This is a list of cancelled Xbox 360 video games. The Xbox 360 is a video game console released by Microsoft in 2005. It was their second console, following the original Xbox's 2001 release. The platform was a success, and went on to being the best selling Western-developed console to date, with rich software support from third party game publishers. Despite this, factors like increased budget and scope involved with the move into high-definition video game development lead to the cancellation of games. This list documents all known games that were confirmed for the Xbox 360 at some point, but did not end up being released for it in any capacity.[1][2][3][4]
There are currently 39 games on this list.[a]
| Title(s) | Notes/Reasons | Developer | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aero-Cross | As part of Namco Generations, a line of modern remakes of classic Namco arcade games, a revival of the arcade game Metro-Cross (1985) was announced in 2010 for release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. However, Namco remained silent for some time regarding the game's progress until 2012, when it was announced that Aero-Cross had been cancelled and there would be no further Namco Generations games.[5][6] | Namco Bandai Games | Namco Bandai Games |
| Alhambra | A video game adaption of the Alhambra board game was announced for the Xbox 360 in 2006, but was cancelled due to "unforseen circumstances" by 2008.[7][8] | Microsoft | Microsoft |
| Ashes Cricket 2013 | Originally released on PC to scathing reviews, the game was shortly after pulled from Steam, and planned console versions for Wii U, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 were cancelled.[9][10] | Trickstar Games | 505 Games |
| The Avengers | Afirst-person brawler video game set to be released in 2012 to coincide with the release of the 2012 film of the same name was announced for many platforms, Xbox 360 included. However, THQ's financial difficulties at the time led to multiple games being delayed or cancelled, and with this project being tied to the timing of the film's release, it was ultimately scrapped and not released on any platforms.[11][12][13] | Blue Tongue Entertainment | THQ |
| Banjo-Kazooie remake | Prior to developing Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (2008), members of Rare's team proposed creating a remake of the original Banjo-Kazooie where the characters became aware they were in a remake and were repeating actions they had already done in the original game, which in effect would lead to characters acting differently, with the remake eventually branching off into very different events from the original game. The idea was rejected by management due to fears of how the game would be perceived; concurrently worrying that some would be unhappy that it wasn't completely a new game, while others would never play far enough to realize how much it differed from the original game.[14][15] | Rare | Microsoft |
| Beyond Good and Evil 2 | Announced in 2008 as a sequel to the original Beyond Good and Evil (2003) in development for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms. As of 2024, the game is still in-development and unreleased on any platform, though the developers announced that development had moved on to more powerful hardware, as both of its original platforms were deemed too under-powered for their ambitious plans for the game.[16][3] | Ubisoft Montpellier | Ubisoft |
| Black Widow | An action game in which players battled aliens using a giant spider mech capable of climbing most objects and surfaces. The game never moved beyond the prototype phase, but the Black Widow itself was planned to be reused in Kameo 2, which was also never released. While not officially announced prior to its cancellation, the game's existence was publicly revealed through a retrospective documentary featuring concept art and development footage, released as a bonus feature in Rare's anniversary compilation game Rare Replay (2015).[17] | Rare | Microsoft |
| Call of Duty: Devil's Brigade | ACall of Duty entry by Underground Development was cancelled after nine months of development in March 2008. While no one reason lead to its cancellation, the massive success of Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, the Activision Blizzard merger, and Underground Development's closure shortly afterwards all complicated plans for its release.[18][19] | Underground Development | Activision |
| Cipher Complex | First announced in 2006 as Edge of Reality's first attempt to create their own IP after many years of creating licensed games or ports for other companies. The game was described as a new sort of stealth-based game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but the game never materialized and Edge of Reality eventually went out of business.[4][7][20] | Edge of Reality | Sega |
| Dead or Alive: Code Chronos | Announced by Team Ninja head Tomonobu Itagaki in 2005 as a prequel game to the Dead or Alive series that explored the origin stories of characters Kasumi and Ayane. Itagaki left the company in 2008, and the new lead, Yousuke Hayashi announced in 2010 that the team had ceased work on the project five years prior. Formal development had not started, and they had only created a basic framework for its design prior to its cancellation.[21][3] | Team Ninja | Tecmo |
