This is a list of cancelled GameCube video games. The GameCube is a video game console released by Nintendo in 2001. After the decline in market share and loss of third party game developer support in the prior generation with the Nintendo 64, Nintendo worked to repair relationships with developers with the GameCube. While Nintendo's first party games generally sold well, many third party developed game sales lagged, leading Nintendo to work with third parties to help with publishing. While this helped, there were still many games cancelled for the platform, between pitches being rejected by Nintendo, third party support being pulled due to lack of sales, and Nintendo themselves pushing games off to their next platform, the Wii, which released in late 2006. This list documents all known games that were confirmed for the GameCube at some point, but did not end up being released for it in any capacity.[1]
There are currently games on this list.
| width=20% | Title(s) | width=60% class="unsortable" | Dates/Notes/Reasons | width=10% | Developer | width=10% | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Volt | A slot car racing game with the ability for the cars to shift lanes was announced in August 2004 for Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube and PC, but failed to materialize.[2] [3] | Sproing Interactive | |||||
| Alias | Originally announced in January 2003 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows, by June at E3 2003, the GameCube version had been dropped without explanation. Acclaim later announced they had dropped all software support for the GameCube due to slow sales of prior titles.[4] [5] | Acclaim Studios Cheltenham | Acclaim Entertainment | ||||
| The Cat in the Hat | A GameCube version was announced, but the game only ended up releasing on PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows.[6] | Magenta Software | Vivendi Universal Games | ||||
| Car Combat/Thunder Rally | Announced as a vehicular combat game in the vein of Twisted Metal, the game was one of a few projects at Retro Studios cancelled during a massive corporate structuring, which resulted in much of the company instead focusing on development of Metroid Prime (2002). | Retro Studios | Nintendo | ||||
| Celebrity Deathmatch | A GameCube version was slated, but was quietly cancelled shortly before release. A source close to development cited "programming issues" as the reason behind the decision.[7] | Big Ape Productions | Gotham Games | ||||
| Conker's Other Bad Day | A proposed direct sequel to Conker's Bad Fur Day (2001), development was halted when developer Rare was bought by Microsoft, opting to remake Bad Fur Day as (2005) on Xbox instead. | Rare | Nintendo | ||||
| Untitled Contra game | In 2002, Konami's European branch announced their intention to bring a game from their Contra series to the GameCube, though no such game ever materialized.[8] | Konami of Europe | Konami | ||||
| Crash Twinsanity | The game released on PS2 and Xbox, but was cancelled for GameCube. IGN speculated it was due to poor sales of prior Vivendi Universal games on the platform.[9] | Traveller's Tales | Vivendi Universal Games | ||||
| Crazy Taxi 2 | A GameCube and Xbox port of Crazy Taxi 2 (2001) was once reported to be in the planning stages in a 2001 IGN interview, but neither saw the light of day.[10] | Hitmaker | Sega | ||||
| Dead Phoenix | Part of the "Capcom Five" — a group of five major games announced by Capcom for the GameCube in late 2002 — the game was announced as cancelled by Capcom Japan in August 2003, becoming the only game of the five to not see release.[11] | Capcom | Capcom | ||||
| Diddy Kong Racing Adventure | A pitch for a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing by third-party developer Climax Studios after Rare, the original game's developer, was bought by Microsoft. While some rough content was created, the pitch was not picked up by Nintendo, and development was cancelled.[12] [13] | Climax Studios | Nintendo | ||||
| Donkey Kong Racing | Announced as a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing at E3 2001, the game was cancelled in 2002 when developer Rare was bought by Nintendo competitor Microsoft, making them lose access to the Donkey Kong IP. Rare briefly attempted to rework the game on Xbox 360 as Sabreman Stampede, utilizing their Sabreman IP in place of Donkey Kong, but this game was also cancelled.[14] [15] [16] | Rare | Nintendo | ||||
| DK Bongo Blast | Originally announced at E3 2006 as one of Nintendo's final GameCube releases, and intended to use the DK Bongos as its primary controller, the game was delayed and development shifted to the Wii, where it released as Donkey Kong Barrel Blast (2007). | Paon | Nintendo | ||||
