Capcom explains Mega Man Legends 3 cancellation

Two years and a week after the original cancellation date (to be specific, July 18, 2013), Capcom Unity community manager Gregaman has replied to a forum post to clear up once again the issues surrounding the cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3, mostly because many misconceptions have grown about the game in the relatively short period.

First off, regarding the cancellation itself, Greg points out that projects just like Mega Man Legends 3 go into early development and get cancelled midway all the time. Greg points out that Capcom set themselves up for trouble by putting the game on what was then their Devroom initiative, allowing fans to provide their own inputs that would eventually come into the final game. Devroom placed Legends 3 on the spotlight, opening up the possibility that Capcom would be placed in the precarious position it eventually got itself into. As Greg points out, there wouldn't be a groundswell of emotions like this if the game was not revealed at all before the cancellation.

Greg also wants us to place the game itself in perspective, as a sequel to a long dormant franchise, that itself didn't perform that well financially in its heyday. He says there was no intention to mislead people into thinking the Prologue would get released even if the full game was cancelled, and finally dismisses the issue of one former Capcom Europe employee blaming the fans.

Back in the Mega Man Legends fan page, named 100,000 Strong for Bringing Back Mega Man Legends 3, the fans persevere to campaign in indirect ways, launching a 5 ft tall model rocket of Rocket #28, making their own concept album, streaming and playing League of Legends with each other, helping arrange music festival Mega Rock Fan Festa, giving Capcom Unity people stuff and sharing other people's fan projects.

In this relatively short period of time, Mega Man Legends 3 has become the Earthbound of a new generation of gamers. It is genuinely amazing that a fandom has grown around production assets for a game that was never officially released. I think Mega Man fans will continue to keep clamoring for the game until Capcom finally caves in, even if that day never comes. Capcom, we hope you're still paying attention.

Source 1, 2