep updates fairly regular but those soon dropped off and now we’re lucky if the game even gets mentioned in its fiscal reports. And when it does, all Ubisoft says is that it’s still in the works.

At times, it feels like the project is cursed, considering it’s lost three directors, with one of them tragically dying in 2023. And given how much the games industry and Ubisoft itself has changed in the years since that 2017 reveal, you have to wonder if it’s even the same game anymore.

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