History TroubledProduction / VideoGames0ToM

** Marvel gave some ExecutiveMeddling of their own, refusing the use of ComicBook/XMen and ComicBook/FantasticFour characters because their film rights were controlled by Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox at the time. The absence of fan favorites like ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, ComicBook/{{Magneto}}, ComicBook/{{Storm}} and ComicBook/DoctorDoom did not go unnoticed, and got major fan backlash and bad publicity.

** By late 2022, ''Beyond Good and Evil 2'' had broken the record for the longest development period for a video game in history, surpassing even the infamous ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever''. It ended that year with no progress announced, although [[https://www.thegamer.com/beyond-good-and-evil-2-reportedly-being-playtested-in-early-development/ a minor source confirmed the game was being playtested]]. In January 2023, [[https://www.thegamer.com/ubisoft-still-making-beyond-good-and-evil-2-despite-cancellations/ Ubisoft assured fans that the game was still coming]], but by February, [[https://kotaku.com/beyond-good-evil-2-ubisoft-montpellier-assassins-creed-1850164420 several]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oche63hzg4 outlets]] revealed that the title has been undergoing various issues (unclear creative direction, staff burnout and high attrition rates, etc.) that kept it from entering full production.

** MediaNotes/{{Furry|Fandom}} artist Adam Wan, who designed ''Beast Fury''[='=]s GUI, was accused by the fandom of being a bully and a sexual predator. Stevens and Evil Dog quietly deleted all mention of his name. Until [[https://www.dropbox.com/s/ctamabcwjxucdu1/logmidwayofBoF.txt?dl=0 an Internet chat log]] later confirmed Wan's involvement, [[GoneHorriblyWrong fans interpreted the damage control as deliberately hiding information]].

* VideoGame/{{Hiveswap}}, the video game set in the "Homestuck" universe has had an extensive an quite rocky development along the way with it still despite being announced and started development almost 12 years ago still is on the horizon.
** Despite breaking its kickstarter fund by a wide margin, with 2.4 Million dollars being raised for the project which was [[ScheduleSlip slated for a summer 2014 release, multiple delays followed.]] The main developers, The Odd Gentlemen, were subsequently dropped due to budgeting issues and unclear guidance from writers. This forced Hiveswap to be developed by the publishing company then on forward, What Pumkin in their new New York offices worked on Hiveswap until its eventual shutdown in favor for a different team that could work remotely in 2015. This new team, decided to ditch the one before 3D visuals of Hiveswap and code leading to years of work and money being lost. Hiveswap was finally released in 2017, but before release was decided the game would be split into episodic games instead of one giant game, due to an easier workload and to follow the structure of the original webcomic. Around this time "Homestuck: Beyond Canon" started its own run which depended on it's own Patreon page to keep the lights on, which What Pumpkin started siphoning money out of to continue Hiveswap Act: 2 development, which finally released in 2020. Despite all this, Hiveswap Act: 3 has had nothing spoken about it besides some concept art and confirmed its being developed, with the final act 4 and Hiveswap's sequel series "HauntSwitch" also being confirmed to be coming all the way back to the original kickstarter.

** Their ambitions also faced technical limitations. Just as with a slew of other EA projects, the proprietary Frostbite UsefulNotes/GameEngine proved to be a nightmare for the team to work with, forcing them to cut back their ambitious SurvivalSandbox plans for the game. [=BioWare=] staff with experience working with Frostbite were often shuffled over by EA to work on the ''VideoGame/FIFASoccer'' series and salvaging ''Andromeda'', leaving the studio understaffed. [=BioWare=]'s internal policy of not sharing technology between projects resulted in the team effectively redoing work that had already been done for ''Andromeda'' and ''Inquisition''. After the Montreal studio that worked on ''Andromeda'' was shut down, most of its staff was moved over to work on ''Beyond'', giving the team a much-needed boost to its workforce.

** [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom Furry]] artist Adam Wan, who designed ''Beast Fury''[='=]s GUI, was accused by the fandom of being a bully and a sexual predator. Stevens and Evil Dog quietly deleted all mention of his name. Until [[https://www.dropbox.com/s/ctamabcwjxucdu1/logmidwayofBoF.txt?dl=0 an Internet chat log]] later confirmed Wan's involvement, [[GoneHorriblyWrong fans interpreted the damage control as deliberately hiding information]].

** Technical issues plagued the game during development. EA mandated the use of DICE's Frostbite UsefulNotes/GameEngine that had been developed for the ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' series. Frostbite has become notorious for its CripplingOverspecialization toward FirstPersonShooter games, offering no concessions toward other genres, and would come to plague the development of other games under EA's umbrella. Combined with the team failing to make design decisions early in development, the final months were defined by a harsh period of crunch time.

** As covered in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS6SBnccxMA DOOM Resurrected documentary]], the game started life as ''Doom 4''. Creator/IdSoftware originally built the game as a much more scripted, cinematic experience in the style of ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'', but [[http://kotaku.com/five-years-and-nothing-to-show-how-doom-4-got-off-trac-468097062 development suffered a number of restarts and employees leaving, with poor management and direction being blamed for the lack of progress]]. When screenshots and concept art leaked out, fans were deeply upset at its derivative FollowTheLeader nature. Id realized the direction of the project was a poor fit for ''Doom'', and rebooted the project with Zenimax's blessing.

** The devs struggled in obtaining the licenses for the "heavy hitters" in the indie industry: [=Edmund McMillen=] said no to using [[VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac Isaac]], Yacht Club said they'd rather have VideoGame/ShovelKnight in ''Smash'', [[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} Toby Fox]] wouldn't even give the courtesy of a reply, and nobody was willing to cough up the license fee to obtain [[VideoGame/FreedomPlanet Lilac]].

