Long development times are bad news for developers. Every year that goes by without a release is another year of not getting paid. It's another year of stagnation. As technology improves, games with long development cycles become outdated. At worst, fans can be left waiting for a decade or more.

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We took a look at some notable games with long and troubled development cycles. Were they worth the wait? Only games that have actually come out made the list (no luck yet, Beyond Good And Evil 2). Also, there are no games with heavy ongoing development, since they've technically already been out for a while.

Updated by Chad Thesen on January 5, 2023: This article has been updated to bring it up to a higher level of quality. An entry was swapped out due to a miscalculation in dev time for a previous entry, and it has been replaced with the original Alan Wake.

10 Alan Wake

Development Time: 6 Years

Alan Wake shining his flashlight at a group of monsters.

Alan Wake, which was developed by the same team as the Max Payne series, began its development in 2003. A few years into its development cycle, Remedy Entertainment decided to completely rework it.

At one point, Alan Wake was supposed to be an open-world game. The studio kept adding more and more features, like a day-night cycle, controllable weather events, and so on. Remedy Games' Creative Director Sam Lake has discussed this, saying "this period ... with us trying new things, it just kept on going and going, and people were feeling tired." In 2006, Remedy decided to rework the game, making it more a more focused, linear experience. That may have been for the best, as Alan Wake was finally released in 2009, receiving mostly favorable reviews.

Alan Wake
$19.99 $23.93 Save $3.94

Released
February 16, 2012
Developer(s)
Remedy Entertainment

9 L.A. Noire

Development Time: 7 Years

la-noire

Much has been written about the infamous development cycle of L.A. Noire. It was worked on by the now-defunct Team Bondi. Not long after the game was released in 2011, members of Team Bondi spoke out anonymously about the awful working conditions at the studio. It came to light that Team Bondi was forcing its employees to essentially work 24/7.

Dozens of employees left the company, with most of them quitting rather than being fired.

Management at Team Bondi seemed perfectly fine with the high turnover rate of their workers. Dozens of employees left the company, with most of them quitting rather than being fired. Others reported there was no strong vision for the game, or that management could be hard to get in touch with. Given these conditions, it's a wonder L.A. Noire was released at all.

LA Noire
$22.04 $29.99 Save $7.95

Released
May 17, 2011
Developer(s)
Team Bondi

8 The Last Guardian

Development Time: 8 Years

The Last Guardian

It's hard to pin down one exact reason The Last Guardian was delayed for so long. It was likely a combination of factors — important people departing the company, issues with Sony as a publisher, and so on — that cast it down into development hell. Fans of the previous games by Team Ico (Ico and Shadow of the Colossus) were left waiting on this sequel for years and years. There were few updates and very little indication as to what was going on behind the scenes.

The Last Guardian was likely hampered by changing technology. Comparing its various trailers and tech demos, it seems very little had changed about the game over the years other than the graphics. At one point, Team Ico had to transition the game from a PS3 to a PS4 release. Maybe Sony wasn't confident that the game ran well enough on PS3. Whatever the case, The Last Guardian did eventually release with mostly positive reviews.

The Last Guardian

Released
December 6, 2016
Developer(s)
JapanStudio , GenDesign

7 Spore

Development Time: 8 Years

Spore Different Creatures

Development on Spore began in earnest in 2000, but the idea may have come as early as 1994, with concept art for a game called "SimEverything." Given that it's such a unique game, it's natural that Spore had a long development time. However, now that Spore has been out for more than a decade, nearly everyone agrees that it's underwhelming. It is not, as Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello once predicted it would be: "One of the greatest franchises in our industry ... Right up there with World of Warcraft."

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Many reviewers have pointed out that Spore feels like five different games rather than one cohesive experience. In interviews, Maxis indicated difficulties with the creature and vehicle creators, which likely went through numerous design changes. Spore was continuously delayed. It seems it was just too ambitious of an idea to completely flesh out.

Spore

Released
September 7, 2008
Developer(s)
Maxis

6 Starfield

Development Time: 8 Years

Starfield player on an unnamed planet.

Batheseda is known for making some of the biggest titles in gaming history. Surprisingly, their list of IPs is incredibly small compared to some other development teams. While the studio has had its hooks in the fantasy and post-apocalyptic settings, it would boldly tackle a new frontier of space exploration with Starfield. The scope of this project far exceeded that of their previous projects, so it's no wonder it took about 8 years to bring this vision from concept to reality.

6:04
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Some players have found the staggering number of planets to feel a little empty — mostly due to them being undeveloped and barren — and many quality-of-life features are either absent or half-baked. However, the game excels in capturing the vastness of space, both in its fascinating intricacies and its inevitable emptiness, and it tells some of the most compelling side stories across Bethesda's best games. With an announced 5 years of development ahead of it, Bethesda is likely to continue refining and improving their ambitious vision, similar to their approach with Skyrim.

Starfield

Released
September 6, 2023
Developer(s)
Bethesda

5 Too Human

Development Time: 9 Years

The protagnoist of Too Human in front of a scenic background.