| Driver 3 | Announced at E3 2002 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox, the GameCube version was later cancelled in September 2003 so that the development team could focus on finishing and releasing the game on the other two consoles in 2004.[17] | Reflections Interactive | Atari | ||||
| Duke Nukem Forever | The game was announced for GameCube in May 2001. However, the game was delayed well outside of the GameCube's lifespan, not releasing until 2011 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows.[18] | 3D Realms | Take Two Interactive | ||||
| Originally announced at E3 2002 for release on GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, Atari later announced at E3 2003 that the game would now be an Xbox exclusive release.[19] | Atari Interactive Hunt Valley Studio | Atari Interactive | |||||
| Untitled EarthBound sequel | While working on Monolith Soft's Baten Kaitos duology for the GameCube, the game's director Yasuyuki Honne pitched a new entry in the Mother series (known internationally as EarthBound) to Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, creating concept art that featured claymation-styled graphics. While Iwata approved, when series creator Shigesato Itoi declined to work on the project, the game idea was abandoned, though some of the graphical styles were implemented into a segment of Baten Kaitos Origins.[20] [21] [22] | ||||||
| A GameCube-exclusive game based on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, in which E.T. would perform gardening and handiwork around a house. It was officially cancelled when its publisher went bankrupt prior to finishing the game.[23] [24] | Zed Two | NewKidCo | |||||
| Enclave | First announced for the Xbox, IGN reported that a GameCube version was in development after developer Starbreeze Studios announced they had received GameCube devkits from Enclave publisher Swing! Entertainment. However, only Xbox and Windows versions would release.[25] [26] | Starbreeze Studios | Swing! Entertainment | ||||
| Far Cry Instincts | Announced for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, only the Xbox version was released.[27] | Ubisoft Montreal | Ubisoft | ||||
| Announced for GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows, the game was cancelled when 3DO went bankrupt in 2003. Reports of reviving the project arose in 2004, but the game never released on any platform.[28] [29] | 3DO | Stan Winston | |||||
| Futurama | Announced for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, the GameCube version was cancelled in August 2003 following sluggish sales for the platform.[30] | Unique Development Studios | Vivendi Universal Games (NA) SCi Games (Europe) | ||||
| Galleon | Originally announced in 1999 for release on Dreamcast and PC, the game's lengthy seven year development period expanded well beyond the Dreamcast's lifespan. Development was moved to GameCube for a time, but then cancelled in favor of a release on the Xbox in 2004.[31] | Confounding Factor | SCi Games/Atlus | ||||
| Game Zero | A game announced by Zoonami, a company started by ex-Rare employee Martin Hollis. The game was never released in any capacity, and the company went out of business in the late 2000s. | Zoonami | Nintendo | ||||
| Announced in January 2003 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox, the GameCube version was not present alongside the other versions at E3 2003, with Acclaim confirming its cancellation at the event. The following month, the company announced that they had cancelled all GameCube games in development due to poor sales of their prior titles on the platform.[32] | Acclaim Studios Manchester | Acclaim Entertainment | |||||
| Grabbed by the Ghoulies | The game started development started on GameCube in 2000, but after developer Rare was bought by Nintendo competitor Microsoft, development was moved to the Xbox, where it released in 2003.[33] | Rare | |||||
| While a GameCube version was mentioned in print ads, the game was only released for PlayStation 2 and Xbox.[34] | Midway Studios San Diego | Midway Home Entertainment | |||||
| Golden Sun 3 | Many reports from Japan and teases from developers at Camelot Soft alluded to releasing a Golden Sun game for the GameCube after the (2002), though such a game never materialized. A third series entry would not be released until (2010) on Nintendo DS.[35] [36] | Camelot Software | Nintendo | ||||
| The first of a trilogy of planned games, it was announced for GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. The game underwent a difficult development cycle, resulting in the GameCube and Xbox versions being cancelled to focus on the PS2 version. This version failed to reach sales targets, leading the remaining two games to be cancelled as well.[37] | Traveller's Tales | Midway | |||||