** Just as quickly, troubles descended down on the project. [[ExecutiveMeddling EA mandated]] that it needed a quick turnaround, as EA was intent on keeping its ''Bond'' games to a yearly release cycle and had ''VideoGame/DoubleOhSevenFromRussiaWithLove'' lined up for 2005. EA LA manager John Batter named the game ''Goldeneye: Rogue Agent'' for marketing reasons, despite the game [[InNameOnly having no relation]] to [[Film/{{Goldeneye}} the film]] or [[VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 the game]] of the same name[[note]]The game would ultimately include a paper-thin justification by having the protagonist lose an eye and have it be replaced a golden prosthetic.[[/note]]. Bilson took particular exception to this, noting that the name would bring unfair comparisons.

** Just as quickly, troubles descended down on the project. [[ExecutiveMeddling EA mandated]] that it needed a quick turnaround, as EA was intent on keeping its ''Bond'' games to a yearly release cycle and had ''VideoGame/DoubleOhSevenFromRussiaWithLove'' lined up for 2005. EA LA manager John Batter named the game ''Goldeneye: Rogue Agent'' for marketing reasons, despite the game [[InNameOnly having no relation]] to [[Film/{{Goldeneye}} the film]] or [[VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 the game]] of the same name. Bilson took particular exception to this, noting that the name would bring unfair comparisons.

* ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'': Designer and artist Toru Osawa spent most of the game's development [[http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/29565 working on it alone]], while the rest of Nintendo R&D1's development staff was focused on ''VideoGame/Metroid1''. After the ''Metroid'' team completed that game and returned from vacation, ''Kid Icarus'' entered three straight months of crunch and constant all-nighters in order to meet the December deadline, with Osawa even foregoing his honeymoon in the process. The game was completed a mere three days before release, with there being no time to even add a credits roll for the original Japanese FDS version.

** It was only in late 2017 that the game began to take shape, with the team expanding and Manabu Shimomoto joining as a second producer. The team worked in a frenzy to complete the game, breaking through the game's VR troubles as well as redoing work on various elements to a higher standard of quality. When ''Ace Combat 7'' released in January 2019, it was met with a level of critical acclaim and commercial success the series hadn't seen since the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 era, selling 500,000 units [[https://twitter.com/BandaiNamcoSEA/status/1099927006412763137 in Asia]] during its first month. By August 2021, the game had become the best-selling installment in the series with over 3 millions copies sold worldwide, vindicating Kono's struggle.

* ''VideoGame/Action52'', an unlicensed 1991 [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] compilation of 52 games on a single cart, became one of the most infamous games of its decade due to this. Vince Perri, head of Active Enterprises, hired 4 college students and gave them only '''three months''' to make the compilation, a laughably short timespan for a single game let alone dozens. Despite this, Perri was so confident in the game that he announced it at CES with plans for a portable game system and multimedia franchise based on ''Action 52'' title ''The Cheetahmen''. The final product dashed away such ambitions, as it contained extremely basic games [[ObviousBeta plagued with technical issues]] as they had no time for bug testing. In fact, some games would crash when trying to start rendering them unplayable. Critics and consumers alike were viciously negative (especially as its price point was $200 USD), and Active Enterprises would close down in 1993.

** After the game's critical drubbing, a planned UsefulNotes/WiiU port was scrapped, and Sega and Gearbox were hit with a class-action lawsuit for knowingly misrepresenting the levels, graphics, and AI in previews and press demos, as well as restricting reviews until after the game's release. Sega agreed to [[http://www.destructoid.com/sega-agrees-to-settle-in-aliens-colonial-marines-lawsuit-279556.phtml a $1.25 million settlement]], but not before [[http://www.destructoid.com/sega-outs-gearbox-for-lying-in-aliens-colonial-marines-case-280655.phtml accusing Gearbox]] of lying to them as well by presenting the demo as indicative of their progress.

** Vout found himself in a culture where he had to sell ideas to the board team and get every member to agree to each one just so his team could help finish the Gamecube version before jumping onto the ports. At the same time, his team investigated the code and learned that it was running on a ''UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance emulator''. Vout surmises that the team was originally meant to make a GBA port but was moved to making a Gamecube game and they decided to do things like this to get it running.

** Inspired by ''Skullgirls''' successful Indiegogo campaign, Stevens [[StartMyOwn created his own]]. Two back-to-back failed campaigns later, he returned with ''[[ThirdTimesTheCharm a third one.]]'' It raised over $20,000--mainly thanks to endorsement by Website/{{YouTube}} personalities [[LetsPlay/TheOnlineWarrior Maximilian Dood]] and [[WebVideo/GameGrumps Egoraptor]]; they were touted as guest characters if stretch goals were met. Neither was funded, but several other characters were.

