5 anticipated games that were canceled for Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch has a vast library of over 4,000 games in its catalog. Thanks to the portable hybrid's success and mass appeal, publishers aren't shy about bringing more and more of their experiences to the popular handheld. However, game development isn't a simple task.

Games often end up in limbo or, worse, canceled for platforms occasionally. This could be due entirely to technical constraints, budget, or something else. The Nintendo Switch has, unfortunately, had a few such examples too. Many of these were looked forward to by fans, only to be disappointed.

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Here are five canceled Nintendo Switch games

5) Deliver Us The Moon

KeokeN Interactive and Wired Productions' narrative-driven sci-fi game Deliver Us The Moon was released in 2019. The game follows a lone astronaut sent to the moon on a mission to avert humanity's fate of extinction after Earth's natural resources have been depleted.

As the sole person sent to an abandoned space shuttle for answers, the protagonist must explore and solve the puzzles to proceed.

The game was poised for a Nintendo Switch launch in 2020. However, the devs cited "a number of factors" (which were not elaborated upon) that brought the development to a screeching halt. The-then rising global pandemic thanks to COVID has made matters even worse.

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4) Hyper Sports R

Japanese publisher Konami has been notorious for mistreating their IPs. Players have been clamoring for a new Castlevania, yet their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

After the infamous cancelation of Silent Hills and the takedown of the P.T. demo on PS4, the company hasn't exactly been in good graces with fans. Things were looking to get ever-so-slightly better with the announcement of Hyper Sports R for Nintendo Switch.

Acting as a reboot of sorts of those iconic 80s NES sports games, fans were hopeful that the Metal Gear-developer might be on the right track. Sadly, that train of thought ended up crashing as Konami canceled the game due to "various circumstances".

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3) Steep

Remember Ubisoft's 2016 winter sports game? You'd be forgiven since it was overshadowed by many other big names that year, including the French publisher's own Tom Clancy's The Division.

It features many sports associated with snowy mountains and valleys, like snowboarding, paragliding, and skiing. The game launched for PC, PS4, and XB1 and was eventually also planned for Switch after the portable launched in 2017.

In 2018 in a tweet replying to a user, the official Steep account clarified that the game would no longer be coming to Switch. The team seems to wish to focus. Kind of hard to believe, considering there are numerous teams all across Ubisoft's many branches who could have taken over the porting job.

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2) Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Based on the Pathfinder tabletop RPG, Kingmaker saw success after Kickstarter funding. The Owlcat Games-developed RPG eventually went on to be published by Deep Silver. Set within the Stolen Lands region, players can set out on an adventure towards the glory or fall of your kingdom.

The game saw decent reviews. However, it was overall criticized for being overwhelming and having balance issues.

While a Nintendo Switch port was announced, nothing came of it. The developer was reached out to by a Reddit user for clarification, where they confirmed that the CRPG would not be getting a release on Big N's handheld.

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1) Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

Acclaimed RPG maker Obsidian Entertainment surprised fans with a sequel to their renowned 2015 CRPG Pillars of Eternity. This 2019 entry is set directly after the first game's events.

The god of light, Eothas, has risen back and destroys the stronghold of Caed Nua in the process, killing all who resided there. Brought back from the brink of death, the protagonist must seek answers which take them to the titular Deadfire Archipelago.

Deadfire is a more ambitious game on all fronts, from visuals to mechanics - but not without flaws, like the dreaded naval system. The first Pillars of Eternity game came to Nintendo Switch but was buggy on release with some performance issues.

Eventually, the team just gave up on updating the game. So it makes sense that publisher Versus Evil announced via their official Discord that the second entry would not be making it to Nintendo's handheld platform.