The 10th Planet

This article is about a cancelled space combat game. For the hypothetical planet beyond Neptune, see Planets beyond Neptune. For other subjects related to "tenth planet", see Tenth planet (disambiguation).
10th Planet
Developer(s)Centropolis Entertainment
Bethesda Softworks
Publisher(s)Bethesda Softworks
Producer(s)Bruce Nesmith[1]
Programmer(s)Kaare Siesing[2]
Writer(s)Roland Emmerich,[3] Dean Devlin[3]
EngineXnGine[2][4][5]
ReleaseCancelled

The 10th Planet is a cancelled space combat game that was to be published by Bethesda Softworks.

Plot

In the distant future, the Solar System is a ravaged battlefield, and mighty starship armadas are the tools of our destruction. Using a previously unknown tenth planet orbiting the Solar System as its staging ground, an alien force plans on conquering Earth and destroying anything that gets in its way.

Development and marketing

Development for The 10th Planet began as early as 1994.[6] It was showcased at E3 1995.[4] The game was being originally developed jointly by both Centropolis and Bethesda. However, during the development phase, Centropolis chose to stop working on the game due to Centropolis's commitments to their films.[7] Players who pre-ordered the game would receive a copy of XCar: Experimental Racing.[8] The game was described as Star Fox meets X-Wing; PlayStation and Saturn versions were considered.[9] According to Todd Howard, the game never made past pre-production.[10]

Release

The game was originally to be released in 1996.[11][12][3] This was pushed to October 1997[13][7] and later to 1998.[14][15]

References

  1. ^ "The 10th Planet Preview". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on October 12, 1997. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Giovetti, Al (September 1996). "The 10th Planet Preview". Computer Games Magazine. pp. 20–22. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c McNicholas, Conor (October 1995). "The Bizarre Tenth Planet". PC Zone. p. 18. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Hollywood and high-tech converge on The Tenth Planet". PR Newswire. May 11, 1995. Archived from the original on July 20, 2024. Retrieved July 21, 2024 – via Gale Research.
  5. ^ "Meet Top Holywood Producer Dean Devlin of Centropolis Entertainment in Bethesda Booth". PR Newswire. May 12, 1995. Archived from the original on July 21, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Gale Research.
  6. ^ "Bethesda". PC Gamer. 1994. p. 64. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Meyer, Bill (June 13, 1997). "Bethesda Busts Out". CNET Gamecenter. Archived from the original on July 17, 1997. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  8. ^ Dean Wisley Smith (1999). The Tenth Planet. National Geographic Books. p. 265. ISBN 9780345485151. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  9. ^ "Special Feature". GamePro. March 1996. p. 72,73. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  10. ^ "Making Starfield with Bethesda's Todd Howard The AIAS Game Maker's Notebook Podcast". YouTube. September 25, 2023. Event occurs at 16:10. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  11. ^ White, Rod (February 27, 1996). "An Interview with Todd Howard, Producer of Terminator: Future Shock)". PCM&E Magazine. Archived from the original on 1997-06-07. Retrieved August 31, 2023. Disable JavaScript to avoid being redirected&access the Interview
  12. ^ "The 10th Planet". centropolis.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 1997. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  13. ^ Lee, Helen (May 22, 1997). "Bethesda's E3 Lineup". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 11, 2000. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  14. ^ "XCar Web Site Launches". GameSpot. July 17, 1997. Archived from the original on February 2, 1999. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  15. ^ Burn, Timothy (December 15, 1997). "Wings of Gold' failed to lift game firm aloft". The Washington Times. p. D13. Retrieved January 3, 2024.