* The Creator/NightdiveStudios remaster of the ''VideoGame/BladeRunner'' AdventureGame [[https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-10-22-replicating-blade-runner-why-the-adventure-game-classic-is-so-tough-to-remaster ran into trouble]], first because the game's source code and data were lost at some point between the release of the game and developer Creator/WestwoodStudios' acquisition by Creator/ElectronicArts, and then because it could not reuse any code from the [=ScummVM=]-based rerelease of the game on Website/GOGDotCom as a result of [=ScummVM=] being licensed under the GPL and thus preventing anything using it or its code from being released on consoles [[labelnote:why?]]The GPL terms' require that any API used by a GPL project must itself be licensed under the GPL, and thus require its source code to either be available to the public or be available upon request, which is not allowed by the rules imposed by console makers regarding their [=APIs=][[/labelnote]]. An attempt to negotiate a separate license for [=ScummVM=]'s work on ''Blade Runner'' fell through. The result was that Nightdive were forced to repeat the work of [=ScummVM=]'s developers and reverse-engineer the whole game themselves. Among the difficulties in doing so were in untangling the efforts made to compress the game to fit in the limitations of computers of the time, which include using separate character models for ''individual frames of animation'' to reduce the amount of model data needed in memory at a time, making remastering the character models more difficult than if a single model were used per character.
* The partnership between Silicon Knights and Crystal Dynamics (with Creator/{{Activision}} involved on Crystal Dynamics' side) on the development of ''[[VideoGame/LegacyOfKain Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain]]'' and a proposed, canceled sequel degenerated into a pileup of legal screwovers and ExecutiveMeddling on ownership and content of the IP -- with Crystal Dynamics winning and bridges burned. [[https://web.archive.org/web/20121216013606/http://www.gog.com/forum/general/release_legacy_of_kain_blood_omen_2/post24 Because of this, don't expect]] [[ScrewedByTheLawyers to see a re-release]] of the first ''Blood Omen'' in the near future, although it ''is'' available on the [=PlayStation=] Store as a download for UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable. A port of the PC version would finally arrive on GOG in 2021, though.
* ''VideoGame/BodyHarvest'' was originally slated to be a launch title for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64. However, during development, publisher Nintendo took issue with the game's violent themes and thus dropped out of the project altogether. The game was presumed vaporware until Creator/GremlinInteractive and Midway Games picked it up and released it in October 1998... more than two years after it was originally slated to be released! According to Rusel [=DeMaria=]'s video game history book, the real reason ''Body Harvest'' fell through was because of DMA Design's and Nintendo's different ideas (DMA's free-form/mission play similar to ''GTA'' vs. role-playing elements that Nintendo wanted), and the game ended up being not as great as could have been after Nintendo didn't decide to publish it.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Bubsy}} Bubsy 3D]]''[='=]s status as one of the most infamous video games of all time was a result of its terrible production. After the release of ''Bubsy 2'' almost killed the franchise, lead designer Michael Berlyn wanted to take the series in a new direction by taking the titular bobcat to [[VideoGame3DLeap the third dimension]]. The development was a challenge due to Berlyn and Eidetic's inexperience with the software required for 3D environments. After the release of ''Videogame/SuperMario64'', Berlyn became worried. Thinking that the game would be outshined by Mario, Berlyn and Eidetic tried making the game more complex, but due to the deadline getting closer, it was already too late. When the game came out, it was indeed outdone by not only Mario, but also newcomer ''[[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot1996 Crash Bandicoot]]'' released on [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation the same console]]. The ''Bubsy'' franchise laid dormant for twenty years (with a UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn port scrapped), until a new team released ''Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back'' for the [=PS4=] and PC in 2017.

** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsColdWar'' experienced a rough development with studio turnover and bad timing. Originally the game was to be co-developed by Raven Software and Sledgehammer Games with a 3 year development period aiming for a 2020 release. However, Sledgehammer Games co-founders Michael Condrey and Glen Schofield left the company in early 2018, leading to the studio hemorrhaging employees. A 2019 [[https://kotaku.com/sources-call-of-duty-2020-in-upheaval-as-treyarch-take-1834858368 Kotaku article]] then revealed that Treyarch studios replaced Sledgehammer owing to the studio's tensions with Raven. The game also had the unfortunate luck of coinciding with the [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic Coronavirus pandemic]] lockdown orders and the launch of [[UsefulNotes/TheNinthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames the Ninth Console Generation]], forcing developers to port to multiple platforms with fewer resources available. On top of all that, Raven and Treyarch had to make their title share gameplay progression with the standalone Battle Royale game ''Warzone'' even though that game was built on a different engine. The rough development cycle also adversely affected the marketing with the traditional Spring reveal trailer being delayed to ''August''. When the game was released in November 2020, the final product showed signs of corners being cut as it had numerous bugs and having only 8 launch maps compared to the standard 12+ in previous titles.

* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' was one of the most hyped video games of all time. Upon its release, however, it became notorious for being an ObviousBeta on next-gen platforms and the catastrophic PortingDisaster it received on UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne. [[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/19/style/cyberpunk-2077-video-game-disaster.html This article]] by Mike Isaac and Kellen Browning for ''The New York Times'', along with [[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-16/cyberpunk-2077-what-caused-the-video-game-s-disastrous-rollout Jason Schreier's investigation]] for ''Bloomberg'', tells a grim tale of [[Creator/CDProjekt CD Projekt RED]]'s unchecked ambition and severe mismanagement resulting in a BrokenPedestal moment for what had previously been one of gaming’s most beloved companies.

** Despite the hype, the reveal of crunch conditions and the constant delays served as red flags as they went directly against many PR statements made by CDPR. More red flags raised in the immediate lead-up to release, as [[https://www.polygon.com/2020/12/4/22058784/cyberpunk-2077-marketing-cd-projekt-red-transphobia LGBTQI+ groups took exception]] to the game’s treatment of trans characters, and the release build [[https://www.gameinformer.com/2020/12/07/cyberpunk-2077-epileptic-psa contained sequences that consistently caused seizures]]. It was known within the studio that, while the PC, UsefulNotes/PlayStation5 and UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS versions were buggy but functional, the [=PS4=] and Xbox One versions were nearly unplayable. The game would be shipping regardless. CD Projekt RED only allowed reviewers to play the PC version in controlled conditions to mitigate the issues.

** 5,000 Ft, a game studio located in Reno, Nevada, wanted to [[StartMyOwn make a game of their own]] after assisting [[Creator/The3DOCompany 3DO]] with their ''VideoGame/ArmyMen'' series for the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation PS1]]. After being bought by publisher Encore, Encore proceeded to buy out a few licenses to several Marvel products, such as ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, and of course, Daredevil.

