5 Games That Went Through Development Hell and Came Out the Other Side

If you only ever know one thing about game development, let it be that it is a process so fraught with pitfalls that it’s a miracle any game is released at all. From graphical requirements to gameplay refinement, there are any number of aspects for developers to flesh out in only a few years, and many times titles can require excessive amounts of time to come together in a way that’s suitable for release. With that in mind, these are five games that went through development hell and came out the other side.

5 Games That Went Through Development Hell and Came Out the Other Side

Mother 3

The quirky RPG Earthbound captured many a gamer’s imagination when it was released to the wider world in 1995 for the Super NES. Host to a cast of lovable characters who each held eccentric traits and abilities, it was a series many were eager to return to as soon as possible.

This was far from what would happen. In Japan, Earthbound marked the second entry in the Mother RPG series and its development had nearly been rocky enough to keep the title from ever being released. Mother 3’s development cycle proved just as turbulent, with the title originally planned for release on the Nintendo 64 peripheral 64 DD Disc Drive. Due to questions of whether its new 3D gameplay would fit the series though, it was reshaped and reworked continuously until it was officially canceled in 2000 despite having a complete plot and several completed gameplay mechanics.

Fortunately, fans found the game revived when it was announced for release on the Game Boy Advance, this time in the series’ traditional 2D style and with a release limited to Japan. It proved a huge success commercially and critically upon its release in 2006, and while it still has yet to see a widespread localization, it continues to be lauded as one of the few games to escape development hell and find success once it did.

5 Games That Went Through Development Hell and Came Out the Other Side

Final Fantasy XV

Of the many titles that are delayed, rescued and manage to finally see a release, none have experienced the drama or anticipation that Final Fantasy XV did.

Originally revealed at E3 2006 and touted to have the same minds behind it that crafted Kingdom Hearts 2, including Tetsuya Nomura, the game had plenty of goodwill and excitement to fuel its expectedly long development. But then, the game went dark. Scant trailers were released every two years or so, but no substantial footage or news came until 2011 when a comprehensive trailer was released depicting the game’s story, setting and gameplay.

And yet the drama continued. The game would be rebranded as the next mainline entry in the series in 2013, and later on down the line Nomura would hand the project over to Hajime Tabata, who would restructure the game to accommodate for changes in what was needed from the game after so long in development and a jump to a new console generation of hardware.

It would then suffer even more delays until it was finally released in 2016, the final product familiar and yet a far cry from what it had originally been marketed as. Fortunately, it would be enough to garner support and praise from fans and critics alike, and ensure the series had a chance to continue on for years to come.

Know of another game that made it through development hell, regardless of whether it was a gem or a turd? Let us know about it in the comments section below, and check out our list of some of the most expensive video games ever made (and how they performed).

5 Games That Went Through Development Hell and Came Out the Other Side

The Last Guardian

For all of his talent as a video game director, Fumito Ueda has proved he can be overly meticulous when it comes to developing a title in a realistic window of time. Case in point: The Last Guardian, a title which saw itself loom over the gaming consciousness for over seven years as it was teased, delayed and rumored to be in development time and time again.

To be fair, it had its reasons. Striving for an experience where players would empathize with Trico, the game’s baby monster companion, the same way they would a real pet, Ueda and his team spent months and even years nailing down behavior patterns and animations that made the adorable behemoth seem lifelike. Likewise, it found itself delayed into a new console generation, forcing the team to adapt what they’d done to new hardware while also capitalizing on the new opportunities it offered to the game.

Luckily, the end result was largely worth the wait. An adventure unlike anything gamers had seen before, it was a title that received widespread praise for its graphical fidelity and storytelling, albeit alongside criticisms for Trico’s behaviors being too close too that of a disobedient baby animal. Regardless, it left fans excited for what will come from the director and his team next.

5 Games That Went Through Development Hell and Came Out the Other Side

Duke Nukem Forever

Once a series that defined irreverent humor in video games, Duke Nukem couldn’t have been any more loved after Duke Nukem 3D was released in 1996. An exceptional shooter for its time, the title jettisoned the masculine stereotype to the forefront of video game popularity, and few were surprised when a sequel was announced to be in development a year later.

Unfortunately, the game then became one of the jokes it so loved to throw around, with the follow-up title Duke Nukem forever suffering delay after delay after delay. At first, it seemed like it was due to the usual issues: funding, a need to establish a decent plot and work out next-gen technological requirements and all the other typical needs of game development. And yet, the delays continued. It was delayed into the 2000s, then past 2005, and then again when its developer 3D Realms shut down and the property was acquired by 2K Games and Gearbox Software.

By the time it was finally released in 2011, it had become the poster child of delayed games, known among many as the quintessential vaporware title. Even worse, it was widely panned upon release as a title out of time that was utterly tone-deaf to the current gaming landscape with humor and gameplay that wasn’t welcome or up to par with the day’s contemporaries. Ouch. But hey, at least it made it out eventually, right?

5 Games That Went Through Development Hell and Came Out the Other Side

Aliens: Colonial Marines

Originally announced in 2006 by Sega, Aliens: Colonial Marines had many people excited at the potential the project showed. Not only would it have a noteworthy publisher backing its development, but the first person shooter also had the development studio Gearbox, best known for their work on the Brothers in Arms franchise and some of the Half-Life expansions, behind the wheel of its creation.

Unfortunately, the title hit stumbling block after stumbling block as its development progressed. As Gearbox grew thanks to the success of Borderlands, they turned their focus to a sequel of their new flagship franchise and side projects they acquired thanks to their new capitol and fame. This left Colonial Marines to be outsourced largely to TimeGate, the developers of the first person shooter Section 8, who claim to have had to build the game nearly from the ground up due to Gearbox’s lack of work on the title. This led to internal friction among the developers and publisher as more and more cooks entered the game’s kitchen, and year after year it had to be delayed longer in order to come together properly.

Colonial Marines was finally released in 2013, but unfortunately for hopeful fans, the final product was a mess of bugs and poor level design. Not only that, but many felt betrayed when the final product was nowhere near as graphically polished as a 2012 E3 trailer made it out to be, with some even filing a false advertising claim in court against Gearbox and Sega.