Capcom Vancouver’s List of Canceled Games and Rejected Pitches Includes New IP and Dino Crisis

Until 2017’s release of the ill-fated mobile Puzzle Fighter reboot, late development studio Capcom Vancouver only made Dead Rising games. The second game was developed as Blue Castle Games, before being acquired by Capcom. After Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, Capcom Vancouver’s teams tried several times to get other projects off the ground, including several that made it into development before being canceled. We’ve seen evidence of some of these games before due to leaks, but Liam Robertson’s Game History Secrets’ latest episode goes into much more detail. The list of rejected pitches is also fascinating, as it colors some of the issues leading to the studio’s closure and even mentions Dino Crisis. [Thanks, Game History Secrets!]

Most of the games that were canceled were Capcom Vancouver’s attempts at developing new IP. The project that got the furthest was code-named “Brazil“ and was a huge, sci-fi shooter with an emphasis on resource management and survival. It was said to be slow-paced, but similar in some ways to the ideas we’ve seen through the Dead Rising series. The other big one was New Frontier, another sci-fi project, but with more of a blockbuster vibe. The folks Robertson spoke to described it as “Destiny before Destiny,” mostly pointing to the themes of space exploration and ancient alien technology.

A third project that was greenlit and was in some form of pre-production or development (this one leading right up to the last restructure) was a paranormal shooter set in 1970s America. The wild thing there was it was based on the Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins mythology. The story centered around a woman protagonist, who was a cop finding herself in the middle of a battle between humans and paranormal creatures.

The fascinating part about that last game is that it followed a series of failed pitches for other Capcom IP. This included a pitch for Dino Crisis that had a few months of work behind it, an action spinoff of Resident Evil, a side-scrolling Mega Man game, and even possibly Onimusha. None of these pitches landed, and considering the report constantly noting communication breakdown and trust issues between Vancouver and Japan, and it makes sense it took going “down” the IP ladder for a pitch to see the green light.