Pirates of the Caribbean Armada of the Damned - What Happened?

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Edited By: / ultimashadowx
SkeleMatt Art By: / donwoka
Intro By: / 2manysnacks and / littlevmills
Sources:
Unseen64 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned [X360 PS3 PC - Cancelled]
www.unseen64.net/2022/12/14/p...
GamesRadar via WayBackMachine - Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
web.archive.org/web/201307091...
Game Developer - Propaganda Developing Pirates Of The Caribbean: Armada Of The Damned
www.gamedeveloper.com/pc/prop...
IGN.com - Disney Interactive Studios Announces Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
www.ign.com/articles/2009/05/...
IGN.com - Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned Cancelled
www.ign.com/articles/2010/10/...
GamesRadar via WayBackMachine - 5 ways Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned is avoiding the movie-licensed shitstorm
web.archive.org/web/201603041...
Game Informer vie WayBackMachine - Pirates Offers More Than Expected
web.archive.org/web/201307290...
IGN.com - Pre-E3 2009: Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned Unveiled
www.ign.com/articles/2009/05/...
IGN.com - First Look at Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
www.ign.com/articles/2010/05/...
GamesIndustry.biz - Disney Interactive posts first annual profit
www.gamesindustry.biz/disney-...
GamesIndustry.biz - Disney closes Vancouver's Propaganda Games
www.gamesindustry.biz/disney-...
IGN.com - Disney Cancels Infinity, No Longer Self-Publishing Games
www.ign.com/articles/2016/05/...
Music:
Donkey Kong Country - Gangplank Galleon
Pirate Ship - Zack & Wiki
Cutthroat Carival - Skylanders Giants
Song of Storms - Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Eternal Struggle - Soul Calibur II
Shoot Down Sky Pirates - Jak and Daxter The Lost Frontier
Soul Blade - Bravely Folk Song
#whathappened #piratesofthecaribbean #mattmcmuscles

[@MattMcMuscles]

Check out Dread Templar HERE! Steam: s.team/a/1334730 GOG: www.gog.com/game/dread_templar EGS: store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/dread-templar-d8e8fa

[@KuroeNezumi]

...wait, was dread templar on early access before this?

[@MattMcMuscles]

@@KuroeNezumi Yes, this is the full finished release with a ton of new content.

[@joshuataylor7443]

Can you do rise of the incarnates next? kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6GvnGyDi6qbhMk

[@joshuataylor7443]

@@MattMcMuscles Can you do rise of the incarnates next? kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6GvnGyDi6qbhMk

[@4carhur1more]

Holy sh!t, I don't think I've been this excited to play something from a sponsored section like ever. That game looks like Doom make on the Quake engine and that looks amazing!

[@FletcherReedsRandomness]

Pirates of the Caribbean as a franchise needs a dedicated episode. The first movie was dangerously close to being cancelled multiple times, the second movie’s script was being written DURING shooting, and the usual woes of making movies on the water came in full force.

[@flyingace1234]

My favorite detail is they kept losing Sparrow's hat because it didn't float, so they had to start making them in foam rubber dolled up to look like leather so it would actually float.

[@MrBeardsley]

Not to mention Depp’s increasingly weird demands and erratic behavior during production of the later sequels, like refusing to read the scripts in advance and having all his lines fed to him on set via earpiece.

[@IncoherentMoron]

@@MrBeardsley From what I understand, that's not uncommon with method actors: the whole idea behind method acting is that the actor embodies the character fully, so getting the lines on the fly can give a sense of spontaneity that rehearsal would lose. It's not surprising to me that Depp would shift to using an earwig because the dude seemed to become Jack Sparrow full-time at some point.

[@mattjoe98]

I heard the second movie was largely written when they started filming, but they were writing for three as they filmed that movie due to time constraints. Not sure which one of us is right lol

[@SpedeVesku]

@@IncoherentMoron So far, every story about a method actor seems to boil down to "a diva star wanted to make the crew miserable".