| Devil's Third | Initially beginning as an Xbox 360 exclusive to be published by Microsoft Game Studios, the partnership fell through and THQ picked up the game, planning to release it on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. These plans were dropped as a result of THQ's bankruptcy, and the game would eventually be published by Nintendo in 2016 as a Wii U exclusive.[22] | Valhalla Game Studios | THQ |
| Division 9 | Afirst-person shooter game announced for the Xbox 360 and PC platforms. The game involved survival horror elements where the player would havet avoid zombies, with gameplay similar to the Left 4 Dead series. The game was cancelled due to a lack of faith in the popularity of its premise.[4] | Irrational Games | Take Two Interactive |
| Epic Mickey | Development for the game was originally started as a PlayStation 3, PC, and Xbox 360 release. The rise of the popularity of Nintendo's Wii platform lead to Disney reps asking if a Wii version could be developed too. When developers expresed concern with getting a Wii version up and running as well due to its very different hardware, after further review, they felt a Wii release was most important, and cancelled all other versions before releasing the game on the Wii in 2010.[23][24] | Junction Point Studios | Disney Interactive Studios |
| The Fast and the Furriest | A proposed racing video gamebyRare for the Xbox 360 as a spiritual successor to Diddy Kong Racing (1997). The game would have featured various playable characters from other Rare games, such as Joanna Dark and Banjo & Kazooie, and would have allowed players to customize their vehicles and alter the track during a race. While concept art and assets were created, the game never entered full production. While not officially announced prior to its cancellation, the game's existence was publicly revealed through a retrospective documentary featuring concept art and development footage, released as a bonus feature in Rare's anniversary compilation game Rare Replay (2015).[17][25] | Rare | Microsoft |
| Untitled Halo MMO / Project Titan | An entry in the Halo franchise that would have played as a massively multiplayer online game was in development for the Xbox 360. While never officially announced, many details were leaked in 2008, and reported upon by the video game press after the fact. The game was reportedly in development across 2006 and 2007. The game was prototyped, but only screenshots of gameplay were leaked onto the internet. The game was confirmed as cancelled by 2008, and Ensemble closed down the following year.[4][26] | Ensemble Studios | Microsoft |
| Harker | A video game based on Bram Stoker's Dracula. Announced in 2007, the game was placed on hiatus, and later cancelled, so the team could focus on developing Silent Hill: Homecoming (2008) instead.[27][3] | Double Helix Games | Konami |
| Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings | A video game in the Indiana Jones franchise was in development for the Xbox 360 for 5 years between 2004 and 2009. The plan had been to create a high budget version of the game for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC platforms as a collaboration between LucasArts and Bethesda Softworks, and outsource different low-budget versions for weaker platforms such as the Wii and PlayStation 2 to smaller developers. Development issues lead to many delays and a full reboot of the project, and the lack of progress, combined with the company's fear of being unable to compete with the critically acclaimed Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (2007), lead to the eventual cancellation of the high-end versions of the game, while the low-end budget releases ended up being the only ones to release.[28][4] | Bethesda Softworks | LucasArts |
| Kameo 2 | A sequel to Kameo: Elements of Power (2005) was in development by Rare for the Xbox 360 following the completion of the original title. The title would have featured a darker fantasy world, now upgraded with industrial revolution-era technology. A playable prototype was created, but the game was ultimately cancelled for undisclosed reasons. While not officially announced prior to its cancellation, the game's existence was publicly revealed through a retrospective documentary featuring concept art and development footage, released as a bonus feature in Rare's anniversary compilation game Rare Replay (2015). [25] | Rare | Microsoft |
| Killing Day | Afirst-person shooter announced by Ubisoft as a showcase of what was possible with the then-new Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 hardware. First announced and shown in video form at E3 2005, Ubisoft went quiet on the project shortly afterwards, and it never materialized in an capacity. The game was cancelled midway through development, though patent renewals for the name still occurred well after the fact in 2009 and 2013.[3][29] | Ubisoft | Ubisoft |
