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The hidden stories of the video game industry never cease to amaze. There are countless titles we’ll never get to play—if you’re interested in that topic, I highly recommend The Games That Weren’t, a book dedicated to these “lost” games.

Today’s case is Blade Runner: Time to Live, a project that was being developed by Supermassive Games (Until Dawn). The game focused on character-driven, cinematic action-adventure gameplay, putting players in the role of a Blade Runner in the year 2065—the last of his kind still operating in that universe during that time period. The game was planned to offer about 12 hours of gameplay, delivering a story infused with the philosophical elements typical of the Blade Runner franchise, along with deeper gameplay mechanics than what Supermassive usually offers.

Pre-production began in September 2024 with the team behind The Quarry. This stage was set to conclude by March 2025, followed by prototype development until September 2025. The targeted release window was September 2027, planned for both current and next-gen consoles as well as PC. Blade Runner: Time to Live had a proposed budget of $45 million, with $9 million allocated specifically for motion capture and acting work. This budget did not include music production, image rights, QA, localization, or planned DLCs.

Insider Gaming shared some narrative descriptions from the project:

“Journey from the teeming undercity of New Zurich 2065 to the eerie remnants of the forgotten world beyond.”

“Under orders to retire Rev, the mysterious and ruthless leader of an underground replicant network, you are betrayed and left for dead in a brutally hostile environment.”

The protagonist would have been an older Nexus-6 model that somehow remained operational beyond its expected service life. Gameplay was to include stealth, combat, exploration, and investigation mechanics.

Thanks, Insider Gaming.