Post by Morreion on Aug 21, 2014 16:25:39 GMT -5
The Game Archaeologist: Six more MMOs that never made it to launch (Massively)
1. Hero's Journey
Imagine an MMO where your choices truly did matter, where NPCs and the world reacted to you differently after a decision was made. This was the hook of Hero's Journey, which was announced all the way back in 1999, took its sweet time being made through the 2000s, and was ultimately canned when developer Simutronics suffered layoffs in 2009.
Not only did Hero's Journey look great, but the tantalizing promise of "choices will matter" kept fans hoping long after the real hope was gone. The title did score good press and awards at E3 in 2005 and 2006, but ultimately it led to nothing. Actually, scratch that: Work on Hero's Journey did produce the HeroEngine, which became the chosen game engine of Star Wars: The Old Republic, so in a small way that project did live on.
6. Stargate Worlds
I never quite hopped on the Stargate fan train the way some folks did, so for the entirety of the multiple series' run, I've been looking at it from the outside. I have no idea how huge a fanbase the show got, but it was mildly surprising to me to see that an MMO was going to be made out of it. Cool, but surprising.
The world-hopping MMO had a promising start when it first started to take form in 2006. Stargate Worlds had the blessing of the copyright owners and worked with the TV staff to make it adhere as closely to the franchise that the fans knew. However, development faltered and stuttered over the next four years, eventually ending in some legal issues and a Chapter 11 filing for Cheyanne Mountain Entertainment and the end of the licensing deal between the studio and the owners. CME did put out an online third-person shooter in 2010 called Stargate: Resistance... which lasted for about a year before that too got shuttered.
1. Hero's Journey
Imagine an MMO where your choices truly did matter, where NPCs and the world reacted to you differently after a decision was made. This was the hook of Hero's Journey, which was announced all the way back in 1999, took its sweet time being made through the 2000s, and was ultimately canned when developer Simutronics suffered layoffs in 2009.
Not only did Hero's Journey look great, but the tantalizing promise of "choices will matter" kept fans hoping long after the real hope was gone. The title did score good press and awards at E3 in 2005 and 2006, but ultimately it led to nothing. Actually, scratch that: Work on Hero's Journey did produce the HeroEngine, which became the chosen game engine of Star Wars: The Old Republic, so in a small way that project did live on.
6. Stargate Worlds
I never quite hopped on the Stargate fan train the way some folks did, so for the entirety of the multiple series' run, I've been looking at it from the outside. I have no idea how huge a fanbase the show got, but it was mildly surprising to me to see that an MMO was going to be made out of it. Cool, but surprising.
The world-hopping MMO had a promising start when it first started to take form in 2006. Stargate Worlds had the blessing of the copyright owners and worked with the TV staff to make it adhere as closely to the franchise that the fans knew. However, development faltered and stuttered over the next four years, eventually ending in some legal issues and a Chapter 11 filing for Cheyanne Mountain Entertainment and the end of the licensing deal between the studio and the owners. CME did put out an online third-person shooter in 2010 called Stargate: Resistance... which lasted for about a year before that too got shuttered.