| The Lord of the Rings: The White Council | Announced in 2006 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3asElectronic Art's answer to Skyrim utilizing the AI from The Sims's games. However, it was cancelled in the following year, with EA reportedly unhappy with initial progress with the game. EA partnered with Pandemic Studios to create The Lord of the Rings: Conquest (2009) instead.[30][3] | EA Redwood Shores | Electronic Arts |
| Mega Man Universe | A 2.5D entry in the Mega Man series was announced in 2010 for digital release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, functioning as both a remake of Mega Man 2 (1988) and a creation suite that would allow players to customize their own characters and levels. Following the departure of Mega Man series producer Keiji Inafune later that year, news on the game went silent until March 2011, when it was officially cancelled. In a subsequent interview, Capcom's Christian Svensson explained that while Universe was "pretty far in production", the quality of the game did not meet the company's standards, leading to the decision to cancel the game.[31][32] | Capcom | Capcom |
| Mortal Kombat X | Initially announced alongside versions for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions were delayed past the other versions' release due to development difficulties. Eventually, it was announced that the two versions had been cancelled due to NetherRealm's inability to get the game running at acceptable quality on the older consoles.[33] | NetherRealm Studios | Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment |
| NBA Elite 11 | Following several releases in the NBA Live series, EA Sports attempted to rebrand the series as NBA Elite. However, the inaugural entry suffered heavy development troubles, and after delaying the release, the decision was made to cancel it entirely a week before its intended street date, with subsequent games returning to the NBA Live name. Despite the cancellation, some PlayStation 3 copies had already been shipped to stores and have since become rare collector's items.[34][35] | EA Canada | EA Sports |
| Necessary Force | A new IP announced in 2009 to help set apart the financially struggling Midway Games from other video game companies during the poor economy of the time. The game was to combine aspects of Grand Theft Auto'sopen world with element of film noir. However, Warner Bros buyout of Midway resulted in the company's closure and the game's ultimate cancellation.[36][37][4] | Midway Studios Newcastle | Midway Games |
| The Outsider | First announced in 2005 as a showpiece of what was possible with the then-upcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 hardware, the game experienced a protracted 5-6 years of development time, followed by years of limbo status, before it was declared "stopped" and "probably gone for good" by a head developer in 2014. The was centered around a CIA Agent who was wrongly accused of a crime, and his efforts as a fugitive to clear his name. While no official reason was given for its cancellation, reports indicated that the developers may have struggled with the game's open ended nature, as the game was to present the player with many ways paths and endings through the game. They struggled to find a publisher for the game as well.[3][38] | Frontier Developments | |
| Project CARS | Originally announced for the Xbox 360, Wii U, PlayStation 3,and Windows, the PS3 and 360 versions were cancelled in favor of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions, while the Wii U version was cancelled.[39][40][41] | Slightly Mad Studios | Bandai Namco |
| Untitled Road Rash reboot | A reboot of the franchise was announce in 2006 — the first new entry in 16 years — for the Xbox 360. The game never materialized, though some early concept art for the game leaked onto the internet in the following years.[4][42][43] | Electronic Arts | Electronic Arts |
| Sacrilegium | Originally announced as a survival horror game coming to the Xbox 360, Wii U, PlayStation 3, and PC platforms, the game never released in any capacity.[44] | Reality Pump Studios | TopWare Interactive |
| Shantae: Half-Genie Hero | Following a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2013, development began on a fourth entry in the Shantae series for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and Windows. In August 2016, it was confirmed that the 360 and PS3 versions had been cancelled, while the other announced ports all released in December of that year. Wayforward noted that less than 1% of Kickstarter backers cited 360 and PS3 as their preferred console in surveys, and felt this low demand would not justify the time and cost needed to develop these versions.[45] | WayForward | WayForward |
| Six Days in Fallujah | First announced in 2009, the game was met with significant criticism and controversy given its subject matter and tone. As a result, Konami chose to no longer publish the game in 2010, with Atomic Games declaring bankruptcy the following year after being unable to find a new publisher. In 2021, it was announced that development had restarted under Highwire Games, and the game eventually received an early access release in 2023 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.[46][47] | Atomic Games | Konami |