[@alonmizrahi1409]

I remember when I joined the team as a co op engineer, I was transferred to the pirates team after turok 2 got shutdown, 2 weeks after I was hired. I remember at that time we were focusing getting a vertical slice ready for Disney to give green light. Everyone on the team were able to find jobs all around vancouver after the studio shutdown. Great talent!

[@lukaszzylik4437]

Damn. If it's worth anything the game looked amazing. Thanks for contributing to an industry that's been a huge part of my life since I was a little kid. Mad respect 🙏

[@yourgrandmasjzexboyfriend]

Turok 2 😔

[@benhaworth9937]

God that bit about the lead character designer getting told "well he doesn't look as good as Nathan Drake" after only a few weeks of work. Infuriating! Money men don't seem to understand there isn't some magic make this look great button. Nathan Drake took years of development and insane patience and hard work. Just give the artists time!

[@dn22pkkdd476]

"It doesn't look as good as Generic Genericson The Third" "Yeah, he looks better"

[@captainmappy3959]

Don’t forget that Nathan Drake was originally supposed to look like Johnny Knoxville.

[@k_isforkaito.]

@Captain Mappy Would've been a Jackass reference thrown in somewhere had it come to fruition.

[@DJ4x]

You know it's gonna be a good episode when you haven't even heard of the project in question.

[@ImotekhtheStormlord-tx2it]

it was during E3 2009? or some shit. i remember the gameplay. i was mad when they cancelled it 10months before its release. when i saw ac black flag trailers i thought it was this game since even walking animations are similar (maybe they sold the rights or models to ubisoft , quietly)... im mad...

[@sablebranwen2539]

I think this was the first video game cancellation that really hurt me. This game was too damn cool to live!

[@MuddiedProphet]

Same! I remember seeing it announced at E3 and being utterly gutted when it was cancelled. I just want a good Pirate game. Why are Pirate games so rare? T_T

[@louiscypher4996]

@@MuddiedProphet I remember when this was announced, I was excited for it. Sadly, 'Dead men DO tell no tales.' At least we have Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Not the same, I know, but it was a good pirate game. Some say, it's one of the best Assassin's Creed games, period.

[@Japanlover79]

I felt the same thing with scalebound

[@Dragonflame1994]

It has been over 10 years and I still frequently think about how much potential this game had, how it was so ambitious and ahead of its time that a lot of gameplay concepts even predated AC: Black Flag and how it could've been one of the greatest licensed games ever made had it not gotten cancelled and I will never forgive Disney for this sin.

[@shahrouh]

I felt the same with Jak 4.

[@GoldMetalSonic]

Fun fact: Devon Blanchet, the Design Director seen at @4:00 went on to join Next Level Games and just directed Mario Strikers Battle League!

[@MrOnepiecem7]

Awesome

[@HardCodedGaming]

Can I just say I love seeing ad reads spotlighting indie games and not just the usual KZbin sponsors? Very happy to be hearing about a cool new FPS and not a VPN

[@darthcinema4262]

Or Raid Shadow Legends. I'm so sick of hearing about that game

[@jonathansalazar4630]

It's a shame that this game got cancelled, it really had a lot going for it and had the potential to be one of the best licensed games out there.

[@jasonblalock4429]

3:03 Relatedly, the one that made me sad was the GBA Dead Man's Chest. You get an isometric map of the Caribbean to explore, randomly-spawning ships to attack, cities to pillage, shops for ship upgrades, and so on. It was basically a portable Sid Meier's Pirates, with some platforming stages thrown in... except that the entire game can be 100%ed in 3-4 hours. They were so close to having a genuinely good pirate game at a time that was rare (much less on a handheld), but they just didn't include enough content, making for a game that ends just as you're starting to get into it.

[@zacharysimmons4115]

I actually just replayed that recently after finding the cartridge in a drawer. It's genuinely impressive how much there is packed into that game.

