These days companies and gamers are re-release crazy. It makes sense too; who would not want to relive their favorite gaming memories with a new coat of paint or an HD upgrade? As time goes on, more and more classics are being updated, to the delight of many.
Unfortunately, many games may never receive this treatment for a variety of reasons. The ten games below are currently stuck in rights limbo and likely will not leave it for some time. Companies are known to surprise fans, though, so some of these might just come out again in the future.
10 GoldenEye
This Nintendo 64 game revolutionized console first-person shooters five years before Halo: Combat Evolved. The multiplayer was a particularly incredible feature, providing countless hours of entertainment between friends.
A remake was in development and mostly finished before rights issues prevented an actual release from going forward. A build of this HD remake leaked on the Internet recently. Those who played it say it was shaping up to be a proper re-release, making fans sad for its cancellation.
9 X-Men Origins: Wolverine
This adaptation of the first solo Wolverine film is often considered better than the movie. Unfortunately, it has been delisted from digital storefronts, so your only chance to play it is by snagging a physical copy.
Fans should not hold their breaths for a modern re-release either. It was published by Activision and most of their Marvel games are no longer available and have not been re-released. Marvel Ultimate Alliance was re-released in 2016, so there is at least a small glimmer of hope.
8 Sunset Overdrive
Sunset Overdrive is an Xbox exclusive developed by Insomniac Games, a company now under Sony’s ownership. As a result of this, Sony owns the IP and has the right to make a sequel. However, Microsoft is still in charge of the first game.
With this situation, it seems like releasing the game on PS5 or PS4 would be quite a challenge without some sort of agreement. However, this is a world that allows for a baseball game developed by Sony to be on the Xbox Series X, so anything is possible.
7 X-Men Destiny
This game was developed by Silicon Knights and was not particularly beloved. If you are curious about it as a fan of brawlers and X-Men, good luck tracking down a copy.
All copies were ordered taken off the market along with Too Human as a result of a lawsuit regarding the engine. There is a small sliver of hope here, though, since Too Human was recently made available again through official channels.
6 Gran Turismo
Racing games often try to use licensed vehicles to add to the realism. Gran Turismo is one of the most popular racing simulators out there, and always uses brand names for their vehicles. Unfortunately, this also makes re-releasing many of these games a huge challenge, because they have to deal with all the car companies involved.
Considering the newer games generally make the older ones obsolete it is not too big a deal. However, some would like to revisit the old titles for nostalgia.
5 Metal Gear Solid 4
The general reason for Metal Gear Solid 4’s lack of a re-release is reportedly the way the game is tied to the PS3’s tech. Another hurdle for it coming to newer consoles is the mountain of real-life products inside the game.
Considering Konami’s recent shift in priorities, it seems doubtful the publisher would put a lot of effort into clearing up these rights issues. A port could just remove these licensed products. It would be unfortunate, but a slightly changed re-release is better than nothing.
4 No One Lives Forever
For companies like Night Dive Studios who specialize in remasters, one of the most requested projects is No One Lives Forever. The company has gone on record stating their desire to do it, but a major problem is figuring out who even owns the IP.
Once this is sorted and they get the source code, a remaster could start production. With time the problem might be remedied, but this could take years.
3 EA Lord Of The Rings Game
When the films were coming out, EA published numerous games set in Middle-earth. Since 2010 Warner Bros. has taken over duties for Lord of the Rings video games. This puts doubt into the possibility of re-releasing some of the more celebrated games based on the series.
Maybe the two publishers could reach an agreement to please fans with updated versions of Return of the King and The Third age. Until then, keep those PS2s plugged in.
2 Panzer Dragoon Saga
This RPG is considered one of the finest releases on the Sega Saturn. It takes place in the Panzer Dragoon franchise, though all other entries are rail shooters. As bad as people want a re-release, the source code is pretty much lost completely.
As of 2009 Gametap owned the rights, but a re-release on the now-defunct platform was halted due to Saturn emulation at the time. Another issue is the lost source code, which would mean a developer would have to remake the game from scratch.
1 Beatles Rock Band
Most rhythm games have an issue with re-releases because of the genre’s reliance on licensed music. While other Rock Band games at least let players import their libraries into new titles, Beatles Rock Band’s library is only available on the game and impossible to import.
Sadly, the DLC is no longer available for purchase either. The value of the Beatles’ library makes re-licensing these songs almost impossible and not worth it considering the genre’s niche popularity these days.