| Star Wars Rogue Squadron: X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter | After the cancellation of the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron compilation for the original Xbox, the team moved on to creating a new title in the series as a launch title for the Xbox 360. The title would have emphasized online multiplayer, a first for the series. However, publisher LucasArts was concerned about the financial risk of creating a launch title, and cancelled the game.[48][49] | Factor 5 | LucasArts |
| Stormlands / Defiance | The game was never announced publicly during its extensive development period, but rather detailed by Eurogamer well after the fact in 2017. Development started in 2006 on the Xbox 360 as a third person action role playing game in the vein of Fallout: New Vegas running on the Dungeon Siege 3 game engine. The team created a pitch demo on the 360 that managed to greenlight the project with Microsoft, but the game would experience years of revisions and changes at the request of Microsoft. As the game shifted to being an Xbox One launch title, complications of scope and technology accumulated, and Microsoft eventually cancelled the game in 2012. Some work on the game was salvaged to be used in their future PC release Tyranny (2016).[50] | Obsidian Entertainment | Microsoft |
| Sundown | A survival horror game set in a post-apocalyptic world, with players gathering weapons and supplies during the day and having to defend themselves from infected mutants at night. A prototype was produced during a company game jam, but the project ultimately did not enter full production. While not officially announced prior to its cancellation, the game's existence was publicly revealed through a retrospective documentary featuring concept art and development footage, released as a bonus feature in Rare's anniversary compilation game Rare Replay (2015).[17] | Rare | Microsoft |
| Tailwind | A flight-based game in which players control a courier piloting an aircraft to make deliveries, using their money earned to purchase new aircraft and access new contracts. The game never moved beyond the prototype phase. While not officially announced prior to its cancellation, the game's existence was publicly revealed through a retrospective documentary featuring concept art and development footage, released as a bonus feature in Rare's anniversary compilation game Rare Replay (2015).[17] | Rare | Microsoft |
| Tekken X Street Fighter | Announced in 2010 alongside the Capcom-developed Street Fighter X Tekken (2012), which featured characters from the Street Fighter and Tekken franchises in Street Fighter-based 2D battles, Tekken X Street Fighter was Bandai Namco's take on the crossover and would have featured 3D Tekken-style gameplay. However, the game entered development hell that extended beyond the lifespan of the Xbox 360; to date, the project has been on hold since 2016, with no indication that it will be released.[51][52] | Bandai Namco | Bandai Namco |
| This Is Vegas | Anopen world video game centered around the activities in Las Vegas. Announced in 2008, it was cancelled in 2010 after Midway Games went bankrupt and their assets were acquired by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. No official reason was given, but the game's budget up to that point was already at 50 million USD, a massive amount for a game at that time.[53][3] | Surreal Software | Midway Games/Warner Bros. |
| WarDevil / Project Kane | Originally announced as WarDevil in 2004 for the PlayStation 3, an Xbox 360 version was later announced as well. The game was planned to be similar in concept to the Dynasty Warriors by Digi-Guys, a newly created developer subsidiary by publisher Ignition Entertainment. The game went through a lengthy and difficult 7 year development period, including a brief rebrand/reworking of the game as Project Kane to salvage work done on it, but it was ultimately cancelled, with Ignition going out of business shortly afterwards.[54][3] | Digi-Guys | Ignition Entertainment |
| WWE Brawl | A new WWE wrestling game, WWE Brawl, was announced in 2011 for release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. Unlike THQ's annual WWE releases, Brawl was a spin-off intended to be a more fast paced party fighting game akin to Super Smash Bros.orPower Stone. However, the game was never released, presumably due to THQ's financial difficulties at the time. In 2024, a prototype of a previously-unknown Nintendo 3DS version was found and shared online.[55][56] | THQ | THQ |
| Zoombies: Animales de la Muerte | First announced exclusively for WiiWare in 2008, this version was cancelled in 2011 when the developers failed to keep the game within the WiiWare size limits. While PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were announced as replacements, those too were cancelled, and the game only saw release for iOS mobile devices in 2013.[57][58] | High Voltage Software | MTV Games |
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