History ScheduleSlip / VideoGames

* In 2006, Square Enix announced a game for [=PS3=] called ''Final Fantasy Versus XIII'' with an elaborate trailer, but production hadn't even started yet. In 2009, the first actual gameplay footage is shown. After this, very little is said about the game other than the occasional trailer and the promise that it still exists in spite of a lot of the staff being pulled away to work on other projects. The game would not go into full production until 2011, by which time the next set of consoles were already being talked about internally. At E3 2013, a full eight years after the initial announcement of ''Versus XIII'', they confirmed that the game would eventually see release. As a multiplatform game. Called ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV''.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' was first shown in 2006 as ''Versus XIII'' for PS3, only to suffer 7 years of schedule slip till it became XV for PS4.

** After a 12-year wait, ''VideoGame/StarcraftIIWingsOfLiberty'' was released, only to have ''one'' of the three races (Terran) come with a Single Player campaign. In order to play Zerg 1P, you will have to purchase a full-blown MissionPackSequel called ''Heart of the Swarm'', which, nearly two years after ''Wings of Liberty'''s release, is still in development; open beta was announced (not started, announced) in August 2012. And ''Legacy of the Void'', the Toss campaign, is still a gleam in Blizzard's eye. By contrast, ''Brood War'', a "mere" ExpansionPack, came out the same year as the original ''Starcraft'' with all three races given fully playable single player campaigns, just like in the original.
*** In fairness, while ''SC1'' gave you three races with 10 missions each, ''Wings of Liberty'' shipped with a Terran campaign 26 missions all on its own, which has been praised for its thorough and creative design.
** Averted with ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': Cataclysm when it was released prior to 2011 on December 7, 2010. It was an ObviousBeta compared to other expansions, but after ''Burning Crusade'' had to be pushed back to 2007 (Original release date was sometime in November 2006) and the game was ''playable'', that they could launch it.
* Creator/{{Valve|Software}}, the developers of ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life}}'', ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', and ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' are particularly infamous for continued delays on their release dates - so much so that their fandom has coined the term "[[http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Valve_Time Valve Time]]" to refer to the manner in which they can single-handedly dilate time around themselves. This is probably mostly thanks to Valve's loose internal corporate structure, where no-one has a single, set-in-stone role to play in the company. They claim it is due to their attempts to produce high-quality games that are fun, and the developer commentary often mentions features that were not fun that had to be discarded, which certainly consumes time.

* ''"[[JohnRomero Come hell or high water]], the [[VideoGame/{{Daikatana}} game]] will be done on February 15, 1999."'' Well, it wasn't. (It finally was in April 14, 2000.)

* ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' is [[DevelopmentHell the epitome]] [[{{Vaporware}} of this trope]], as it was "coming soon" for 14 years before finally being released in June 2011 (and even then that was a setback of one month, a fact the developers readily lampshaded). It took transferring property of the game from 3DRealms to Gearbox to make it happen.

* ''Creator/ArtixEntertainment'' has neglected to update both MechQuest and HeroSmash in terms of storyline, instead opting to add items and minor bugfixes. WarpForce has been confirmed as an OrphanedSeries.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVersusXIII'' is slowly becoming the next ''Duke Nukem Forever'' for the longest delayed title. The game was first shown in 2006 and no more information was released since, except for updated visuals, scenes, etc. Every time people ask Square-Enix about the game, [[ShrugOfGod the company usually gives vague answers or just shrug their shoulders]].

** After a 12-year wait, ''StarcraftII: Wings of Liberty'' was released, only to have ''one'' of the three races (Terran) come with a Single Player campaign. In order to play Zerg 1P, you will have to purchase a full-blown MissionPackSequel called ''Heart of the Swarm'', which, nearly two years after ''Wings of Liberty'''s release, is still in development; open beta was announced (not started, announced) in August 2012. And ''Legacy of the Void'', the Toss campaign, is still a gleam in Blizzard's eye. By contrast, ''Brood War'', a "mere" ExpansionPack, came out the same year as the original ''Starcraft'' with all three races given fully playable single player campaigns, just like in the original.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'' was announced in 2006 and set for a 2007 release. But because they already had one third-party character in the game ([[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Snake]]), and fans demanded another third-party character to be added (Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog), the game had to be delayed until Feb. 2008. Then when February was near, the game was delayed until March because they wanted to work out some bugs in the online system, and so the game finally saw a release in March.

* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar3'' was set for release in Spring 2011 but ended up being pushed back to September 2011. Officially it was to polish the game and work out balancing issues with the multiplayer (don't go there) but for most it seemed like a blatant attempt to get it released around the holiday season.

'''Actual''': [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Coincident with the]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapture Rapture]] (no, not [[VideoGame/BioShock that one]])

* ''Creator/ArtixEntertainment'' has neglected to update both MehQuest and HeroSmash in terms of storyline, instead opting to add items and minor bugfixes. WarpForce has been confirmed as an OrphanedSeries.

* ''VideoGame/XRebirth'' was initially announced for a late 2012 release, but is now expected in mid-2013 or thereabouts. The devs and beta testers are barred from talking freely about it thanks to non-disclosure agreements, meaning some fans are half-convinced it's become {{vaporware}} based on the lack of information. CBJ, the one dev who visits the forum on a regular basis, consistently denies this to be the case.

* ''Black Mesa'', the fan remake of ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life|1}}'' on the Source engine, released a trailer claiming the game would be released in 2009. This claim stood until early 2010 when they stopped giving any estimates on a release date until around when it was finally released in late 2012.

* ''VideoGame/XRebirth'' was initially announced for a late 2012 release, but is now expected in mid-2013 or thereabouts. The devs and beta testers are barred from talking freely about it thanks to non-disclosure agreements, meaning some fans are half-convinced it's become {{vaporware}} due to a lack of information. CBJ, the one dev who visits the forum on a regular basis, consistently denies this to be the case.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots''. A 2006 trailer announced it would be released in 2007, but it wasn't released until 2008.

* ''Black Mesa'', the fan remake of ''Half-Life'', released a trailer claiming the game would be released in 2009. This claim stood until early 2010 when they stopped giving any estimates on a release date until very recently, with the current release date set for September 14th 2012.

* ''Black Mesa'', the fan remake of ''Half-Life'', released a trailer claiming the game would be released in 2009. This claim stood until early 2010 when they stopped giving any estimates on a release date.

** After a 12 year wait, ''[[{{Starcraft}} Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty]]'' was released, only to have ''one'' of the three races (Terran) come with a Single Player campaign. In order to play Zerg Single Player, you will have to purchase a full-blown MissionPackSequel called ''Heart of the Swarm'', which, nearly two years after ''Wings of Liberty'''s release, is still in development and is not even expected to hit beta until late 2012. By contrast, ''Brood War'', a "mere" ExpansionPack, came out the same year as the original ''Starcraft'' with all three races given fully playable single player campaigns, just like in the original.