A Cancelled Xbox Game Revealed 20 Years Ago is Finally Getting Its Long Overdue Release

It turns out the reports on the death of the notorious pirate, Captain Blood, have been greatly exaggerated! That’s the surprising claim from developer Seawolf Studio and publisher SNEG. Chances are many won’t recall this bloody pirate action game that first sailed into view as an original Xbox title in 2004 before re-emerging as an Xbox 360 game in its last sighting in 2010. Presumed dead, Captain Blood faded into history as little more than a footnote.

Now, the titular pirate is getting his chance to strike fear into his foes as he seeks gold and glory. Loosely based on the novels written by Rafael Sabatini, Captain Blood puts players into the seafaring boots of the most feared pirate captain to sail the seven seas during the 17th century. The tales of this swashbuckling scoundrel are brimming with sword fights, pistol shooting and cannon firing, as you would expect from anyone in this particular profession.

Here’s the re-reveal trailer for Captain Blood, showing us a game that wears its earlier era gaming inspirations proudly on its rolled up sleeves. I mean, it sure is reminiscent of the older days when games were doing all they could to adapt the original God of War‘s flashy and gory action combat. Whether that’s to your liking or not is another thing. For this nostalgic gamer, I can’t help but find its yesteryear stylings appealing. Certainly it couldn’t be the worst pirate game of 2024, right?

Captain Blood will release later this year on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch.