New Cancelled Games & Their Lost Media Added to the Archive

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Star Wars Outpost [PC / Mobile – Cancelled]

U64 Staff & Contributors
08-11-2025
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Star Wars Outpost is a cancelled Real Time Strategy/simulation social network hybrid game developed from 2011 to 2012 by LucasArts Entertainment Singapore for browsers based PC and mobile devices. It was based on the eponymous movie franchise.

The existence of Star Wars Outpost was revealed after its cancellation alongside many others cancelled Star Wars related project during the closure of LucasArts, back in April 2013. At first, it was initially briefly mentionned by an article from Kotaku wrote by Jason Schreier back in September 2013, when we simply could read this:

The list of cancelled projects goes on and on. (…)

There was Outpost, the Star Wars take on Zynga’s FarmVille that would let players build empires, one click at a time.

It is only in January 2016, almost 3 years after the shutdown of LucasArts, that more details, alongside a couple of artworks, about the game emerged. Eurogamer was the first to relay those information:

A long time ago, before Disney‘s acquisition of Star Wars, LucasArts spent two years developing a “hardcore” strategy simulation for PC and mobile devices. And then it quietly cancelled the project, four weeks from completion.

This game was Star Wars Outpost, which was being built by a team of 30 working out of LucasArts’ Singapore office.

We were told Outpost was canned shortly before Disney’s acquisition – at which point other Star Wars games were halted, too. (…)

If you’re thinking you’ve heard Outpost’s name before, then you’re right – reports on the canning of 1313 and First Assault mentioned this third game, although at the time it was only referenced in the vaguest of terms – and described as a Farmville clone.

“The previous leaks mentioned a social game that was supposed to be Star Wars’ answer to Farmville,” the tipster said. “This is absolutely wrong.

“The people who thought [Outpost was a] Farmville game were from the US office. They had no idea about this game either – except just a few key people. This was being made 100 per cent in Singapore.”

At the time of its cancellation, Outpost was “about 90 per cent done”.

“We were just looking for approval to start public beta testing. Instead we got a call they were going to kill the project.”

Rather than a social game clone, Star Wars Outpost was designed to be a “very hardcore” experience. And despite the fact it might look like a game you’d find on Facebook, the title was canned because it was considered too niche.

“The best way to describe the game is if Star Wars met Settlers of Catan/EVE Online,” said the source. “You would take control of an Outpost on a planet within [the Star Wars galaxy]. The land on the planet was finite and so were the resources, so you were forced to search out and find other players. You had choices to either work with them or betray them for their resources.

“You could then start supplying weapons/ships/tools etc. to either the Rebels or the Empire. Supporting each side would control a balance of power where that side could start taking over the Galaxy.”

Nearby players who were allies would slowly become connected to you via networks of roads and trade routes. A world completely controlled by the Rebels or Empire would grant bonuses to the appropriately-aligned Outposts on it.

“It was a very deep game and always running like an MMO, we wanted players to really invest a lot in time,” the source continued.

Outpost also had a working day/night cycle, and an overworld populated by characters who would wander around and interact with the settlements and other characters in it.

But despite its hardcore aspirations, LucasArts was building the game to be as accessible as possible – coded in HTML5 and playable via a browser.

“We did it in 3D but everything was hand painted by artists to make sure we had a nice art style.”

There were deeper plans for Outpost, too. The game’s original design was for it to connect with Star Wars: First Assault, and allow you to create weapons or ships for use in the shooter.

“We had the back-end working but not in-game,” said the source. “Then the players from First Assault could buy those unique weapons and equipment. You could also send in dropship supplies to help a side during the fight.”

All of which makes it more of a shame we’ll never see Outpost. After the game’s cancellation its team was moved on to casual mobile games (“which all got killed also right at the Disney purchase”) while a few were shuffled onto the similarly-defunct Star Wars 1313. After two years of work, Outpost was dead.

In May of the same year, a short trailer showcasing some gameplay leaked onto the internet. According to the main source, the video was part of larger vertical slice demo that’s yet to be found:

When LucasArts still was a company not acquired by Disney, a real time strategy (RTS) Star Wars game was about to be released on PC and mobile devices.

