With 2016 in the books, it's important to note how many games that we thought would never see the light of day actually released. The three most notable titles were The Last Guardian, Final Fantasy XV and Owlboy, all of which had development periods pushing a decade.
The year 2016 was their year to shine, as all of them had a triumphant return from Development Hell – a place few live to tell about – and were mostly well-received.
But those games weren't the last survivors of Development Hell; there are still scores more trying to avoid being forgotten. Which of them will actually release? Better yet, which of them are doomed to a life of uncertainty, and which ones could be canceled altogether?
5 Games That Might Get Out Of Development Hell In 2017
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Prey
Prey has gone through quite the roller-coaster of development, originally being pitched as a straight-up sequel before moving through a console generation and being reborn as a quasi-reboot. rn rnBut, all signs point to a release date of early-to-mid 2017, making Prey the most likely candidate to get out of Development Hell. While I could see maybe a slight delay to Q3 or Q4, I don't see this dropping out of the year entirely. rn rnNow that all eyes are on Arkane Studios after their shaky launch of Dishonored 2, they can't afford more controversy. -
Agent
I probably can't summarize Agent's crazy road to Development Hell any better than our own Jonathan Leack already did.
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rnSuffice it to say, the only news we've had on Agent in seven years is that Take-Two Interactive renewed their trademark in December. I'd wager that's just a clerical necessity and it's likely this game is kaput. -
Final Fantaxy VII Remake
We have to give the Final Fantasy series credit: Final Fantasy XV was, in fact, released in 2016, despite the doubts of gamers everywhere.
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rnBut that doesn't mean Square Enix is out of the woods just yet. They've also promised us a remake of one of the series' most beloved installments, Final Fantasy VII. Is it going to happen?
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rnIn spite of a teasing segment showcased in 2015, we're not holding our breath for this one. Knowing this series' history, we'd be holding our breath for another decade or so. -
5 Games That Might Get Out Of Development Hell In 2017
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Dead Island 2
A game that has been in development since 2012, at least, Dead Island 2 has made very little what you could call progress. They had a small gameplay demonstration a few years back, but that was with their second development team.
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rnDeep Silver is now on their third developer, Sumo Digital, who last spoke about Dead Island 2 in June of 2016. This was three months after they came on to the project.
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rnI'd wager we hear an official cancelation announcement before we ring in 2018. -
(Bonus) Phantom Dust Remake or New Title For Xbox One
The cult following of Phantom Dust is hard to quantify, for a game debuting on the original Xbox that only barely made it to North America.
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rnBut the people who like this game a lot have been jerked around quite a bit. Originally a remake of the game was announced for Xbox One in 2014, but Developer Darkside Studios, who was attached to the project, shuddered in 2015, sending that project to Development Hell.
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rnPhil Spencer has gone on record saying that another Phantom Dust game - not necessarily a remake - could be on the horizon. Meanwhile, the remake is still reported to happen this year, but no specifics leads me to believe this report is dubious, at best. -
Crackdown 3
It looks like Crackdown 3, Microsoft's upcoming open-world action game, will actually happen in 2017 - maybe.
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rnDespite being announced in 2014, we've seen very little of the much-anticipated sequel. While I'm mostly confident this will come out this year, it's also scheduled for the Holiday season of 2017, which puts it on that end-of-year bubble where many games often get pushed back.
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rnWe'll see.