[@dikballistik]

Sounds like it was too big to NOT fail

[@Yixdy]

Surprisingly, Sid Meier's Pirates! was released on the PSP, and it was a full featured port too.

[@coolness4098]

wow someone who actually mentioned that game i tried to 100% it kind of recently and i found out that it's actually bugged and you can't collect every single treasure (you can't put the pieces of ehactl together bc once you collect 2/3 pieces the 3rd piece doesn't show up even if you have all the rumors)

[@Scum42]

This is actually really sad because, honestly, if Disney Interactive was operating at such a big loss for such a long time, if I were in the position to make the decisions... I might have made the same call. Any projects close enough to the finish line could stay, everything else gets cancelled. Let all of those finish and look at the results, then try to focus on "the next big thing" in Infinity (...I would not have thought that, but we're assuming in this situation I also believed that for some reason). If someone went very deep into every currently ongoing project to find the most promising ones, rather than the nearest-to-done ones, they hopefully would have seen this one as very promising and left it alone, but depending on how many projects there were that might not be possible. It really feels like this was just a perfect storm of circumstances that killed this game, and it almost feels like no one is really in the wrong here, just a case of wrong place, wrong time.

[@Iamafishproductions]

It's bizarre to see a What Happened video where the answer isn't very neatly, "Because (Company Name)." Especially when that company is Disney.

[@CoralCopperHead]

@@Iamafishproductions The context of it being Disney makes it kind of silly though. Sure, no company wants any division to run at a loss, but considering the *_absurd_* fortune they make, they could've afforded to stick it out for another year.

[@luigirules7742]

Pirates of the Caribbean Online and Lego Pirates of the Caribbean were my favorite games from the franchise.

[@jesseperry9602]

This one really is heartbreaking. Armada had real potential to be something special. I really would like to have gotten the chance to play it.

[@emilysong2000]

Anyone else here hoping we see Skele-Matt's awesome pirate captain design make a return for the inevitable Skull and Bones episode coming.. whenever Ubisoft gets their act together and releases it?

[@XeronosKuro]

It's a shame that the Mouse has drawn back on video games for the most part. Armada seemed to be a great game to be finished and possibly make a major stand for a movie based game. I think at some point, someone will uncover the game's files and eventually release them to the public.

[@dikballistik]

There's no reason not to. Disney doesn't want to make money off of it? Fine! Don't! I apply the same logic to Lego. When they retire sets they stay retired. Third party (Chinese) makers produce clones of a lot of those sets. It's no money out of Legos pockets at that point.

[@GenerationWest]

I've barely heard of this game, and yet I remember it being made during the height of every property getting an MMO at that point ...it was the style at the time!

[@JomasterTheSecond]

Funny you should mention the whole MMO thing, because Pirates of the Caribbean Online was the *shit,* man.

[@darthcinema4262]

This one still hurts. I was a huge fan of Pirates of the Caribbean and this game looked awesome. I wish Risen 2 was canceled instead

[@zacharysimmons4115]

Risen 2 is not a bad game. It's not the most amazing thing ever, but considering the small team and relatively low budget I think it's pretty good.

[@KentheDeer]

I remember being very excited for Armada of the Damned and so disappointed when it got cancelled. One of those “they should bring that idea back” kind of games that I wish could get made nowadays…

[@MZFKDL]

just on the topic of pirates: it would be great to hear from you about the game "The Age of Pirates: Captain Blood", it was supposed to be released in 2010, it was even completely ready, but problems began in court for this brand and it was not officially released, but in 2021 the source code of the game was laid out and it can even to play!

[@manuelalbertoromero9528]

What is it about?

[@DarkQueenHelba]

Interesting. What was it supposed to be on?

[@MZFKDL]

@@DarkQueenHelba hack and slash/action-adventure game.

[@frankiebecchi5307]

Wait why was there a court case?