** ''Dead Rising 3'' was already suffering a troubled production when Capcom Vancouver was brought in, beset as it was by technical issues. The UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 version, owing to that console's infamously exotic and complex hardware, suffered the bulk of the problems, especially given the game's lofty WideOpenSandbox ambitions compared to its predecessors. As a result, when Microsoft showed up with an offer to make the game an UsefulNotes/XboxOne exclusive, Capcom jumped at the chance to cancel the troubled [=PS3=] version and focus their resources, especially with the added Microsoft money, more powerful hardware to work with, and another year to work on the game before the Xbox One launched. Unfortunately, this forced Capcom Vancouver to cancel ''another'' original IP, an open-world sci-fi action RPG called ''New Frontier'' that many people who worked on it described as a "proto-''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}''".

* The development of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' went generally smoothly, but its infamous [[UsefulNotes/ThreeDOInteractiveMultiplayer 3DO]] port was something else. It was produced by a company called Art Data Interactive, who's CEO Randy Scott paid for the license by asking for donations from his Church. He beleived that all one had to do to port a game to another platform was to recompile its code, and that new weapons could be added just by importing new art assets. This led to programmer Rebecca "Burger Becky" Heineman, who had joined under the impression she just needed to polish a complete game for release as Scott repeatedly claimed the game was 90% done, having to develop ''the entire thing, on her own, in ten weeks,'' which forced her to live in her office to finish it on time.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'' was one of the first games announced for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch. Its development went smoothly and it released on UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS without trouble, but the game's Switch version was [[ScheduleSlip delayed by two years]] because ''XI'' was initially developed on a version of Unreal Engine 4 that the Switch did not support, and Creator/SquareEnix had to spend a fair chunk of time updating the engine to a newer version. To compensate for the delay, the Switch version became an UpdatedRerelease with new story chapters and several new features, which was eventually re-released on [=PS4=], Xbox One and PC.

* In a partnership with Creator/{{Nintendo}}, Creator/SiliconKnights' ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' started development on the UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 64}} -- and neared completion before Silicon Knights were asked to throw away everything and rebuild the game from scratch on the [=GameCube=] for launch.[[note]]A situation that isn't unique to just Silicon Knights; see also ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' by Rare, coincidentally another developer that would end up suffering from having their ties to Nintendo cut...[[/note]] Additionally, in its [=GameCube=] incarnation, there were some internal concerns on the Middle Eastern areas [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents due to 9/11]], causing a delay. Altogether though, the development of the [=GameCube=] version (as well as that of ''The Twin Snakes'') were far less catastrophic due to the constant supervision of none other than Shigeru Miyamoto and Satoru Iwata (no word if Silicon Knights' workplace conditions under Nintendo were as difficult as those of Retro Studios' concurrently).
* The infamous ''VideoGame/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' for the UsefulNotes/{{Atari 2600}}, which was so [[ChristmasRushed rushed]] that it ended up being made just in six weeks. It was made by a single person, Howard Scott Warshaw, and programming for 2600 was notoriously idiosyncratic, so it's actually a minor miracle that the game is playable at all. The game was enormously hyped by the Atari's marketing department, who were [[ThisIsGoingToBeHuge so confident that the game would be successful]] that they manufactured over 4 million cartridges. Instead, it catastrophically failed to live up to expectations, with many people calling it one of the worst games ever made. The game's failure played a huge role in triggering UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983. It led to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_video_game_burial Atari secretly burying tons of unsold cartridges in a secure New Mexico landfill]], which were later excavated in 2014.

** After the success of ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite'', Lionhead made a decision that Creator/PeterMolyneux felt in hindsight to be a bad idea: it brought on two smaller developers, Big Blue Box and Intrepid, as satellite studios, leading to Lionhead turning into a quite large and bloated company. Big Blue Box began work on what would become ''Fable'', which attracted the attention of Microsoft, which was looking for a KillerApp for their new UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} console and liked what they saw. They immediately stepped in to publish and fund ''Fable'', and all seemed to be going well.

** In 2006, Microsoft purchased Lionhead, hoping to secure ''Fable'' as a flagship RPG franchise for the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox 360}}. The deal was based on an earnout, and to secure the rest of the money, Lionhead not only had to make ''Fable II'', but they also had to release ''Fable III'' by the end of 2010. Microsoft's involvement marked a change in the culture at Lionhead; the "boys' club" culture that had dominated the company in its early years would no longer fly, and while many grumbled at the increasingly uptight, HR-focused nature of the new Lionhead, most employees agreed that Microsoft's management was for the better. The company redirected its resources towards ''Fable II'', and even though development required heavy crunch towards the end to get the game finished on time, as well as butting heads with Microsoft over some of the content and marketing, the game came out in 2008 to much fanfare.

