Initially, Microsoft didn’t plan to release Crytek‘s game as one of the Xbox One launch titles – the situation is far more complicated than that!

Microsoft first announced this game in 2010, during E3. Back then, Crytek‘s development ran under the name Codename: Kingdoms, which then turned out to be a game that will require Kinect on the Xbox 360. The Kinect was heavily pushed by the Redmond-based company back in the day (it even was necessary to buy it with the Xbox One when it came out…).

Now, a prototype has surfaced of the original concept, which didn’t require Microsoft’s camera yet – it was a first-person perspective melee combat game, which would have launched on the Xbox 360 if everything went according to plan. The early prototype was found in an X360 development kit, and there are a few interesting things in this build – for example, every enemy looks the same (which seems to be more of a temporary, placeholder solution). Still, the combat is accompanied by a little too dramatic cutscenes, but with a little attention, Crytek could have easily made it a playable E3 demo.

Ryse: Son of Rome ended up launching in 2013 on the Xbox One, followed by a Steam edition in 2014 (because back then, there was no Windows 10, which is why Microsoft had to use Gabe Newell’s service). It wasn’t a memorable title to get a sequel, but it somehow made sense, given the game’s complicated development history (which involved a console generation jump, too).

It’s always nice to see lost builds of released games, as they show how much could have changed between an early version of a game and its retail format (especially when there were cases of the prototypes being much better than the released versions…).

Source: PCGamer