(…)

Now, thanks to Elise Baldwin, who was the Audio Director on Star Wars Outpost, we are able to see a slice demo illustrating the combat mode of the game:

I was the Audio Director on this unannounced title which did not make it to marketplace. It was in development for over a year, during which time it went through three platform/engine pivots. It featured a simulation mode and a tactical combat mode. This video was part of a vertical slice demo illustrating the combat mode.

The death of LucasArts was truly a tragedy for many people, starting with the numerous employees worldwide who were laid off, and many projects, whether or not based on Star Wars, were cancelled both before and during the acquisition by Disney. In addition to Star Wars Outpost, and Star Wars 1313 and First Assault already mentionned above, we can add:

  • a game based on Indiana Jones
  • a 2D physics-based shooter called Caveland that was meant to be an experimental digital title
  • Smuggler, a game designed for cross-platform multiplayer that would let you play as a customizable character within the Star Wars universe, smuggling and trading between Facebook, tablets, and consoles
  • An iOS game called Death Star in which you’d get to control your very own version of the Empire’s space station
  • A Wii U project code-named Wingman that was modeled after the TIE Fighter and X-Wing games. This project would later evolved as Star Wars: First Assault “Version Two” which featured prototypes and elements that didn’t go to the “Version One”.
  • A Star Wars based open world RPG that was led by Clint Hocking
  • A Star Wars take on Grand Theft Auto that was based on a cancelled live action TV show named Star Wars: Underworld. The project would later change direction and evolved as a co-op shooter game similar to Gears of War, that would eventually lead to the first design of Star Wars 1313.

In the recent years, a tech demo of First Assault, alongside the complete Nintendo Wii version of Star Wars: Battlefront 3 leaked online. We can hope that, some day, others cancelled projects may be made available online to allow players to test them or learn more about them.

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Unseen News

Project Flame [PC] – Cancelled

Yassine Bakrim
07-11-2025
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Project Flame was a cancelled 2D run-and-gun game that began development in 2008, originally conceived as a Flash-based title with plans to expand onto PC, iOS, Android, and even consoles (Xbox 360 Arcade). Spearheaded by a Syrian developer based in the UAE alongside a small team of artists and programmers, the project reached a playable demo stage that showcased a couple of levels.

Unfortunately, by 2010, internal disagreements and funding issues led to the team’s dissolution and the eventual cancellation of the game. To preserve its existence, the developer later uploaded the demo to their Behance page, allowing others to experience a glimpse of what Project Flame could have been.

Credit: Huge thanks to TunisianRetroGamer for the discovery

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This video has a few beta differences.

Unseen News

Barbarian/Fuzzy Kittens [PS1] – Early Concept

Yassine Bakrim
16-10-2025
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The Mark of Kri is a stylish and satisfying hack-and-slash title that debuted on the PlayStation 2 before being ported to the PlayStation 4 years later. It made full use of the right analogue stick to streamline combat, delivering a truly revolutionary control system for its time. The game is best remembered for its striking art direction, robust combat mechanics, brutal finishing moves, and impeccable sound design.

Interestingly, the origins of The Mark of Kri trace back to the original PlayStation. During its early development, the project carried the codename Barbarian, before being briefly renamed Fuzzy Kittens on the PS2, and ultimately settling on the title we know today. Below you can see a few early sketches of Rau and Tati from the game’s initial production phase.

Credit: thanks to artist Jeff Merghart.

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Video: Mini-Interview with Jeff Merghart and Dan Mueller

 

Unseen News

Highway Hunter [PS2/Xbox] – Cancelled

Yassine Bakrim
21-09-2025
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Terminal Reality and Midway Games once attempted to revive the vehicular combat genre through their open-world experiment, Roadkill. The game ultimately failed to make an impact, but its original pitch turned out to be far more ambitious. Much of the planned content never made it into the final version, and in fact, the early concept looked almost nothing like what Roadkill became.

The project originally began under the name Highway Hunter. The initial vision included destructible environments, shifting terrain, and an advanced weather system with tornadoes, dust storms, and even natural disasters like volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Anomalies such as radiation zones and toxic waters were also considered. The tone was intended to be much darker than the final game. In the end, only tornadoes carried over into Roadkill. This article takes a closer look at that early pitch. Let’s begin:

The Highway Hunter Pitch

The roots of Highway Hunter can be traced back to 2001, when Terminal Reality set out to push the vehicular combat genre in a new direction with fresh mechanics and a more mature story. According to the design document, the team drew inspiration from a range of sources: films like The Warriors for a planned gang management system, Mad Max for the overall tone, and even reference books such as The Eyewitness series.