** The final straw for Lionhead was ''Fable Legends'', the most troubled production of them all. The remaining Lionhead developers wished to work on a proper ''Fable IV'', but Microsoft, launching the UsefulNotes/XboxOne at the time, was keen on the idea of 'games as a service', and wanted to make a multiplayer ''Fable'' and rejected Lionhead's single-player game. The developers were incensed by Microsoft's ExecutiveVeto, but had little room to push back given Microsoft's ownership of the studio. And so they got to work making ''Fable Legends'', which was stymied by constant ExecutiveMeddling designed to shoehorn the game into Microsoft's constantly evolving brand strategy, as well as by Lionhead's inexperience at making multiplayer games and designing for competitive balance. Up to $75 million was spent on ''Fable Legends'' according to some sources. As development continued to drag on with little to show for it, few developers were surprised when, in 2016, Microsoft cut its losses and closed down Lionhead, canceling ''Fable Legends'' in the process.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' was envisioned as the starting point for a "ten year project" of games [[TheVerse sharing a common mythos]] (a la the ''VideoGame/IvaliceAlliance'') called the ''Franchise/FabulaNovaCrystallisFinalFantasy''. Unfortunately the project was plagued with issues mostly stemming from ''XIII'' being the first ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' game produced for the [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames seventh generation]]. The vast majority of time and effort was spent on the creation of the Crystal Tools engine, which was envisioned as the engine Creator/SquareEnix would use on ''all'' of their future seventh generation games. Meanwhile, the development team could not agree on a creative vision for the game: the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkcscpaqvTQ E3 2006 trailer]] felt more like a concept movie, and the extravagant SummonMagic was purely the art team's idea. The resulting game was commercially successful and scored well with critics but was also controversial for having a linear storytelling style similar to earlier titles like ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' during a time when open world games were becoming popular.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' was announced in 2006 as ''Final Fantasy Versus XIII'', a UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 exclusive. The game spent four years in pre-production due to the protracted development of the Crystal Tools engine, which gave director Creator/TetsuyaNomura time to work on three ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' games (''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 358/2 Days]]'', ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsCoded coded]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth by Sleep]]'') and a remake of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories''. Unfortunately, Crystal Tools was unable to handle the open environments of ''Versus XIII'', which caused Square Enix to order ''another'' purpose-built engine: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_Engine the Luminous Engine]]. Frustrated, Nomura's team moved to internally-built code with only the graphics supported by Luminous.\\\
When ''Versus XIII'' was about to enter full production, Square Enix got an early look at the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne, which threatened to render ''Versus XIII'' obsolete before release. Even after blowing so many resources on two purpose-built engines, SQEX president Yoichi Wada MisBlamed Nomura for the development trouble; he ordered ''Versus XIII'' retooled into the next mainline ''Final Fantasy'' and assigned the developers of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0'' to replace Nomura's team. ''Type-0'' director Hajime Tabata was made co-director with the long-term goal of [[ReassignedToAntarctica making Nomura leave the project]] — which succeeded.\\\

** There was also Stage 5 TV, a Website/YouTube channel designed to promote ''Firefall''. Kern and Red 5 spent lavishly on Stage 5, with highly produced short films and reality-style shows shot with very expensive (over $40,000 each) 4k-resolution video cameras, along with a studio, a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van, and other equipment.[[note]]For comparison, most professional, high-end Website/YouTube videos are shot with cameras that cost in the low four figures, with budgets typically ranging from $1,000 to $5,000.[[/note]] Kern would greenlight short films left and right, throwing money at projects that often turned out to be either very low quality or having little to do with games at all, and not the sort of thing that Red 5 wanted to showcase. Stage 5 quickly became a money sink that diverted resources away from ''Firefall'', before being scaled back drastically in 2013.

** ''VideoGame/HalfLifeAlyx'' was built on an even more troubled path, this time not because of strict deadlines, but there being effectively ''no'' deadlines, and Valve losing much of its steam ([[UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} so to speak]]) since the start of the 2010s. According to the documentary ''The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx'', Valve began focusing on the successor to their in-house Source engine -- simply called "Source 2" -- following ''Half-Life 2: Episode 2'', but the unexpected complications that extended its development resulted in many planned projects being [[DevelopmentHell stillborn]], including [[{{Vaporware}} the legendarily ill-fated]] ''[[{{Vaporware}} Half-Life 3]]''. Combined with the studio's organizational style visibly turning on itself[[labelnote:Explanation]]Valve famously works on a quasi-anarchic model where developers assign themselves to whatever self-directed projects they and their teams are most interested in, which worked for starting new ideas, but relied entirely on collaborative momentum for projects to actually be completed[[/labelnote]], virtually no projects were getting finished. It wasn't until they began their pursuit in VR technology and smaller concept projects like ''VideoGame/TheLab'' around 2016 (which reintroduced their need for strict deadlines to coincide with the release of the Valve Index) did they finally buckle down in pursuing a new landmark project simply hinging around "''Half-Life'', but VR". From there on, the usual Valve process of reiteration and refinement began taking hold again for the next several years, and ''VideoGame/HalfLifeAlyx'' was finally released in 2020, [[SequelGap 13 years after the previous]] ''VideoGame/HalfLife'', and to critical acclaim and [[KillerApp commercial success]].

** The final iteration of ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' that we know today was developed in just nine months, a consequence of Microsoft acquiring the title as an early UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} exclusive. This resulted in a very contentious developer-publisher relationship, as Creator/{{Bungie}} struggled to work with Microsoft as a publisher, and was often suspicious of their intentions for the game. From the perspective of Microsoft's Franchise Division, they had an immense interest in ensuring the game would be a KillerApp for the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}}, and saw Bungie's reluctance to cooperate as immature. The biggest episode in this conflict surrounds the tie-in novel, ''Literature/HaloTheFallOfReach''. Microsoft commissioned author Eric Nylund to write it with the intention that it would be the starting point for a multi-media expanded universe, and gave him just seven weeks to write the book. Four weeks in, Bungie attempted to have the work cancelled because they envisioned ''Halo'' as a standalone work and did not wish to give its universe or characters a definitive backstory. The Franchise Division's Eric Trautmann managed to negotiate the book's continued existence, in exchange for assisting Bungie in completing the game's script, which was heavily behind schedule. As a result, Trautmann and his writers had to write a bulk of the game's dialogue with only a basic outline of what was happening in each level. For example, the infamous "[[CaptainObvious This cave is not a natural formation]]" quote was the result of a writer only having outdated concept art to use as reference. Ultimately, ''Halo: Combat Evolved'' would win commercial and critical acclaim, become the KillerApp for the fledgling Xbox, and spawned a massive franchise and expanded universe that continues to grow to this day. The Bungie-Microsoft relationship would get less dysfunctional, but the conflicting visions for the franchise would remain an issue for the remainder of Bungie's stewardship.

** ''VideoGame/HaloInfinite'', according to [[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-08/how-microsoft-s-halo-infinite-went-from-disaster-to-triumph this report]]. Originally intended for UsefulNotes/XboxOne and Windows, the game switched to becoming a 2020 launch title for the Xbox One's successor, the UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS. Besides having to create multiple compatible ports, studio Creator/ThreeFourThreeIndustries faced many challenges including working from home during a pandemic, adjusting to a new open world design and transitioning to a new game engine. Yet the biggest problem was the high developer turnover with senior leads leaving and contractors, who made up most of the development team, resigning after 18 months of work per company policy. Development did turn a corner when Joseph Staten, the original cinematic director at Bungie, came onboard and used his experience to address the flawed studio decisions and poor developer morale. It also helps that Microsoft delayed the game's release by a year to avoid releasing an unpolished game that would further tarnish the franchise (and to also coincide with the 20th anniversary of the first game). Ultimately ''Infinite'' was released to positive reception in 2021 and became one of the biggest launch success for the Xbox Series X|S though there were still sign of troublesome development as staple series elements like campaign co-op and Forge mode were absent at launch.

** ''[=H1Z1=]: King of the Kill'' attained a spike in positive attention around 2017 following the rise of ''VideoGame/PlayerUnknownsBattlegrounds'' and later ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}''[[note]](In an odd twist of fate, Daybreak initially brought on Brendan "[=PlayerUnknown=]" Greene -- back when he was simply known for producing a popular battle royale mod in ''VideoGame/DayZ'' -- as a consultant for ''King of the Kill'', but following this period, he was later picked up by (what was then named) Bluehole Games to produce ''VideoGame/PlayerUnknownsBattlegrounds'')[[/note]], but soon found itself unable to keep up with the competition of them and other battle royale titles. By the time of its eventual release from Early Access in February 2018 (as well as a UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 release in August 2018), Daybreak had been struggling with deciding on and implementing features to give itself an edge from other titles, from suddenly announcing then adding in an "Auto Royale" game mode based on VehicularCombat, to the game initially launching with a $20 price tag, only to be reverted to a free-to-play a mere week later. The game's title was also in flux, with Daybreak periodically ditching the ''King of the Kill'' subtitle and [[PostReleaseRetitle just referring to the game once again as]] ''[=H1Z1=]''.

* ''Indie Game Battle'' was a hella ambitious project; a ''Super Smash Bros'' clone starring characters from indie games. Unfortunately, [[https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198044494288/recommended/407620/ as several]] [[https://steamcommunity.com/id/Bas-Makes-Games/recommended/407620/ former devs]] [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJC0Z0sWAAABNiN?format=jpg&name=small have testified]], the lead developer Felix Kjolner failed to learn anything from the disastrous story of fellow fighting game ''Beast's Fury'' and tore the project down with his own unstable ego.
** When the game first previewed, it was [[TaintedByThePreview roundly mocked]] for its cheap appearance and underwhelming roster, with generic-looking nobodies far outnumbering the few recognizable characters such as The Kid from ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'' and WebAnimation/SaladFingers (who wasn't even technically a videogame character, being a Website/{{Newgrounds}} web series). Many people learned of the game's existence from CausticCritic Creator/JimSterling's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N62MQh6zpg video]], which certainly didn't help its image.

* This trope can affect gaming hardware as well as software. The best known example goes back to the early days of home video gaming: the Keyboard Component to Creator/{{Mattel}}'s UsefulNotes/{{Intellivision}}.

** After almost three years, the Keyboard Component was officially cancelled late in 1982 -- the ultimate death knell being brought about largely in part by the release of the UsefulNotes/Commodore64, whose specifications rendered the Keyboard Component utterly obsolete, and at a much lower price to boot. The FTC dropped the mounting fines when Mattel agreed to offer a full refund to anyone who ''had'' purchased one of the limited production runs. Those who wanted to keep them had to sign a full waiver promising not to seek any support or later refund from Mattel (in-house, the KC saw some limited later use when modified versions proved to be ideal development boards). A few are still out there somewhere.
** As a consolation prize, the company brought out LUCKI, now formally named the Entertainment Computer System. While you could write and save programs to its (much-simpler) cassette drive (at a time when floppy disks were displacing tapes as the preferred storage medium), making it technically a computer, it only offered an additional 2K of RAM, putting it ''far'' behind any ''real'' PC on the market at that time. It was further the ECS's bad luck to hit the market in the spring, as UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 was becoming an undeniable reality. Mattel went from aggressively hiring programmers to laying them off in one two-week period that spring; it further decided to switch its Intellivision focus from hardware to software, leaving the ECS with little marketing push behind it. The KC-ECS debacle played no small part in Mattel's decision to [[CreatorKiller discontinue Intellivision]] a year later.

* Development of the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem port of ''Jim Power: The Lost Dimension'' was set back when licensed developer Piko Interactive tried to contact the original creator for approval, only to be met with two years of silence. Upon learning that the creator had died around the time they initially tried to contact him, Piko themselves worked to fully acquire the ''Jim Power'' IP before the game's development went back on track.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' owes its late arrival in the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}'s lifespan and smaller world compared to then-recent ''Zelda'' games (especially ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'') to a troubled development cycle on account of difficulties with the Wii [=MotionPlus=] accessory. Pre-development began in 2006 soon after ''Twilight Princess'', but during this phase Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto [[https://www.vg247.com/miyamoto-skyward-swords-development-more-like-three-years noted]] that some on the team didn't want to make a new ''Zelda'' game due to a lack of interesting ideas and an unwillingness from anyone to direct the game. This came to an end when Hidemaro Fujibayashi[[note]]A longtime director of many of the handheld ''Zelda'' games starting with the ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Oracle]]'' duology[[/note]] [[https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/wii/zelda-skyward-sword/0/0 proposed his idea]] to use the in-development [=MotionPlus=] accessory to realize fully motion-controlled swordfighting, which would earn him the director's seat on his first home console ''Zelda''. However, the team found the accessory to be very "unruly", finding it hard to work with and the mood of the team becoming "very nasty" at one point. Creator/EijiAonuma eventually decided to give up and abandon the [=MotionPlus=], but the release of ''VideoGame/WiiSportsResort'' (the first game to use the accessory) and pressure from others within Nintendo forced the team to return to it. This left the team with only a year and a half to actually develop the game, and there were debates about the game's direction during development as well. At the time of its release near the end of 2011, the game had taken the longest of any ''The Legend of Zelda'' game up to that point to go from planning to release. The released game would be a critical success, but would sell the lowest of the [=3D=] ''Zelda'' games (albeit still multiple millions), and would be extremely controversial in the fanbase for its linear structure, heavy backtracking, and handholding companion and hint system.
* The UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn game for ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'' was initially listed as one of the first games for the system. It didn't show up in the U.S. until three years after the Japanese release and ''six months'' after support for the system came to an end, effectively being the last North American Saturn game. What caused this game from Creator/WorkingDesigns to fall this far down? Numerous problems, including:

