Mega Man creator's 3DS game Kaio: King of Pirates has been cancelled

Marvelous Entertainment has announced that 3DS title Kaio: King of Pirates has been cancelled.

This was a project being led by Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune. It was based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms but featured animal pirates instead of historical figures.

Inafune hoped to make it into a trilogy that would be brought to the west at some point. Obviously, that will no longer happen.

Kaio had been in production since 2011. It was announced in 2012 but all development on it had gone silent for a while after it was delayed until 2014.

According to Siliconera, Marvelous cancelled Kaio due to changes in the marketplace and difficulties with the game's planned mixed media development.

Marvelous has spent 461 million yen on producing Kaio: King of Pirates altogether, which is roughly $3.8 million.