[@MZFKDL]

@@frankiebecchi5307 one of the versions (this is indicated in the Russian-language Wikipedia): "To date, the project is still not released, perhaps due to unfinished litigation for the Captain Blood brand between 1C and Playlogic"

[@James-gj8rn]

LET'S FLIPPING GO!!! I was SO excited for this one back in 2010, too bad it never saw the light of day, man i wish we could get it revived :)

[@Exaar]

Oh man I forgot about that "CAPTAIN! LOOOOOOOK!" Sea of Thieves clip, it never stops being hilarious

[@robofistsrevenge3288]

This is it. My Mega Man Legends 3, my Silent Hills, my Star Wars 1313. This cancelation bummed me out so bad that my expectations for the industry have pretty much been on the ground ever since. I don't even know why I clung on to it so hard haha.

[@zacharysimmons4115]

Same, mate. Same.

[@spiralgodking9877]

Have you played Sea Of Thieves?

[@1stCallipostle]

You know the episode will be good when I never knew the subject was a thing

[@DevilishmanThe]

Same here, my unknown internet comment creator. Same here.

[@Dro1dy]

Man, as someone who’s grown to love pirate games like Black Flag (and I guess Rogue) and Sea of Thieves, this one kind of breaks my heart to see. Sucks to see all that effort and potential go to waste like that. Also, Google Stadia might be a fun one to cover for a Wha Happen, although I don’t know if it could be made into a full episode since it had such a short life span 😂

[@josiahbahuaud2294]

You laughing at the car crashing in the Hulk clip is the funniest thing I’ve seen in weeks. 😂

[@frostgem8013]

Fun fact: some of the music for Armada if the Damned got repurposed for Lego Pirates of the Caribbean. Or so I heard

[@zacharysimmons4115]

Yep, some of the tracks meant for the Tortuga levels were repurposed for the Lego tie-in. I think some of the 3D models were adapted for use in Disney Infinity as well; early screenshots from that show a ship that's identical to the one from Armada, and it wouldn't surprise me if it's code serves as the base for Infinity's PotC world.

[@DragonNexus]

I recall only hearing of the existence of the game when it was cancelled. I made myself sad looking up info on it. I recall a lot of people lamenting that it was so close to completion.

[@chief664]

This hurts my Soul, this is exactly the kind of Pirate game I’m still hoping someone will make

[@Starwarsdude8221991]

I was so sad that this game didn't come out it looked so cool and fun

[@Mick_Chicken]

This would be a great thing to leak out someday, so people could appreciate the hard work that went into it.

[@BlizzardWindowsNT]

This game by far had the coolest name, it's a shame they never used it. Also, I was hoping you would cover this one.

[@Dragonflame1994]

It has been over 10 years and I still frequently think about how much potential this game had, how it was so ambitious and ahead of its time that a lot of gameplay concepts even predated AC: Black Flag and how it could've been one of the greatest licensed games ever made had it not gotten cancelled and I will never forgive Disney for this sin.

[@panoruryu]

I know this is a really niche pull but Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch needs an episode. That game was touted as "the horse game for adult people who like horses" but it released with such incredible bugs (such as autosave failing) and the devs just shrugging and going "Wow gamers are so entitled" that it really could use an expose.

[@Catspirit123]

Daaamn blast from the past. I remember when this game was announced and thinking it looked really cool. Forgot all about it till now

[@mauruhkatigaming4807]

I've got some mostly-fond memories of the 2003 "Pirates of the Caribbean" (those are scare quotes btw) game which was originally the sequel to a DIFFERENT game that got full-on Super Mario Bros. 2'd. They just kinda jammed the Black Pearl into it and at the end you get to sink it. (The cutscene shows the crew standing up in skellington mode at the bottom of the sea, implying they're going to refloat it somehow).

[@teachcinematicstv2798]

Ive watched most all of these wha happun videos twice. Ill be working just listening to these along with the worst fighting game videos. And also watched the 5 hour bunch ups. I really enjoy everything from the way he words them to the facts and inside scoops he has. Great content

[@apostlenik809]

Interesting that youtube recognizes the game as being a thing despite it having been cancelled

[@thecaptain6520]

You should totally do a video on Afro Samurai 2 Revenge of Kuma

[@Silvershire]

The Soulcalibur music was a great choice!