* While it didn't apparently face the time crunch and staff conflicts other entries on this page did, the development of the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo launch title ''VideoGame/MagicianLord'' was hectic, as detailed in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIWKJhRtdco a video]] by the French Youtube show ''Retro Games Test''. As the game developed alongside the Neo Geo hardware itself, features were constantly in flux and the developers wound up having to scale down their ambitious plans for dozens of transformations and advanced graphical effects due to the pressure to release the game alongside the system's launch and hardware features like zoom and rotation being cut to save costs. Another issue was when the game was location-tested and ADK found out that the game was far too easy, and thus unprofitable as an arcade game, as the large maze-like levels and generous health allotment meant players were able to survive for much longer than the average arcade game. As this was a few weeks before release, the developers responded by cutting the player's lifebar by half and haphazardly removing large chunks of the levels (the last-minute nature of the change is exemplified by the fact, that using a double jump exploits, players can go out of bound in the first level and find unused graphics for the original "large" version of the level and stand on invisible platforms that had their graphics removed but not the collision detection). This change ended up working perhaps a little too well, as the final release is a shining example of NintendoHard and an ADK employee was only able to one-credit it more than a year after release. In the end, ''Magician Lord'' [[VindicatedByCable flopped in the arcades but saw better sales on the home console]] and became something of a CultClassic among early adopters of the Neo Geo.

** ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' was considered {{Vaporware}} for almost sixteen years. While never officially announced until 2021, the game's existence was leaked to the press shortly after it started development in 2005 for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS. However, it would be cancelled quickly after due to series producer Yoshio Sakamoto being displeased with the technical power of the hardware. Development would begin anew in 2008 (presumably for the handheld's more powerful [=DSi=] revision), but was once again cancelled for the same reason. It wasn't until Sakamoto worked with Creator/MercurySteam to develop ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'' that ''Dread'' was revived, with the positive reception of ''Samus Returns'' and his own satisfaction with their work inspiring him to revisit the concept once again. Unfortunately, once the game restarted development in 2018, it suffered a number of production woes. [[https://www.anaitgames.com/articulos/mercurysteam-empleados-condiciones-trabajo This article]] details the production problems, with an English translation [[https://famiboards.com/threads/metroid-dread-dev-issues-cut-content-salary-punishments-and-more-at-mercurysteam.424/#post-27194 here]]. In short, many of the employees at [=MercurySteam=] were undervalued by higher-ups and [[WeHaveReserves treated as expendable drones]] [[GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity that were fired for the]] [[DisproportionateRetribution slimmest of infractions]]. This led to more than 50 staff members [[UncreditedRole not receiving proper credit]] for the finished game, due to [=MercurySteam=]'s policies only crediting those who worked for at least 25% of development time. Mismanagement of the project also resulted in tons of content needing to be scrapped to meet deadlines, though said decision was also thankfully the result of both Nintendo and [=MercurySteam=] adamantly refusing to force staff to crunch to make up for lost time (which employees viewed as a godsend for their physical and mental health). Despite the poor working environment, just like ''Prime'', ''Metroid Dread'' quickly became one of the most successful games in the franchise.
* ''VideoGame/MightyNo9'' was originally meant as a spiritual successor to the Classic ''Franchise/MegaMan'' franchise by series co-creator and main producer Creator/KeijiInafune. However, a combination of big promises, a slashed budget, and a desire for it to ''immediately'' become a franchise as large as ''Mega Man'' led to a slow and troubled development. None of this was helped by one of these big promises being to bring the game to ''all ten major gaming platforms'' of the time. After multiple delays, most versions were released in mid-2016; on top of the game being critically lambasted, the launch was plagued with multiple counts of backers receiving broken keys or receiving DLC keys instead of the game, and the UsefulNotes/WiiU version was buggy enough to cause the console to crash. Inafune [[http://kotaku.com/mighty-no-9-s-designer-says-i-will-own-all-the-proble-1782382706 accepted responsibility for the disappointing final product,]] citing the promise of developing so many versions at once as a death knell. With that in mind, the developers were also unable to complete all these versions; the Vita and 3DS versions would never see completion, being quietly (but unofficially) cancelled.
* The UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 adaptation of the 1996 ''Film/MissionImpossible'' film. The game was originally slated to be released in late-1996. However, constant ExecutiveMeddling (resulting in the game switching development teams midway through development) and problems fitting such an at-the-time ambitious game onto a small cartridge resulted in the game not seeing release until mid-1998 in North America. The final game actually wasn't half bad. However, its long development history definitely showed with its dated graphics, buggy programming, and somewhat underdeveloped gameplay. The impending release of the competing ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' that same year certainly didn't help matters.