| A video game adaption of the Masters of the Universe franchise was announced for GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox in 2003. Despite the finished game having been reviewed by Nintendo Power in 2004, only the PlayStation 2 version was released the following year.[38] | Savage Entertainment | Midas Interactive Entertainment | |||||
| Iceman | The first and only game announced by Datura Studios, a company founded by former Infogrames employees. Announced as a local multiplayer game for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows, the game was roughly 80% completed, but Datura was unable to find a publisher, resulting in the company's closure.[39] | Datura Studios | |||||
| Island Xtreme Stunts | The third entry in the Lego Island series was initially reported to be releasing on the GameCube, PlayStation 2, PC, and Game Boy Advance. While most versions of the game released in 2002, the GameCube version was delayed until the following year, ultimately never releasing.[40] [41] | Silicon Dreams Studio | Electronic Arts, LEGO Interactive | ||||
| Shortly after completion of Donkey Kong 64, Rare started early work on Kameo for the Nintendo 64. By the time it was publicly announced at E3 2001, development had already shifted to the GameCube. In 2002, when Microsoft bought Rare, the GameCube version was cancelled and development was shifted to the Xbox. The game experienced a lengthy four year development period from there, leading to it being cancelled on Xbox in favor of releasing as a launch title for the Xbox 360 in 2005.[42] [43] [44] [45] | Rare | Nintendo | |||||
| Kirby Adventure / Kirby platform games | Three different platformer games in the Kirby are known to have been cancelled for GameCube. One of them, known as Kirby Adventure, was announced at E3 2005, but development was difficult and eventually stalled when the development team couldn't find a way to balance the game to be played both in single player and with up to four players in local multiplayer. Two other games failed to meet Nintendo's internal quality standards and were cancelled before ever being publicly revealed: one involving challenging gameplay with movement in 3D space, and one that involved 2D gameplay with a "pop-up book" styled graphical style. Parts of all three games were used in the creation of the Wii game Kirby's Return to Dream Land (2011).[46] [47] [48] | HAL Laboratory | Nintendo | ||||
| Kirby's Tilt 'n' Tumble 2 / Roll-O-Rama | Announced at Nintendo Space World as a follow-up to Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble (2000), the sequel would have involved connecting a Game Boy Advance as a controller for the GameCube in order to recreate the tilt gameplay controls of the original on a home console. It was later briefly shown as a generic game called Roll-O-Rama without any Kirby branding on it before being cancelled outright. | HAL Laboratory | Nintendo | ||||
| Shortly after its 2001 PS2 release, a GameCube port was announced, but never materialized.[49] | Namco | Namco | |||||
| Lamborghini | Announced in 2002 for GameCube, PS2, and Xbox, the game was cancelled for all platforms in 2003 after Rage Software went out of business. Some aspect of the game were later used in the development of the Juiced series of racing games. A brief demo was released for Xbox in early 2003 prior to its cancellation, and an early prototype build of the game leaked in 2022.[50] | Rage Software | Majesco Entertainment | ||||
| Nintendo originally planned on releasing a follow-up to (2002) on the GameCube, but cancelled work on the game in response to the game's lower sales in comparison to Ocarina of Time, with the team instead developing (2006). The Wind Waker would later receive a direct sequel, (2007), for the Nintendo DS.[51] | Nintendo | Nintendo | |||||
| Initially announced as an Xbox and Windows exclusive, ports for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube were revealed at E3 2002. After numerous delays, a publisher change from a partnership between Crave Entertainment and Electronic Arts to Vivendi Universal Games, and lukewarm reviews and sales, VU Games announced the GameCube version's cancellation on August 13, 2003.[52] | Warthog Games | Black Label Games (Vivendi Universal Games) | |||||
| Mario Kick-off Football/Retro NFL Football | A proposed Mario Sports game by Retro Studios, reworked into a professional NFL football game by request of Nintendo, who was looking to create more mature games on GameCube. The development team's inexperience with sports game development, combined with competition from Electronic Arts and Sega's Madden NFL and NFL 2K series respectively, led to its cancellation.[53] | Retro Studios | Nintendo | ||||