[@TheJollyRamRancher]

I was wondering where I'd heard of Chris before, and when you said he landed on his feet cofounding red hook I made a gigantic fist pump. what a feels good story.

[@spongeaang98]

I was so stoked when this game got announced as a kid, especially as the MMO Pirates of the Burning Seas got released as well. It's a shame that this game didn't come to fruition as the POTC universe is oozing with great video game potential. It sadly got shut down, but the Pirates of the Caribbean Online MMO was actually fun too, so it's somewhat of a consolation.

[@ImperfectXIII]

Man, I remember seeing trailers and gameplay for this game and getting so psyched to play it. Learning it was cancelled was such a GUT PUNCH.

[@evanhanley6437]

This should have been finished. This would have been the best Pirates of the Caribbean game. Fair play for getting in touch with Chris! Yeah, Curse of the Black Pearl is the best Pirates film. This game and Turok 2 would have sold millions of copies. Don't forget about that Pirates of the Caribbean Online game from back in the day. That was actually decent. Loved the usage of Cervante's stage music from all the Soul Calibur games! Fantastic video Matt!

[@Faraboutthemind]

Future topic for What Happened: Valve's Steam Machines

[@Morbos1000]

I was so confused when you referred to James Sterling. I couldn't understand what Commander James Stephanie Sterling had to do with any of this! Finally I figured it out.

[@TheDarkestMarcus]

This is such a great series, dude! You're awesome!

[@ratchetxtreme6591]

“I’ve got a jar of dirt” - Jack Sparrow

[@mugeca]

Just happened to randomly see this video. Don't know if anyone will see this but I'll add to the pot: I had a chance to listen to and speak with one of the developers talk a bit about the project, around 2016 or 2017. While they didn't go too in-depth, they mentioned that the codebase of the water technology and pirate ship gameplay was eventually sold to Ubisoft (to recoup costs by Disney, since they weren't going to use it for anything), which then became a cornerstone of Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag. As Ubisoft got the rights to all the code from Disney, the Pirates of the Carribean programming team didn't get any credit for their work that basically became the basis of the game as a result. Just how things work sometimes.

[@LuziFearon]

I first thought we're talking abt the Pirates of the Caribbean 2003 game and I had to google it just in case I missremembered it. PotC 2003 was an exeptional good game!

[@jeezycreezy4220]

I can't wait for the inevitable Skull and Bones episode!

[@FancyRPGCanada]

I am SOOOOOO EXCITED that you did this video after I suggested it!

[@charlieprince8671]

Still blows my mind that Hannah Barbara didn't try to reboot Pirates of Dark Water during the pirates boom.

[@zacharysimmons4115]

It's one of those series that would probably do really well if it was given a modern remake, maybe something ala She-Ra or similar. It has an ongoing plot, a weird but interesting setting, pirates... what's not to like?

[@TMan5636]

I remember me and my brother being absolutely gutted when it got cancelled.

[@BrandontheAwesome]

Always ready when one of these shows up in my feed! Thanks Matt!

[@Sopai007]

what happened for netflix's cowboy bebop when?

[@spooderdude5949]

But why is the rum gone.

[@michaelsabirlar5955]

Yes...the rum is gone.

[@spooderdude5949]

@@michaelsabirlar5955 yes but... Why is the rum gone.

[@darthcinema4262]

But more importantly.........why is the rum gone?

[@michaelsabirlar5955]

one, two one, two oneone one two. The entire royal navy is out looking for me

[@ObligedUniform]

I remember seeing the cinematic and some of the gameplay. Was big into Fable 2 still at that point and I got real pirates meets fable/other rpg's of that time vibes as you pointed out and it could've been amazing! Alas 😞

[@bh.2912]

Great vid as always Mr. McMuscles! This one hurt a lot, since Armada of the Damned showed so much promise. Also, since it was mentioned: Split/Second was a truly amazing racing game! Tight controls, innovative HUD design, and per lap spectacle for days. Good times, until Disney got all...Disney about it.

