P.i.G. (lost build of cancelled PlayStation/PC 3D platformer; 1996-1999)

Magazine excerpt for the game.

Status: Lost

P.i.G. is a cancelled 3D platform adventure game that was in development by Team 17 for PlayStation and PC since 1996, with a planned release in spring 1999.

Plot

The gameplay would have followed a similar style of popular games in the same genre as Banjo Kazooie, with the main character being a pig named George, working as a private investigator (this explain the title’s acronym: Private Investigator George) hired to solve the mysterious disappearance of a bunch of piglets, kidnapped by Dr. Gotem in the strange and puzzle-filled Fun Dazzle Magic Land theme park.

8 main themed areas such as Mars, the Arctic, Fairy Tales, and a Volcano were planned and each theme was subdivided into 3 or 4 sub-levels, filled with areas to explore, traps and puzzles, giving a total of around 40 different environments to play in. Lots of different minigames were also available to players, as arcade machines featuring P.i.G.-style versions of some classic games and surreal sections where George was swallowed by a giant pumpkin lantern or shrunk to minute size. George would have used different outfits for each area climate, for example by wearing a sweater and wool hat in the snow level, and more than 60 NPCs (between enemies to fight and friends to help) would have moved around the world.

Preview

It was shown in European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) 1998 in London. A trademark for P.i.G. filed by Team 17 on July 8, 1998, with includes the logo design. According to an interview with the Team 17 Co-Founder & CEO Debbie Bestwick, the game was cancelled along with the other games because of the huge success of Worms in the late 1990s made them lose sight of how to develop other great games, and they lost a lot of money on a series of unreleased projects.

No prototypes or other information of those versions are known to exist.