Canceled open-world Power Rangers game concept art surfaces
The game was supposedly inspired by the Arkham series
A canceled Power Rangers game has come to light after an ex-developer on the game shared some concept art of the ‘Arkham’ style project.
Twitter user Jason Bischoff, who previously worked at Power Rangers original owner Saban Entertainment, shared that they were working on a AAA game based on the cult superheroes called 'Project Nomad.'
According to Bischoff’s thread, the game was intended to be an "open-world co-op that captured the energy, teamwork, and history of the franchise through a fresh lens." The ex-Saban employee then describes the project as "'Arkham' Rangers... or Gotham Knights 5 years before [its] announcement," referring to WB Games Montréal's upcoming title and Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham series.
As a video game ex-pat (then at Saban), I had hoped to BusDev an ambitious, open world co-op that captured the energy, teamwork, and history of the franchise through a fresh lens.Basically, 'Arkham' Rangers... or Gotham Knights 5yrs before GK's announcement. ⚡️ #powerdown 2/6 pic.twitter.com/NbUOqOttSNAugust 6, 2021
Each tweet in the thread features concept art from the project, from character armour to a fight alongside a giant fire-breathing robo T-Rex. So what happened to the idea? Bischoff explains: "Sadly, with so much circulating through the studio at the time, there was no bandwidth or budget to support."
However, what Bischoff did have "was an invaluable 'blessing' to independently explore" which, as the Power Rangers fan goes on to explain, they did. "Calling on old friends, we built the pitch we wanted to see” Bischoff shares alongside character designs of the suited superheroes from Green to Yellow Ranger.
Unfortunately, Bischoff, along with the other talented artists who worked on the project, wasn’t able to get the project off the ground despite, as they explain, "early talks with devs/publishers was favorable." "Ultimately," they conclude, "time and big shifts in our business saw conversations around Project Nomad peter out." Unfortunately, that means we're still living in a timeline where an open-world Power Rangers game is yet to happen.
Want to see more games set in the Arkham universe? Find out about 2022’s DC game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
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After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at 12DOVE before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training. My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.