5 ambitious video game ideas that never turned into reality

Ambitious video game ideas can often lead to the birth of bangers in the context of the gaming industry, which is very competitive. In fact, thousands of developers toil hard to come up with the next best title in the market. However, not all ambitious video game ideas see the light of day.

There are various reasons that prevent games from coming to fruition. From lack of originality to insufficient funding and poor presentation, some games never make it to the store shelves.

This article lists five ambitious video game ideas that never turned into reality.

Note: Aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the writer's opinions.

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Here are 5 ambitious video game ideas that failed to become a reality

1) Prince of Persia: Redemption

Prince of Persia Redemption (Image via @PositiveLauncher on YouTube)

There are times when game development studios pitch a video game idea to their publisher in the form of a pre-rendered gameplay video that roughly demonstrates how the final product would look post-release. These ambitious video game ideas often get rejected, with only a few making it to the consumers.

One such ambitious video game idea was mined on YouTube in 2020 when a 2012 entry was discovered, showing an unreleased Prince of Persia title named Redemption. This was confirmed to be legitimate by a Ubisoft employee.

The pitch did not make it to the main market, as the creator of Prince in Prince of Persia was asking for a lot of money and Ubisoft did not see much cause in going ahead with the game, citing marginal profits.

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2) Dark Souls III Metroidvania

Dark Souls 3 Metroidvania (Image via Thomas Feichtmeir on Twitter)

Numerous franchises draw inspiration from the Dark Souls projects, speaking volumes about the influence that the series has had on the gaming industry throughout the years.

A screenshot from a pitch to Bandai Namco was revealed in 2022 of a 2D-pixel art-style Metroidvania version of the popular Dark Souls games. Dark Souls has a very distinct style in which its games are made, and Metroidvania could have been a welcome variation if this ambitious video game idea had not been rejected soon after its pitch.

The idea being rejected was probably to retain the uniqueness of the iconic Dark Souls games.

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3) Heroes of Hyrule

Heroes of Hyrule (Image via Ini Tactics on YouTube)

The Legend of Zelda has never thought of experimenting with spin-offs to its 35-year-old franchise. Even though other franchises that have run for so long have branched out in different directions, Zelda has stayed true to Link for all these decades.

This does not mean that there have not been any attempts made to bring some variation to the franchise to refresh the essence that the series bore. There have been individuals who came up with ambitious video game ideas for Zelda fans.

Retro studio had pitched to Nintendo an interesting spin-off idea for the popular Zelda games, where the protagonist, a little boy, would fight against bosses like Goron, Zora, and Rita in an RPG-style combat. This would change the very distinct adventure routine that you usually get in Legend of Zelda games and would give a new dimension for everyone to explore.

However, it was rejected, and Nintendo did not want to deviate from the popular theme that everyone was familiar with. The developer then decided not to add new elements to the franchise.

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4) Resident Evil 3.5

Resident Evil 3.5 (Image via Capcom)

Many players were not very content when Resident Evil 4 was released despite being well-received worldwide. You might find it hard to think that a game like Resident Evil 4 could actually receive backlash from long-time horror fans, but it did.

But a different take on the gameplay mechanics of Resident Evil 4 was planned. Instead of a Far Cry-ish experience, the previous build was supposed to have a closer connection to older titles in the series.

The game was to have a more supernatural storyline where the protagonist would be haunted by a ghost draped in chains and would be tasked to find a cure for the virus that had affected him. This flip to the narrative of Resident Evil 4 would be exciting to explore. But sadly, this ambitious video game idea never made it to production and we will probably never get to witness it.

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5) Star Wars 1313

Star Wars 1313 (Image via Lucas Arts)

You will probably find numerous titles inspired by the Star Wars franchise. Though we have had a few good ones over the years, this particular ambitious video game idea that was rejected is a lost gem that bore a lot of potential.

In Star Wars 1313, you would play Boba Fett, having to explore Coruscant’s underworld level 1313. Not only would this have created a fresh new experience for the single-player mode, but it would have offered a new narrative.

The title was most likely canceled as a result of the lack of manpower that was required to create a polished and finished product. In addition, the fact that Disney suffered from the disastrous reception of Battlefront 2 resulted in Star Wars 1313 being put off on an indefinite hiatus, which was eventually canceled and forgotten.