10 Games That Were CANCELED in 2025
10 Games That Were Canceled in 2025
Welcome to MojoPlays, and the hits just keep on coming in a year marred by constant layoffs and studio closures. Along with all this unfortunate business comes the cancellation of many games fans had been waiting years to play. Here are ten that got axed in 2025.
Sony Live Service Games (Canceled)
Sony’s push for live service games this generation has been an unquestionable disaster, leading to not only numerous cancellations, but also studio closures and countless millions of dollars that could have been spent on games that PlayStation fans ACTUALLY wanted. After the disastrous “Concord,” Sony thankfully reworked this strategy, leading to multiple live service cancellations this year, including unannounced titles such as Bluepoint Games’ apparent live service “God of War” title, and yet another looter shooter in the already overcrowded market from Bend Studio. Considering the equally negative reception to Bungie’s extraction-themed reboot of their “Marathon” series, let’s hope these cancellations are only the beginning of the end for Sony’s live service gamble. Fairgames is next guaranteed.
John Romero’s Game (Canceled)
It says a lot about the state of the industry when even the godfather of first-person shooters can’t get his latest game over the finish line. Although John Romero hasn’t been as prominent a name in the industry as he once was, he’s still working and was deep into production on his next unnamed game. Pitched as a “AAA” first-person shooter experience with potential future franchisablity, after the announcement of the new project in 2022, news went dark about the game until its recent cancellation in 2025. Although the details were sparse, Romero reported that funding had been pulled, and their publishing deal would no longer be moving forward. Romero reportedly is still hoping to shop his next big title around to other publishers, but as of right now, the project seems DOOMed.
“Forza Motorsport” Series (2005-25)
In the first of many appearances on this list, Microsoft made the shocking decision to end their prominent racing sim “Forza Motorsport,” while the series’ spin-off series, “Forza Horizon,” would continue the “Forza” series going forward. “Forza Motorsport” was Microsoft’s answer to PlayStation’s “Gran Turismo” series and was moderately successful during its run, offering players realistic racing, car customization, and gorgeous recreations of licensed vehicles that rivaled the “Gran Turismo” series. However, the Motorsport series couldn’t compete with Horizon in terms of critical reception among fans and critics, as well as “Horizon,” completely eclipsing Motorsport in sales. More than half of Turn 10’s staff was laid off, and those remaining would become a support studio for Playground Games and the “Forza Horizon” series, while the recent “Forza Motorsport” reboot will be the series’ final lap.
“Outriders 2” (Canceled)
One of the earliest “next gen” games players got, “Outriders” had its share of issues, but was a mostly enjoyable third-person multiplayer looter shooter experience that wasn’t over-encumbered by the microtransaction and battle pass heavy offerings we all suffer through today. The cover-based shooting and gunplay were satisfying, and despite some technical issues, the game was graphically a tier above the rest at launch. If you managed to team up with a couple of friends, it offered a decent old-school co-op experience sorely missing in shooters these days. However, despite hopes for a sequel to build on the core elements, notoriously miserable Square Enix was disappointed with the game’s overall sales -because they always are- Square Enix canceled the sequel, amid behind-the-scenes turmoil between the developer and publisher, despite the game reportedly being close to completion.
“XDefiant” (Canceled)
We’re technically cheating a bit with this one because the cancellation was announced in December 2024, but the game was officially shut down in June 2025, so we’re counting it. Ubisoft has made no shortage of baffling decisions over the last decade, from their incessant push for NFTs to their attempts to over-monetize every franchise they own. Attempting to jump into the over-crowded live service market, Ubisoft launched “XDefiant” to strong initial player numbers that quickly faded away as players returned to their preferred shooter of choice once the launch novelty wore off. With dwindling player numbers and public interest, Ubisoft decided to shut down the game entirely, citing the lack of players being insufficient to justify the continued financial investment. At the very least, some players were able to request refunds, whatever consolation that might be.
“Everwild” (Canceled)
Any new title from Rare is a reason to get excited, but after being formally announced in 2019 and then going relatively radio silent for years, almost no one expected this new, ambitious-looking title to survive to release. Despite constant reassurances from both Microsoft and Rare themselves that development was progressing, despite internally being “rebooted,” fans long predicted Rare’s latest was trapped in development hell. The art style was gorgeous, the no-combat approach to gameplay was intriguing, but with little else to go on, fans gradually lost interest. Despite Phil Spencer claiming to have played the game as recently as late 2024, Microsoft officially canceled “Everwild” in July 2025 with many other high-profile titles in a purge that sent shockwaves through the industry.
“Earthblade” (Canceled)
Attempting to follow up the breakout success of indie darling “Celeste” was always going to be a struggle taller than that game’s mountain. After formally announcing their next game, “Earthblade,” in 2022, “Earthblade” was officially canceled by January 2025. Despite production seemingly maintaining a consistent schedule, developer Extremely OK Games announced the game wasn’t progressing as much as they hoped. The departure of key members due to disagreements about the IP rights of “Celeste” most certainly strained production. Pitched as a pixel metroidvania platformer in which players explore an Earth reclaimed by nature, the announcement of the game’s cancellation was a devastating blow to fans, although Extremely OK Games states they will continue creating games, just on a smaller scale than “Earthblade.”
“Wonder Woman” (Canceled)
After creating some of the best “Lord of the Rings” games of all time, Monolith was tasked with bringing their innovative and copyrighted Nemesis System to DC and in 2021 were announced to be developing a Wonder Woman game. While many questioned how the system would really work in practice, and seemingly developer Monolith had the same struggles fans feared as production was repeatedly shut down and started again along with constant creative lead switch ups. With nothing more than a concept teaser and reportedly one hundred million dollars invested and nothing to show for it, WB announced not only the cancellation of “Wonder Woman,” but also the closure of Monolith Studios. This shut down also effectively locked the renowned Nemesis System in limbo as WB greedily copyrighted the game mechanic and then shuttered the only studio who knew how to use it.
“Black Panther” (Canceled)
While we’re still getting a Black Panther adventure from Amy Hennig -eventually- the King of Wakanda’s other big outing from EA and Cliffhanger Games will never set foot outside the walls of Wakanda. As part of a deal with Marvel, “Black Panther” was to be a single-player open-world game developed by many industry veterans, including devs from “God of War,” “Halo,” and “Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor,” among others. It’s unknown how far into production it was, as both the game and the studio had only been announced in 2023. Besides some leaked concept art, not much else is known about the game besides the inclusion of the Skrulls. EA still has multiple Marvel projects in the works, including an Iron Man title, but for whatever reason, “Black Panther” didn’t make the cut. Maybe EA just couldn’t figure out how to over-monetize it.
“Perfect Dark” (Canceled)
If there was any game on this list that anyone following it knew wasn’t ever going to see the light of day, it was “Perfect Dark.” In development by The Initiative, a studio formed by Microsoft in 2018 as a “AAAA” studio to compete with Sony’s single-player output. So naturally, anticipation was high for what the team would create. Revealed in 2020, the reboot of “Perfect Dark” would then go through a tumultuous development cycle with numerous studio heads leaving The Initiative, and Crystal Dynamics was brought on to co-develop the title. However, somehow, even this wasn’t enough to get the game out the door. A gameplay trailer was finally revealed in 2024, showcasing gameplay closer to “Deus Ex” than “Perfect Dark,” and received a mixed fan reception. Almost a year later, the game was canceled, the studio closed, and seven years of development and millions of dollars went down the drain.
Which game cancellation in 2025 disappointed you the most? Share your picks in the comments.
