''Possession'' was a

vaporware In the computer industry, vaporware (or vapourware) is a product, typically computer hardware or software, that is announced to the general public but is late or never actually manufactured nor officially cancelled. Use of the word has broade ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

, intended for release for seventh-generation

video game console A video game console is an electronic device that Input/output, outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home video game console, home consoles, which are generally placed i ...

s. The story would have followed a man turned into a

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...

via exposure to experimental chemicals from a laboratory into which he had broken. Retaining his intelligence, he sets out on a mission to destroy the Prometheus Corporation which made the chemicals. To do this, he amasses a vast number of zombie warriors to take control of the futuristic Restoration City, headquarters of the shadowy Prometheus Corporation. The game was designed primarily as a

real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, turn ...

title, wherein the player commanded their zombie army directly and makes tactical use of special unit types to achieve objectives. There was also planned to be online play where one player sends waves of zombies into the city, while several other players have to fight them off.

Development and vaporware status

While not officially cancelled, updates on the game's development ceased in 2006. In response to several questions about Possession, Blitz/Volatile sent out the same message to any person who requested the status of the game.

''"Hi there, Thanks for your interest in Possession. Unfortunately we still haven't managed to secure a publisher to take on the project. We haven't given up on Possession completely, we want to see it made as much as you do. We are pursuing other games at the moment though. Best regards, PR Dept, Volatile Games"''

The website www.youhavebeenpossessed.com, formerly the game's

homepage A home page (or homepage) is the main web page of a website. The term may also refer to the start page shown in a web browser when the application first opens. Usually, the home page is located at the root of the website's domain or subdomain ...

, was abandoned and later purchased by a completely different organization. In a 2019 retrospective interview with Volatile Games' co-founder about the development of ''

Reservoir Dogs ''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarantino, and Edward Bunke ...

'', he revealed that ''Possession'' was originally pitched to

Bandai Namco also known as the Bandai Namco Group and generally Bandai Namco, is a Japanese multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, formed from the merger of Bandai and Namco on S ...

but they refused to fund it due to it being "very expensive". They instead invited Volatile to work on a pitch for a new ''

Dead to Rights ''Dead to Rights'' is a neo-noir video game series focusing on Jack Slate, a police officer in the fictional Grant City, and his K-9 partner Shadow. There are four games in the series. Games ''Dead to Rights'' ''Dead to Rights'', the fir ...

'' game that would eventually become '' Dead to Rights: Retribution''.

References

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External links

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PS3
Cancelled PlayStation 3 games Cancelled Windows games Cancelled Xbox 360 games Real-time strategy video games Video games about zombies Multiplayer and single-player video games