More for the Amstrad CPC today on Games That Weren't with release of a very early Shoot-Em-Up by Clockwize from the late 1980s. This recovery was made thanks to Dean Hickingbottom and a nice early glimpse at what could have been a nice budget title. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/07/unna...

A more advanced preview of the unreleased Commodore 64 shoot-em-up Trigger Happy has surfaced! Featuring improved graphics and more developed attack waves, it's a fascinating glimpse at what might have been. www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/trigge... Huge thanks to Hedning/GP!

Developed by Titus, but ultimately never released, Ninjanimal was intended as a beat-em-up inspired by Altered Beast. Surviving Atari ST and Amiga prototypes along with developer insight reveal the story behind this strange lost project: www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/07/ninj...

With Starglider 2 set to feature in the upcoming "Memories of Rainbird and Beyond Software" Kickstarter, here's a look back at the unreleased C64 conversion, its preservation story and the playable preview that survives today. www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/stargl...

Did you know a brand new Gauntlet game was completed for the Nintendo DS... but never released? Despite being reviewed by magazines such as Retro Gamer, the game was cancelled before it reached the shelves. Thankfully it survives today.

Epsilon is an impressive early unreleased vertical shoot-em-up for the Commodore 64 by Paul Hughes and Dawn Drake, originally in development for Rainbird in 1988. Preview builds, source code and its fascinating story have thankfully survived: www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/epsilon/

The original Commodore PET versions of Supersoft's Catacombs and Goblin Towers (1981), thought lost for around 45 years, have now been recovered, preserved and released by Marcel Lansing! Read the full story here: commodoregames.net/catacombs.asp

Source code has been recovered for Imagitec's unreleased Raiden (Amiga/Atari Falcon), suggesting 8 Amiga levels plus extra Falcon content beyond the known 3-level build. We've also added early Space Junk sources! Huge thanks to tomseddon and dlfrsilver! www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/07/raid...

A new prototype preserved. With huge thanks to Benedykt Dziubałtowski for securing permission from the original authors, we're delighted to release a very early Game Boy Advance prototype of the unreleased fighter, Franko 2: No Mercy.

Raiden was one of the biggest arcade shooters of the 1990s. But did you know planned Amiga and Atari Falcon conversions never made it to release? Today we take a look at both surviving versions and what happened to them.

Very rare footage and screenshots of Big Five Software's unreleased Scraper Caper for the Atari 8-bit range has resurfaced. See Bounty Bob's abandoned firefighting adventure and what might have been. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2025/04/scra...

Big month for the Commodore 64 archive! Arcade Wizzard finally recovered after 22 years of searching, joined by the complete unreleased game Void, an Australian prototype of Aussie Games, two newly preserved releases, 3 new entries and 14 archive updates: www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/06/lost...

The Acrobat was an ambitious comic book-style adventure by Simon Price and Mike Lewis, planned for PC, Atari ST and Amiga before MicroProse cancelled the project. Released today on Games That Weren't, including the surviving source code. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/06/the-...

A look back at the Robocop PlayStation tech demo created by Realtime Associates as a pitch submission. Released into the GTW archives back in 2012, it offers a glimpse at what might have been before the licence went elsewhere. Video below. #PlayStation #Robocop

Another preservation release today was a rare Commodore 64 prototype of Australian Games. This Australian version includes several differences from the released builds: www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/austra...

One of the other main preservations today was Void for Commodore 64. Originally intended as a budget cassette release through Software Licensing Marketing, this complete unreleased game from Tony Smales never made it to shelves after publishing changes: www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/void/

Three huge Commodore 64 recoveries now live on GTW! After a 22 year search, Arcade Wizzard has finally been found + preserved. Joining it are a prototype of Aussie Games and unreleased full game of Void. Huge thanks to Tony Smales + @thisweekinretro.bsky.social gamesthatwerent.com/2026/06/thre...

For years, EPT was little more than a name. Today we're releasing further surviving Atari ST prototypes of Rainbird's ambitious space exploration epic, alongside a huge archive of design documents that reveal what the finished game might have become. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/06/ept/

FREEZE issue 85 has landed thanks to @freeze64.bsky.social ! This is the first time I've not proofed, as I've taken a temporary break due to being overloaded this year in various ways. So, I'm excited to experience as a reader for a little while :) More details: freeze64.com/freeze64-iss...

Our friends at AtariMania have preserved and shared Gravitor, a previously lost 1984 Atari 8-bit shoot'em up by Alan Kramer and Comax Software. The release also includes original documentation and materials that help tell the story behind the game. www.atarimania.com/game-atari-4...

Rare prototype footage from MARSOC, an ambitious cancelled military shooter by Zombie Studios for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Originally picked up by SEGA and inspired by Gears of War and Call of Duty. Check out footage and additional assets here: www.gamesthatwerent.com/2020/12/mars...

Thanks to the generosity of Mat Allen and Håvar Bruvold Hojem, Games That Weren't has preserved two pieces of unpreserved software in the form of Co Pro Football by Tepe Enterprises, and an earlier prototype of IFR (Flight Simulator) by Ron Wanttaja. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/06/comm...

Escapeque was an Amiga game concept created 1991-1994 by Stavros Fasoulas and Tomas Dahlgren. Although never progressing far, graphics created for the project survived and offer a fascinating glimpse at what could have been a Flashback-style platformer. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/06/esca...

Following recent coverage of Argonaut's cancelled PS2 edition, we take a look at an even earlier Æon Flux adaptation. Developed by Cryo Interactive in 1996, the PlayStation game never saw release, but a surviving prototype reveals what might have been. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/06/aeon...

Acolyte is a cancelled Clockwise title that came remarkably close to release. Thanks to Dean Hickingbottom, we're adding a new and early Amstrad CPC prototype to the archives, alongside the previously recovered ZX Spectrum and CPC builds. www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/06/acol...

Not every early 2000s game wanted to be action focused. Fatman and Slim was a unique physics based puzzler with big ideas and a different style about it. Sadly the game never made it to release. Can anything of it be found? www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/06/fatm...

In the latest Amiga Addict magazine, we have written a Games That Weren't article on the unreleased: The King's Ransom. What should have been an impressive follow on to ReadySoft's Wrath of the Demon for Commodore Amiga and PC platforms back in 1993: www.addict.media/amiga-addict...

More lost games, prototypes and unseen material added to the GTW64 archives in our latest update. May's update (a bit late due to holiday) includes 4 brand new entries and 22 updates to existing cases. Plenty to dig into: www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/06/lost...

Koshimo looked set to be a stunning Kung Fu Master-style title on the Commodore 64, with huge sprites and a real console feel. Despite strong early previews, development stalled and the game was never finished.

Bounty Hunter (Amstrad CPC) is a new prototype release at Games That Weren't and quite advanced stage multi-screen platform action. There are possible links to Raffaele Cecco too - so was this one of his, or perhaps a game that inspired Exolon? www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/06/boun...