** Following a steady release of various gameplay trailers throughout 2021, Fntastic set up a release date of June 2022. However, just a month shy of the date, it was announced that [[ReleaseDateChange the game would be delayed to March 2023]] in order to upgrade its engine from Unreal Engine 4 to 5, ostensibly to boost its open world technology. This sudden announcement provoked disappointment as well as suspicion as such a fundamental shift in development isn't at all normal for a project of ''The Day Before'''s scope, ambition, and schedule, and this would be the first of several incidents that many questioning the game's integrity.
** Fntastic received further heat in June 2022 when it was reported that the game was being developed almost entirely by unpaid workers, something that the company ended up confirming and defending in a public statement on grounds that ''all their employees'' were "volunteers", believing that it wasn't necessary to pay them as part of their "volunteer culture". Not only did this draw immense scrutiny for being worker exploitation, this raised even more suspicion as to whether or not Fntastic could even ''afford'' to pay for the game, especially concerning for something as expensive and requiring maintenance as an MMO.

** Facing increasing public controversy, Fntastic began making public pledges to be more transparent about the game's progress and combat disinformation of the game being a scam, including a public commitment that the November 2023 release date would be set and final. However, with this came with a further revelation that they had no marketing team and that all their resources went into game development (lightly muddied by their earlier confirmation that their workers were unpaid volunteers), provoking further concerns that them acting on damage control was only stretching progress even further. [[DiggingYourselfDeeper Not helping matters]] was how the game did end up experiencing yet more last-minute delays, this time with the PC version launching on December 2023, and only in Early Access. Meanwhile, the expected console releases on the [=PlayStation=] 5 and Xbox Series X and S were delayed indefinitely.

** Facing increasing public controversy, Fntastic began making public pledges to be more transparent about the game's progress and combat disinformation of the game being a scam, including a public commitment that the November 2023 would be set and final. However, with this came with a further revelation that they had no marketing team and that all their resources went into game development (lightly muddied by their earlier confirmation that their workers were unpaid volunteers), provoking further concerns that them acting on damage control was only stretching progress even further. [[DiggingYourselfDeeper Not helping matters]] was how the game did end up experiencing yet more last-minute delays, this time with the PC version launching on December 2023, and only in Early Access. Meanwhile, the expected console releases on the [=PlayStation=] 5 and Xbox Series X and S were delayed indefinitely.

** The Early Access launch date finally arrived, only for it to be met with a cataclysmic response as it was discovered that [[NeverTrustATrailer virtually nothing about the game was as advertised]] -- instead of an open-world zombie MMO, ''The Day Before'' was effectively a half-baked [[LooterShooter extraction shooter]] with almost no zombies in it whatsoever, filled with AI-generated art and stock assets (the entire city environment turning out to be an Unreal store asset), [[ObviousBeta as well as server instability and many, many bugs]]. The overwhelmingly nuclear backlash -- from social media, to Steam reviews (the game quickly becoming one of the worst-reviewed games on the platform), to the game's own official Discord server (which quickly became locked from complaints of angry customers demanding refunds) -- led to Fntastic announcing a mere four days later that both ''The Day Before'' [[CreatorKiller and the company as a whole were folding]] due to having "failed financially," with the game becoming delisted almost immediately.

** The Early Access launch date finally arrived, only for it to be met with a cataclysmic response as it was discovered that [[NeverTrustATrailer virtually nothing about the game was as advertised]] -- instead of an open-world zombie MMO, ''The Day Before'' was effectively a half-baked [[LooterShooter extraction shooter]] with almost no zombies in it whatsoever, filled with art assets from AI and other stock platforms (the entire city environment turning out to be an Unreal store asset), [[ObviousBeta as well as server instability and many, many bugs]]. The overwhelmingly nuclear backlash -- from social media, to Steam reviews (the game quickly becoming one of the worst-reviewed games on the platform), to the game's own official Discord server (which quickly became locked from complaints of angry customers demanding refunds) -- led to Fntastic announcing a mere four days later that both ''The Day Before'' [[CreatorKiller and Fntastic as a whole were folding]] due to having "failed financially," with the game becoming delisted almost immediately.

* ''The Day Before'' was originally announced in 2021 as a new, open-world ZombieApocalypse MMO by Russian game studio Fntastic, quickly becoming a hotly-anticipated title (becoming the most wishlisted game on Steam almost immediately following its announcement), but ended up experiencing a multitude of behind-the-scenes troubles and scuffles with the public that resulted in a cataclysmic launch:

** ''[=H1Z1=]: King of the Kill'' attained a spike in positive attention around 2017 following the rise of ''VideoGame/PlayerUnknownsBattlegrounds'' and later ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}''[[note]](In an odd twist of fate, Daybreak initially brought on Brendan "[=PlayerUnknown=]" Greene -- back when he was simply known for producing a popular battle royale mod in ''VideoGameDayZ'' -- as a consultant for ''King of the Kill'', but following this period, he was later picked up by (what was then named) Bluehole Games to produce ''VideoGame/PlayerUnknownsBattlegrounds'')[[/note]], but soon found itself unable to keep up with the competition of them and other battle royale titles. By the time of its eventual release from Early Access in February 2018 (as well as a UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 release in August 2018), Daybreak had been struggling with deciding on and implementing features to give itself an edge from other titles, from suddenly announcing then adding in an "Auto Royale" game mode based on VehicularCombat, to the game initially launching with a $20 price tag, only to be reverted to a free-to-play a mere week later. The game's title was also in flux, with Daybreak periodically ditching the ''King of the Kill'' subtitle and [[PostReleaseRetitle just referring to the game once again as]] ''[=H1Z1=]''.

** Just like its previous namesake, ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfareIII'' faced a hectic production. Originally conceived as an expansion for ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfareII'' by Sledgehammer Games, due to another ''Call of Duty'' game in development being delayed, the team were forced by Activision to instead retool the game to make it a full-fledged sequel in just a year and a half in time to meet the franchise's yearly quota, which was half the time it took to make a regular ''Call of Duty'' game. Crunch time was apparent, with many employees working nights and weekends just to get the game out on time. But the game's single player campaign suffered the most; the original plot was thrown out and retooled tremendously, and the resulting story campaign was met with negative reviews by critics and fans for its lackluster plot and overuse of cutscenes.