One of the first big ideas was to create a combat game in a world that constantly changed. Set in a post-apocalyptic landscape, the setting was meant to feel unstable and dangerous, shaped by ongoing disasters. That’s where the advanced weather system came in, though most of it was eventually cut.

Other early features included a vehicle hijacking system, allowing players to take over cars on the road. Terminal Reality envisioned something closer to the mechanics later seen in Vin Diesel’s Wheelman game, but this never materialised.

Destruction physics were also part of the plan. The team wanted more than just car battles; buildings could collapse under fire, and the environment itself would change over time. The idea was for players to gradually feel the world deteriorating as they played—a concept that was ultimately left on the cutting room floor.

The Planned Story for Highway Hunter

Both Roadkill and Highway Hunter’s story were about revenge, but the way the events started are different. For Roadkill, the main plot was the following:

“In Roadkill, you play as Mason Strong, a survivor of a plague known as “The Rot” that wiped out much of society and left the world in the hands of violent gangs. Mason’s goal is to hunt down Axl and his gang, the Sentinels, who betrayed him. To do this, he takes on jobs for different gangs across the three cities of Hell County—Lava Falls, Blister Canyon, and Paradise City—while engaging in vehicular combat. Along the way, Mason collects vehicle and weapon blueprints, allowing him to upgrade his arsenal and grow stronger.”

However, Highway Hunter’s story was the following:

“Gunn and his crew work as mercenaries in a post-apocalyptic world, forming a working relationship with Major Anspaugh, the city guard chief of New Canaan. They’re paid to escort mysterious pilgrims, who carry strange mechanical parts marked with a winged logo.

While raiding an old military base, Gunn finds another part with the same symbol and gives it to his close friend Low-Prow for safekeeping. But when they deliver more pilgrims, New Canaan’s guards suddenly turn on them, killing Low-Prow, most of the crew, and the pilgrims. Anspaugh steals the winged part and vanishes behind the city gates.Enraged,

Gunn teams up with a vengeful pilgrim girl and the few surviving members of his crew. They set out to infiltrate New Canaan, uncovering that the city is run by insane, tyrannical rulers who enslave outsiders and seek to collect all the winged parts. Their goal? To gain control of deadly war satellites in orbit and rule the post-apocalyptic world.

Now, Gunn is out for revenge and total destruction, ready to bring the city down — one villain at a time.”

Different Main Characters, Same Objective (kinda)

Mason Strong was the main character of Roadkill. Whereas Highway Hunter’s character was called Carson Gunn. Both characters were very different from one another. Look below:

Mason Strong

Carson Gunn

Even the wingmen for both Roadkill and Highway Hunter were slightly different. Let’s check below:

The Cars

The initial cars planned for Highway Hunter were also different from Roadkill, but it is possible that some of these were remade for the final product.

It is unknown why this pitch was cancelled. It is also unknown how far the game progressed in development or if a prototype build still exists or not. All that is known is that Highway Hunter was far too ambitious. Perhaps Midway Games saw it as a risky project and decided to scale it back heavily. We’ll never know. Below, you can also find various concept images of characters that didn’t make it from Highway Hunter

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A fan-documentary video covering the making of Roadkill and other information from producer Jeremy Airey

Unseen News

Legend of Kay: Shaolin Masters [PSP] Cancelled

Yassine Bakrim
14-09-2025
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After covering the cancelled Legend of Kay 2, it was assumed that the team had simply planned to port the sequel to the PSP. In reality, as lead programmer and director Peter Thierolf revealed to me, Legend of Kay: Shaolin Masters was envisioned as something far more interesting. While rooted in the sequel’s framework, it was set to feature its own standalone storyline. The developers intended to expand the universe, finally giving the demon faction a prominent role in the narrative. Combat, too, was slated for a dramatic overhaul, elevating the action beyond the original. Sadly, neither the sequel nor the PSP iteration ever materialised. What remains, however, are glimpses of what could have been—concept artwork from the PSP project and even a video chronicling its planned story.

P.S.: Don’t be confused if you find out that the article on Legend of Kay 2 features the same images. That is because the PSP game was also going to borrow some assets from the sequel.

Huge thanks to Peter Thierolf and Anthony Christoulakis

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