Cancellation of Barkley 2

The Magical Realms of Tír na nÓg: Escape from Necron 7 – Revenge of Cuchulainn: The Official Game of the Movie – Chapter 2 of the Hoopz Barkley SaGa, or Barkley 2 for short, was an Action-RPG game developed by Tales of Game's Studios, the same studio behind Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, as it was intended to be a sequel to that fangame, but it was unfortunately cancelled in 2021 after experiencing development hell.

Background
Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden was a freeware JRPG game that was jokingly meant to be a fan sequel to the obscure Sega Genesis / SNES basketball game Barkley, Shut Up and Jam, as well as the 1996 film Space Jam. The story takes place in a post-cyberpocalyptic New York City of 2041 where Basketball is illegal after the infamous Chaos Dunk was performed by ex-NBA player Charles Barkley. In order to restore faith with the citizens, he and his party members must find the headquarters of B.L.O.O.D.M.O.S.E.S. and destroy the Ultimate B-Ball, the same ball that the Monstars used in Space Jam, as well as their leader. It was well received by players, and it is widely regarded by many as one of the greatest fangames of all time due to its absurd plot with memorable characters and unique mechanics.

Its sequel, Barkley 2 was announced in 2012, when its developers launched a Kickstarter campagin with its initial goal of $35,000, which ended in December with $120,335. While the original was a turn-based JRPG, Barkley 2 will be a Action-RPG inspired by games like Elder Scrolls. The story would have focused on a amnesiatic boy in the year 666X, thousands of years after the original, who awakens from a long-period coma while aboard of the dwarf ship Necron 7. He adopts the name X114JAM9 and sets off into the Post-Cyberpocalyptic Wasteland in search of the enigmatic Cyberdwarf, which will reveal the truth behind what happened and restore his long lost memories. The game is set to be released in late 2013, but that year slipped to 2014, before updates became sparse as months goes on. Then in 2016, a staff member of the studios said that the fundings are depleting, indicating that it went through development hell.

It wasn't until 2019, when developer Hiratio confirmed in a Kickstarter update and on the Somethingawful forums that the original developers, including its creator Chef Boyardee, left the studio on masse, leaving only two, including programmer paperjack to stay afloat. It was also revealed that he quit the studio because of terrible management and only one PR member remained, who has nothing to do with both Barkley titles and has zero expereience with gaming development as a whole.

On June 11, 2021, programmer paperjack announced that the game was officialy cancelled, saying that it became too ambitious and was a coding mess according to him. He also released the source code under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license, along with a 2019 demo for all people to play. The cancellation broke people's hearts, who they have been waiting for the sequel for almost a decade since its Kickstarter annoucement.

Aftermath
After Barkley 2 was 100% dead, many of the original developers have either retired from the industry or work on other studios on low profiles. Because of the drama surrounding it, we will never find out what happened to Charles Barkley and Balthios as it ended on a massive cliffhanger, much like another game that people have been highly anticipated on.

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