Gameplay Group International Wants to Give Canceled Games a Second Life

A new studio called Gameplay Group International (GG) has been formed to revive canceled games and bring them back to life.

Gameplay Group International (Credit: GG)

At a time when the industry is filled with high-risk projects, rising development costs, and frequent cancellations, GG is positioning itself as a studio that doesn’t just create new titles but revives those that never got their chance.

The company was founded by industry veterans Victor Lugo and Philip Mayes, and its team includes professionals from gaming, film, consumer products, and even themed entertainment.

In an interview with GameBeat, Lugo explained that the idea dates back to the Xbox Live Arcade era, when he saw numerous promising titles vanish without a trace. “I’ve long been frustrated seeing good games canceled or unable to find their audience,” Lugo said. “We developed a model at GG that would allow those games to get a second life.”

This approach comes at a time when the conversation around game preservation is louder than ever. A petition called Stop Killing Games has already gathered over 1.45 million signatures in the European Union, demanding that publishers keep purchased games playable even after servers shut down.

GG’s model is slightly different though. Rather than lobbying to keep servers alive, the studio takes unfinished or canceled games, polishes them, refines their gameplay, and delivers the kind of experiences would have gotten if those games got the attention they deserved in the first place. 

“It was my desire to make games that didn’t have a good launch so they could have better [relaunches], or to have games that were canceled that didn’t get a chance to get their first or second chance to get out the doors,” Lugo added.

The founders cited examples of similar revivals. All Points Bulletin (APB) was relaunched as APB Reloaded after its original studio went bankrupt, while Epic’s canceled MOBA Paragon was successfully revived by fans under Omeda Studios.

GG hopes to build on these precedents with a more organized and well-funded approach.

The studio is also notable for being majority Black, Woman, and Minority-owned, with a global team spread across the US, Australia, Brazil, and Europe. Their expertise lies in gameplay and technical design, especially in genres like fighting, sports, and character-driven experiences.

When it comes to choosing which games to revive, Lugo explained that the team focuses on projects with a strong gameplay foundation above all else. GG evaluates factors such as technical debt, development progress, and team stability before deciding whether a game can realistically be brought back to market.

Lugo noted that while the studio has the resources to take on ambitious projects, it doesn’t aim to tackle large-scale titles like Concord, the high-budget shooter developed by Sony and Firewalk over seven years, which ultimately pulled offline just two weeks after release due to poor player engagement.

“Is it a fixable problem? We don’t just want to inherit someone else’s problem,” Mayes said. “We want to inherit opportunity and look for those diamonds in the rough — the hidden gems.”

According to the founders, some studios cancel promising projects simply because they spread themselves too thin or lose internal focus. GG relies on industry insights and connections to assess whether a project is salvageable and worth pursuing. “It’s not just about supplying money to keep payroll going,” Lugo added. “It’s about how we can elevate what’s already there and take it to the next level, not just pick up a game and push it out the door.”

Mayes agreed, emphasizing that the economic risk of reviving a near-finished or partially complete project is “a lot different than starting from scratch,” allowing GG to invest more strategically while giving overlooked games a real chance to shine.

Currently, GG has two projects in development and is financing them internally, with plans to expand further. While they haven’t revealed the titles yet, Lugo hinted that fighting games will be part of their first slate.