5 Biggest MMO projects that got cancelled

Over the years, so many MMO projects ultimately got canceled well before their time. Whether it was financial issues, or something more upsetting, many of these games never really got the chance to show what they could do. As we get to the end of 2025, we’ve seen quite a few cancellations even this year, such as the unnamed Jackalyptic Studios’ Warhammer 40K MMO.

We’re going to highlight some of the biggest projects in MMOs that we were excited for, that ultimately got cancelled before their time. This is not a comprehensive list, though. There are so many games that never see the light of day in the world of Massively Multiplayer Online Games. This is just a sampling of some of the biggest.

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Biggest MMO projects that ultimately got canceled before launch

1) SIE’s EverQuest Next

Here is some gorgeous concept art from what could have been EverQuest Next (Image via SIE)

EverQuest was one of my first MMOs, and I still have a lot of nostalgia for it, so I was sad to see that EverQuest Next ultimately got cancelled. The development team had some bold ideas, like NPC AI (which we’ve seen more recently in Where Winds Meet), a more flexible, customizable world, and awesome classes. It was going to be more of a sandbox than current MMOs.

However, SOE became Daybreak after being sold, and many of their then-upcoming projects were cancelled. Sadly, one of those cancelled games was EverQuest Next. While there are two EverQuest games right now, I was still excited to see what could be from a more modern EQ title.

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2) ZeniMax’s Project Blackbird

While Blackbird didn't make it, we do still have ESO at least (Image via ZeniMax Online Studios)

There really aren’t many major successful sci-fi/futuristic MMOs out there, for reasons I simply cannot fathom. One such cancelled MMO project was ZeniMax’s Project Blackbird, which appeared to be a more futuristic, flashy title with a sci-fi edge. People developing/testing it were very high on it, and from all accounts and research, it was going to be truly special in the world of MMOs.

This could have been a serious game-changer in a world for the more futuristic/sci-fi MMO. Sure there are games in that genre, but there’s certainly room for a mold-breaker. It sounds like the game was going well in terms of development, but when 9,000+ jobs were cut at Microsoft, that was the end of it. It affected other games there as well, but this is the one I was most excited for.

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3) Interplay’s Fallout Online

A peek at some concept art for Fallout Online. This is what Seattle would have looked like (Image via Interplay Entertainment)

Before Fallout 76, there was the hope of Fallout Online from Interplay, which became yet another cancelled MMO project. Interplay was working on this in the 2000s, around the time the game IP was being sold off to Bethesda, but that didn’t stop Interplay from trying to create their online version of Fallout anyway.

It was going to be set on the West Coast (Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah), but very little is known about what the story would have actually been. Player classes confirmed were Human, Ghoul, and Super Mutant, which sure would have been interesting. However, this was ultimately canceled in 2012, by Bethesda/ZeniMax.

At the time, Interplay still held the rights to the franchise, and even after the IP was bought, Interplay was supposed to be able to work on the Fallout MMO. It’s a murky, unfortunate situation. But now at least, we have Fallout 76 (which had its own rough start).

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4) Blizzard’s/NetEase’s Project Neptune

Unrelated concept art to Project Neptune - though another game focused around the Lich King would be rad (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

While Project Titan would ultimately become Overwatch, Project Neptune by Blizzard would be a cancelled project that would never see the light of day. It’s really unfortunate, because this was going to likely be the Mobile World of Warcraft that gamers have been excited about for years. However, when you consider the backlash behind Diablo Immortal being so pay-to-win, maybe it’s for the best WoW Mobile didn’t happen at that time.

However, Neptune wasn’t just a remake of World of Warcraft, though. It was supposed to be set in a different time period of the franchise, which would have been more exciting. Blizzard and NetEase couldn’t come to terms, and in 2022, this was cancelled.

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5) Origin Studios’ Ultima X: Odyssey

Kevin Daugherty's concept art for Gargoyle Drakeskin armor during Ultima X: Odyssey's development (Image via Origin Systems & EA)

As a long-time Ultima fan, I was pretty excited about Ultima X: Odyssey when I found out about it. I had played some of Ultima Online, and while my thoughts on that are less than positive, I had hope for the next Ultima game as an online offering. It was going to be the first Ultima title without Richard Garriott behind it, too.

The story was going to be set after the events of Ultima IX, where the Guardian and the Avatar are one entity. It was going to use a skill system, in addition to the Eight Virtues, to make dynamic, interesting characters. Unfortunately, after Origin was shut down and mass layoffs happened, the MMO was cancelled in 2004.

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Edited by Jason Parker