| MetaForce (working title: Action/Adventure) | One of many Retro Studios games cancelled in order to focus on Metroid Prime. An action game following three female metahuman protagonists, Nintendo was reportedly underwhelmed by the game itself, but impressed with the developers and the technology used to create it, leading to the use of the Metroid IP.[54] | Retro Studios | Nintendo | ||||
| Narc | A reboot of Narc (1988) was announced for GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. While the other versions released in 2005, the GameCube version was cancelled due to disappointing sales of previous Midway games on the platform.[55] | Midway Games | Midway Games | ||||
| NBA Jam | Announced for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox, the GameCube version was not present alongside the other versions at E3 2003, with Acclaim confirming the GameCube version's cancellation. The following month, the company announced that they had cancelled all GameCube games in development due to poor sales of their prior titles on the platform.[56] | Acclaim Studios Austin | Acclaim Entertainment | ||||
| Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball | Intended to fill what Nintendo saw as a shortage of realistic baseball games for the GameCube, the game missed its initial 2005 release date, and was eventually quietly cancelled. | Exile Interactive | Nintendo | ||||
| Perfect Dark Zero | Very early work was done on the game for the GameCube, but was cancelled when Microsoft bought Rare. Development shifted to the Xbox, which shifted again to Xbox 360 by the time the game released in 2005.[57] | Rare | Nintendo | ||||
| Picassio | Announced for the GameCube and PS2 as a non-violent action game about an art thief, developer Promethean Designs was unable to find a publisher, and the company went bankrupt before the game could be released. | Promethean Designs | |||||
| Untitled Pilotwings title | Never announced but heavily rumored to be in development during the GameCube's lifespan, a reboot of the Pilotwings franchise was in retrospect confirmed to be in development and cancelled. A new Pilotwings game would not be released until Pilotwings Resort (2011). | Factor 5 | Nintendo | ||||
| Psychonauts | Released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows, the game did not release for GameCube after publisher Majesco Entertainment dropped support for the platform.[58] | Double Fine | Majesco Entertainment | ||||
| Raven Blade/Rune Blade | Announced in 2001 for a late 2002 release on GameCube, the game was one of many projects cancelled by Retro Studios after the studio was restructured and made to focus on development of Metroid Prime (2002).[59] | Retro Studios | Nintendo | ||||
| Rolling | The roller skating game in the vein of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games was originally announced in 2002 and in development for the PlayStation 2, original Xbox, Game Boy Advance, and the GameCube. However, during development, developer Rage Software suffered financial issues that eventually lead to its closure in 2003. The game was almost cancelled outright, until new publisher, SCi Games came in to salvage their work and release the game later that year. However, SCi only chose to release the PS2 and Xbox versions; the GameCube and GBA versions went unreleased.[60] [61] | Rage Software | Majesco Entertainment | ||||
| Saffire | Originally announced for Nintendo 64 as a game to showcase their middleware software they had created, it was shifted to GameCube once the N64 started hitting the end of its lifespan. The game was cancelled early in the GameCube's lifespan, though some elements were later reused in Barbarian (2002). | Saffire | Saffire | ||||
| When first announced under its original title, Legends of Wrestling 3, the game was in development for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. However, in June 2003, Acclaim announced that they were discontinuing all software support for the GameCube due to sluggish sales. The game was later released as Showdown: Legends of Wrestling on PS2 and Xbox in 2004.[62] [63] | Acclaim Studios Austin | Acclaim Entertainment | |||||
| Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder 2 | A sequel to Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder (2001) was announced for the PlayStation 2, original Xbox, Game Boy Advance, and the GameCube in 2002, but was cancelled on all platforms the following year due to publisher Activision's poor financial performance at the time.[64] [65] [66] | Treyarch | Activision | ||||
| Stage Debut | Developed as a follow up to the Japan-only (2000) for the Nintendo 64DD, it involved taking a picture of the player with a Game Boy Advance, transferring it to the GameCube, and having it mapped over a cartoonish character model's face. The game was never released, but some aspects were reworked into concepts used for the Wii's Mii characters and Wii Sports (2006).[67] | Nintendo | Nintendo | ||||
