CD Projekt Red’s upcoming open-world RPG, Cyberpunk 2077, was announced in 2012, with a trailer dropping the following year. The game went radio silent until 2018 when real footage was actually shown at E3. With this incredibly long development cycle and numerous delays, many are wondering if the game is actually in deep trouble.
To both assuage concerns and give them rational reason to worry, the following list presents ten games with equally long or longer development times. Five of them turned out okay, great even, and the other five could have used more time in the oven or should have been cancelled altogether.
10 Did Not Turn Out Fine: Duke Nukem Forever
After spending over a decade in development and fear of cancellation after developer 3D Realms underwent some significant restructuring, Gearbox salvaged Duke Nukem Forever and completed it. Unfortunately, it suffers from the long development. Levels feel disjointed, with Duke popping up in seemingly random places at the start of each stage. However, the old school shooting mechanics and classic Duke Nukem attitude give the game a certain charm, helping it stand out from other 2011 first-person shooters.
9 Turned Out Fine: Doom
Development on a followup to Doom 3 started almost immediately after the third entry hit shelves. However, it hit many troubles in its attempt to bring the action to earth. Many on the development team thought the more cinematic approach veered away from the franchise’s identity. Eventually, development completely restarted and the game turned into the 2016 Doom reboot. The only thing from the original Doom 4 the new game kept was the melee executions.
8 Didn’t Turn Out Fine: The Last Guardian
Originally meant for the PlayStation 3, The Last Guardian from Team Ico was simply too ambitious for Sony’s third console. Only after years without any new updates did the project finally reemerge with an announcement on the PS4. While a decent game, it did not live up to the high standard set by its spiritual predecessors, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. People were mostly glad just to see the game release, but it would have been more impressive if it came out when it was supposed to.
7 Turned Out Fine: Dreams
While only announced in 2015, Media Molecule said as far back as 2012 they were working on two games, with one of them being Tearaway while the other went unnamed.
Dreams’ ambition seemed too good to be true; letting players create any type of game or art project using the wide variety of tools. Creating something might be too complicated for some, but even those without a creative bone in their body can spend forever enjoying other’s creations.
6 Didn’t Turn Out Fine: Final Fantasy 15
Upon its original announcement in 2005, Final Fantasy 15 was originally called Final Fantasy Versus 13. The name was changed when it reemerged in 2013 with an announcement of it coming to the PS4 and Xbox One. The released product was far from the worst Final Fantasy has seen, but was justly criticized for several aspects, including an odd narrative structure and gaps in the plot filled in with paid DLC chapters. Fortunately, a steady stream of updates have dramatically improved upon the adventure.
5 Turned Out Fine: Mother 3
Development on a sequel to Earthbound started in 1994 for the Super Nintendo before it was transitioned to the N64. By 2000, the project was dead in the water. Then, in 2003 development kicked off once more for the Game Boy Advance. While it did not utilizing cutting edge technology, Mother 3 remains recognizable as an entry in the series. The story is quirky, darkly comedic, and extremely difficult. The game is officially only available in Japan, though fan translations exist.
4 Didn’t Turn Out Fine: Aliens: Colonial Marines
Unfortunately, this title did not turn out as good as the first two films in the franchise on which it is based. A game with a similar title was in development and cancelled in the early aughts.
Gearbox was then contracted to bring the title back to life, a process which was interrupted by Borderlands’ success. All the various problems caused Aliens: Colonial Marines to release in a hilariously broken state.
3 Turned Out Fine: Team Fortress 2
Development on Team Fortress 2 started in 1998 shortly after the developer of the original mod was acquired by Valve. Early builds had a more realistic look to it, but the transition to the source engine came with a more cartoony art style reminiscent of a Pixar film. Even after a nine year development cycle, the game was not done being tinkered with. In 2011, the game went free-to-play and is functionally unrecognizable to the 2007 release. Those yearning for the vanilla experience can still pop the Orange Box into their PS3.
2 Didn’t Turn Out Fine: Too Human
Too Human? more like too long to make. This Xbox 360 game first showed up at E3 1999 as a PS1 title, with the intention of putting the game on four separate discs. The final game did not come out until 2008, and complaints ranged from a dull visual presentation to poor controls. Sadly, Too Human is unavailable for purchase and impossible to find unless one already has a disc due to a lawsuit regarding the developer’s use of Unreal Engine 3 forcing the studio to destroy all copies of the game.
1 Turned Out Fine: Diablo 3
Development on Diablo 3 started in 2001 before getting nowhere. The title eventually started up again years later and was announced in 2008. Despite its announcement, it would take another four years to see the dungeon crawler release. Some were turned off by the art style, but the gameplay is an endlessly addictive loop of continually obtaining better gear. Diablo 4 has been announced, but is still likely several years away. Until the fourth game comes out, Diablo 3 will still be entertaining fans.