Too Human was developed by Silicon Knights, who also headed up games such as Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. It was originally announced as a Playstation One game in 1999. It actually released on the Xbox 360 in 2008, nine years after its announcement.

Silicon Knights went out of business in 2014. Too Human was one of their last games.

Too Human was built on Unreal Engine 3. However, in 2007, Silicon Knights sued Epic Games (the owners of UE3), citing "breach of contract" for lack of support with regards to the engine. Epic then counter-sued Silicon Knights for misappropriation of trade secrets, among other things. Epic won their suit, forcing Silicon Knights to recall and destroy all unsold copies of Too Human. The game's botched release may have hurt them, but this court case was the final nail in their coffin. Silicon Knights went out of business in 2014. Too Human was one of their last games.

Too Human

Released
August 19, 2008
Developer(s)
Silicon Knights

4 Final Fantasy 15

Development Time: 10 Years

Final Fantasy XV All Main Cast and Luna

Final Fantasy is a name synonymous with long playtimes, but of all the storied games in the series, none of them took longer to develop than the 15th mainline entry in the franchise, Final Fantasy 15. The game mixes all the magic and mesmerizing visuals of the franchise alongside modern-day story elements — such as having a road trip with the boys in the protagonist's rich kid's car.

The game is a true marvel aesthetically, and its combat took large strides to make it a lot more action-orientated than was typically associated with the slower, turn-based approach of the previous entries. It was an ambitious game, to say the least. But, after years of development hell, with numerous storylines left on the cutting room floor and a glut of various mechanics to juggle, many players felt the wait just wasn't worth it — especially with how far it moved away from what many consider the traditional Final Fantasy experience. For some fans, however, it remains their favorite entry in the series.

Final Fantasy 15

Released
November 9, 2016
Developer(s)
Square Enix

3 Prey (2006)

Development Time: 11 Years

prey portals 2006

For our purposes, we're discussing the original Prey, which came out in 2006. Funnily enough, Arkane's Prey from 2017 was the result of a planned sequel that turned into a reboot of the concept and ultimately shared almost no DNA with the original game.

Prey, an old-school FPS, had been in development since 1995 by Human Head Studios (via Contract for 3D Realms). It ran into trouble when lead designer Tom Hall left the company to form Ion Storm with his colleague, John Romero. And that was for the best, because without Ion Storm, we never would've gotten Deus Ex or Thief.

Later, technical issues arose with Prey, as its portal mechanics proved too difficult to program. Prey went through several design iterations because of these issues. It did receive generally positive reviews when it was finally released in 2006. However, Prey seems like a walk in the park compared to the project 3D Realms is perhaps most known for (next entry, please).

Prey (2006)

Released
July 11, 2006
Developer
Human Head Studios, 3D Realms

2 Duke Nukem Forever

Development Time: 14 Years

Duke Nukem scowls against smoky backdrop

The development of Duke Nukem Forever was a running joke in the gaming community for more than ten years. Not only did it take longer to produce than any other triple-A game in history at that time, but the story behind its long development is also fascinating. Duke Nukem Forever was first announced in 1997. After the release of Duke Nukem 3D, 3D Realms was struggling to update their engine. By 1998, they settled on the Unreal Engine, but not before switching multiple times, completely scrapping their work on Duke Nukem Forever each time. According to stories, series director George Broussard would continuously try to update the scope of the game, adding new levels, working on a multiplayer mode, etc.

In 2006, Broussard claimed the game was almost finished. However, it wouldn't come out for another five years.

The game missed several of its planned release dates. Then, things went quiet for a very long time. In 2006, Broussard claimed the game was almost finished. However, it wouldn't come out for another five years. Internally at 3D Realms, employees reported that Broussard lacked a clear vision for the game. Although profit-sharing was supposed to take place, no profits could be shared, as there were none to begin with. Employees were understandably frustrated. The team dwindled and had to rebuild itself, just like they had to rebuild the game multiple times to keep it modern. In 2011, Duke Nukem Forever was finally released, and nearly everyone agreed it was not worth the wait.

Duke Nukem Forever

Developer(s)
3D Realms
Released
June 10, 2011

1 Dwarf Fortress

Development Time: 17 Years

Dwarf Fortress Feature Image

Dwarf Fortress started its development all the way back in 2006 and would only be officially released in 2022. Granted, the game enjoyed a long public alpha that in some ways served as a sort of proto-early access, but none-the-less, it took 17 years until the game hit full release. Dwarf Fortress sees players taking on the role of controlling a colony of dwarves and settling them into a chosen location in a procedurally generated world. There are many enemy elements to account for in the game’s world, such as monsters, undead hordes, and raids from goblins.

The game does a great job of requiring players to manage the well-being of their dwarves and protect them from threats and the wealth of their colony. This makes for a very rewarding and satisfying feeling when everything is going right.

Dwarf Fortress

Released
August 8, 2006
Developer
Bay 12 Games, Tarn Adams, Zach Adams
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