Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the games with the longest time spent in development. One of the most anticipated games of 2020, it was first announced in May 2012, with the first trailer released in 2013. Since then, a series of details emerged about the game, including some that have raised a few eyebrows and some that were received by the public with great enthusiasm (like the NPC based on Keanu Reeves). This means that, by the time it is released, it will have spent eight and a half years in development.
But this is by far not the longest time games spent in the hands of their developers. Other games have spent way more time in “development hell” – and the results were not always worth the wait.
Diablo III (11 years)
Diablo II was one of the most successful hack-and-slash RPGs ever released – so it was obvious that it would eventually receive a sequel. Diablo III, in turn, took way too long to be built – but it wasn’t the developers’ fault.
Work on Diablo III began in 2001, shortly after the release of Diablo II. The game was built by Blizzard North, a now-defunct division of Blizzard Entertainment. In 2003, though, several key people at the company left to form their own independent studios, as a result of a conflict with Blizzard owner Vivendi. In 2005, Blizzard announced that its division was no more, and its games – including Diablo III – were scrapped.
Blizzard started developing the game from scratch, announcing it in 2008, with Warhammer 40,000 lead designer Jay Wilson in charge of the works. It took four years for the game to be finished.
Prey (11 years)
3D Realms, the uncrowned king of the shareware distribution model and the company behind Duke Nukem 3D, started to build a survival horror title in 1995. It was set to feature many innovative solutions, from a heavily destructible environment to moveable portals, features that were praised when demonstrated at E3 1997 and 1998. 3D Realms wanted to build a brand new engine for these.
Unfortunately, soon after the successful demos of the game’s features, the development team disbanded, and the company had to start from scratch. After years in limbo, development on the game restarted in 2001 using the already existing id Tech 4 engine (the one used for Doom 3). Ultimately, the game was officially announced in 2005 and ultimately released in 2006.
It was worth the wait: the game had beautiful graphics and amazing gameplay and sold more than 1 million copies by the end of the year.
Duke Nukem Forever (15 years)
Finally, let’s not forget about Duke Nukem Forever, the official champion of time spent in development limbo. It was originally announced in 1997 as a sequel to Duke Nukem 3D but work on it began in 1996. For more than a decade, the developer either refused to reveal at least a planned release date or announced delays upon delays. Ultimately, the project was overtaken by Gearbox Software, rushed through production, and released in 2011.
This time, in turn, all the time spent in development was for nothing. The design of the finished product was dated, its controls, clunky, and its loading times enormous for the computers of the time. Plus, the jokes and one-liners that made the Duke a beloved character in the 1990s have transformed into rude and offensive ones that were not well received by the players. Its sales were also disappointing, meaning that the Duke Nukem franchise would die with it – which it did.