List of canceled Bethesda Softworks games

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Video game publisher Bethesda Softworks has had several video games that were in development but were later canceled.

Contents

Untitled Pensacola: Wings of Gold video games

In 1997, Bethesda partnered with CBS Enterprises to produce companion video games for the television series Pensacola: Wings of Gold . [1] [2] [3] [4] Bethesda would use storylines, sets, footage and stars of the television series--including James Brolin to recreate onscreen action in an interactive medium using sophisticated 3-D graphics and actual footage from the TV series. [4]

The first Pensacola CD-ROM game was to be released in November 1997, along with plans for an online version of the game. [4] By December 1997, the project was still in development. [5] [6]

The 10th Planet

The 10th Planet was a space combat game that was in development as a joint project between Bethesda and Centropolis Entertainment. [7] According to Todd Howard, the game never made past pre-production. [8]

Skip Barber Racing

Skip Barber Racing was a racing game that was in development by Bethesda, with Brent Erickson being the game's lead designer. [9] After a delay into 2000 caused by the company going through some changes in structure with ZeniMax, resources were then redirected to other projects due to a lack of interest from upper management. Brent Erickson decided to leave Bethesda and his team in Washington was disbanded. [10]

The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion

The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion was a cancelled PlayStation Portable adaptation of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion that was being developed by Climax Studios. [11] [12] The game was never released. [13]

Prey 2

Prey 2 was a first-person shooter that was in development by Human Head Studios with Bethesda Softworks as the publisher. [14] According to a report from IGN , Human Head ceased development on the game in late 2011 due to a failed buyout attempt by ZeniMax. [14]

BattleCry

BattleCry was a multiplayer video game that was in development by BattleCry Studios. BattleCry Studios was a studio founded in 2012 by ZeniMax Media that was to be headed by Rich Vogel. [15] It was to use Crytek's CryEngine. [16] BattleCry was canceled in late 2015 with Bethesda citing concers about whether it is meeting the objectives they had for it. [17]

Commander Keen mobile

Commander Keen was a game that was being developed by ZeniMax Online Studios for IOS and Android. [18] The game was seemingly scrapped in June 2020, with almost all traces of its official social media presence being gone, and was also pulled from ZeniMax's website. [19]

Blackbird

Blackbird was a sci-fi Massively multiplayer online game that was in development by ZeniMax Online Studios. [20] [21] Development on Blackird began in 2018 with a projected release date of 2028. [21] [22] The project was canceled in 2025 following layoffs at Microsoft. [21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "New TV Series Gets CD-ROM Companion". Newsbytes . June 23, 1997. Archived from the original on July 7, 2025. Retrieved January 2, 2026– via Gale Research.
  2. ↑ Burn, Timothy (June 30, 1997). "Lean, mean' software machine thrives in a ferocious market". The Washington Times . Archived from the original on April 3, 2025. Retrieved January 2, 2025– via Gale Research.
  3. ↑ "CBS Enterprises and Bethesda Softworks create unique partnership joining entertainment software and new action television series Pensacola: Wings of Gold". Business Wire . June 20, 1997. Archived from the original on December 7, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2026– via The Free Library.
  4. 1 2 3 Kahlili, Behnoosh (June 30, 1997). "Pensacola' reaches new heights of convergence". Electronic Media . Archived from the original on July 7, 2025. Retrieved January 2, 2026– via Gale Research.
  5. ↑ Hilpert, Mark (December 1997). "ThunderWave makes a big splash at Getty Center". Washington Business Journal . Archived from the original on November 15, 2002. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  6. ↑ Burn, Timothy (December 15, 1997). "Wings of Gold' failed to lift game firm aloft". The Washington Times . Archived from the original on February 3, 2025. Retrieved January 2, 2026– via Gale Research.
  7. ↑ "Bethesda". PC Gamer . 1994. p. 64. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Making Starfield with Bethesda's Todd Howard The AIAS Game Maker's Notebook Podcast". YouTube . September 25, 2023. Event occurs at 16:10. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  9. ↑ Husted, Scott. "Skip Barber Interview with Brent Erickson - Lead Designer". Power Sims. Archived from the original on February 1, 2001. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  10. ↑ Wheatley, Tim (April 26, 2022). "The Fallout of Bethesda's Skip Barber Racing". Race Sim Central. Archived from the original on September 4, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  11. ↑ "A world in your pocket". Official US Playstation Magazine . November 2006. p. 74. Retrieved January 4, 2026.
  12. ↑ Lucas, James (June 2025). "Did You Know That Oblivion Nearly Got A PSP Spin-Off That Would've Taken Us To High Rock 20 Years Ago?". The Gamer. Archived from the original on June 17, 2025. Retrieved January 4, 2026.
  13. ↑ Phillips, Tom (May 18, 2016). "Footage leaks of canned PSP game The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2026.
  14. 1 2 Dyer, Mitch (June 5, 2013). "What went wrong with Human Head's Prey 2". IGN . Archived from the original on July 24, 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  15. ↑ Sliwinski, Alexander (October 3, 2012). "Battlecry Studios is new Austin-based developer from Bethesda Softworks". Engadget . Archived from the original on September 27, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  16. ↑ Moss, Sebastian (July 4, 2013). "Bethesda's Battlecry Studios: AAA New Game, CryEngine, Shooter/Action/RPG, Online/MMO, F2P". PlayStation LifeStyle. Archived from the original on July 9, 2013. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  17. ↑ Prescott, Shaun (October 8, 2015). "Bethesda has 'concerns' about Battlecry and is 'evaluating' it". PC Gamer . Archived from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  18. ↑ Frushtick, Russ (June 9, 2019). "Commander Keen mobile game coming this summer". Polygon . Archived from the original on June 10, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2026.
  19. ↑ Bald, Cameron (June 29, 2020). "News Bethesda's Commander Keen mobile game has seemingly been scrapped". Pocket Gamer . Archived from the original on March 23, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2026.
  20. ↑ West, Tom (July 2025). "Exclusive: Inside ZeniMax's canceled Xbox MMO Project Blackbird". TrueAchievements . Archived from the original on July 4, 2025. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  21. 1 2 3 Valentine, Rebekah (July 3, 2025). "The Elder Scrolls Online Dev's Unannounced MMO Was Doing Well and Even Scaling Up as Xbox Cancelation Blindsided Staff, Sources Say". IGN . Archived from the original on July 3, 2025. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  22. ↑ Schreier, Jason (July 3, 2025). "Xbox Executives Were Blown Away by an Upcoming Game. Then They Canceled It". Bloomberg Businessweek . Retrieved January 5, 2026.
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