| Untitled Shantae title | Early work on a GameCube entry in the Shantae series began in 2002, but the project was quickly cancelled after the team chose to focus on developing on the Game Boy Advance instead.[68] [69] | WayForward | N/A | ||||
| Announced in 2002 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, the game experienced a lengthy and troubled development cycle, resulting in all versions of the game being cancelled between 2005 and 2006. While never officially released, some content from early builds of the game leaked onto the internet in 2020.[70] [71] | Blizzard Entertainment | Nintendo | |||||
| The Suffering | Originally announced for GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, the GameCube version was cancelled due to disappointing sales of previous Midway games on the platform.[72] | Surreal Software | Midway Games | ||||
| Super Mario 128 | Initially debuted and demonstrated at the Nintendo Space World expo in 2000, the game was discussed for years without any further details. In 2007, Shigeru Miyamoto clarified that gameplay ideas and concepts explored for the game were instead implemented into Pikmin (2001) and Super Mario Galaxy (2007).[73] | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | ||||
| Super Paper Mario | Initially announced at E3 2006 as one of the last Nintendo games coming to GameCube, development was moved to the Wii and released only for that platform in 2007.[74] | Intelligent Systems | Nintendo | ||||
| Originally announced for GameCube and PlayStation 2, the GameCube version was officially cancelled in 2004, with the PS2 version releasing the following year.[75] | Red Entertainment | Hudson Soft | |||||
| Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines | Announced for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox, the GameCube version was later cancelled in September 2003 in favor of focusing on the other two consoles.[76] | Black Ops Entertainment | Atari | ||||
| Thornado | A spinoff of the Turrican series, the game was far enough along to have a short playable demo at Nintendo Space World, but went silent in the years following. While a trademark was renewed in 2004, it never released in any capacity.[77] [78] | Factor 5 | |||||
| Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter | Originally announced in 2005 as a title in development for GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Xbox 360, the GameCube release never materialized.[79] | Red Storm Entertainment | Ubisoft | ||||
| Too Human | Originally announced in 1999 for the PlayStation, development was moved to GameCube after Nintendo signed a contract for developer Silicon Knights to make games exclusively for Nintendo platforms. However, due to focusing on development of Eternal Darkness and , the game was not completed before the contract expired. Microsoft later agreed to publish the game, which was ultimately released on the Xbox 360 in 2008.[80] | Silicon Knights | Nintendo | ||||
| Originally announced for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows in 2002, the game was quietly cancelled later that year following the purchase of Rock Solid Studios by Starbreeze Studios.[81] [82] | Rock Solid Studios | Conspiracy Entertainment | |||||
| Unity | Initially announced for the GameCube in early 2003, the game was cancelled in December 2004. Developer Peter Molyneux cited the inability to meet the game's ambition and scope within a realistic timeframe as a reason for the cancellation.[83] | Llamasoft | Lionhead Studios | ||||
| Velvet Dark | In 2015, Rare developer Gregg Mayles revealed that after the completion of Perfect Dark (2000) for the Nintendo 64, the company had started work on a spinoff game called Velvet Dark, starring the sister of Perfect Dark protagonist Joanna Dark. While Mayles stated that development was proposed for the Nintendo 64, the shared design documents proposed Game Boy Advance connectivity, something only its successor the GameCube had hardware compatibility for, leading publications to believe it was in development for GameCube as well. In a 2016 retrospective, designer Duncan Botwood elaborated that while some pre-production work was done on Velvet Dark, the game was never approved for full production. A Perfect Dark sequel would not be released until Perfect Dark Zero (2005) for the Xbox 360.[84] [85] [86] | Rare | Nintendo | ||||
| Yoshi Touch & Go / Yoshi's Balloon Trip | Early work on the game started on the GameCube before shifting to the Nintendo DS, due to the developers believing its touch screen controls were better suited for the gameplay concept.[87] | Nintendo | Nintendo | ||||