[@SpamSide_B]

Always wondered what happened with this game, I remember being really hyped about it when it was first announced.

[@bobterrwillinger4502]

I was a QA Tester on Tron Evolution and Pirates of the Caribbean Armada of the Damned. I can safely say it was going to be one of the absolute best 3rd person action games in that console generation.. wayyyy ahead of its time. Unfortunately Disney shut us down during production. RIP Propaganda Games. Screw you Disney.

[@WolfPirateSkull]

I still go back to the trailer to this day just too see what could have been. I was so excited for this game.

[@mekman4]

Great Stuff, as always!

[@ignorethis214]

2:06 Thanks for the Kaiji clip :)

[@Bobgriffon]

I'm glad you hooked up with Chris Bourassa for this one, he's a good dude. And an amazing artist.

[@Iamafishproductions]

Matt: What happened to Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damed? Well, executives at Disney... Everyone who's seen a What Happened before: I KNEW IT! Matt: ...took a hands-off approach to the production for the most part and only really intervened when their games division was suffering major financial losses. Everyone: ...oh.

[@DanteMasaru]

Bravely Folk Song as the outro track. Very well-played, matey.

[@jorban11]

Love the subtle tease of a future Skull & Bones episode. Oh, and the Soul Blade music at the end *chef's kiss*

[@wingytingy9600]

🎶 I got a jar of dirt🎶

[@PurpleNim]

Beyond Good & Evil 2 and Tiberium (the shooter) come to mind

[@balinthandra26]

Awesome episode matt mcmuscles

[@sinmenon4347]

I hope one day they release a build like how it was with Starcraft Ghost and an earlier version of Duke Nukem Forever --- except this one game looks amazing and so much fun. It is always sad when a project with passionate developers is cancelled. Thank you for preserving this

[@mikaschumacher340]

I would LOVE to see a What Happened on the Fable series!

[@WhispyWoods.]

Great vid 👍

[@xperia7065]

Great video thank you

[@ImaNecron]

Heyy, I believe this Alex Sim-Wise who did that interview. Neat. Surprised Matt didn’t mention anything. Lol.

[@ositox5659]

Another great video arrrr!

[@CoachJohnMcGuirk1]

Ok, but when you ended the video with Cervantes theme, I made an inhuman noise of joy

[@levant1668]

man, I was looking forward to this one! a more piratey Fable sounded right up my alley, but alas

[@alextorres8635]

Bro your work is awesome and I think you might be inspiring me to become a youtuber myself.

[@SomeoneStoleMyHandle911]

I was so hyped for this....

[@Blues_Light]

These types of episodes are always the most painful. Perhaps there's a chance builds of the game will surface some day, if they haven't already in secret.

[@micl6025]

12:22 I always get a jolt whenever anyone says Spectrobes Spectrobes Wha Happun when

[@PizzaDog764]

Thanks!

[@malaketh]

I genuinely thought I imagined the promo stuff for this game. Like Fable with pirates was a thing I would have jumped on at the time.

[@wmv8996]

That intro was great. Sea of Thieves is always a memorable time.

[@TallTrees420]

You were spot on about Skull and Bones Matt. 😆

[@TerravancerYoh]

Man this was a real bummer - i never heard of this but it really hurt.

[@KevinG3699]

I never knew that game was in development, and I am now extremely mad we don't have it.

[@xpirate16]

Well I'm glad I've never heard of this game cause I would've been PISSED that it got cancelled

[@lockthepope]

Really didn't expect to hear of Chris Bourassa in this video

[@shrugsmemes917]

aww, the concept of being a evil fishy pirate captain boy sounded great! why do bad things happen...

[@tylermitchell7751]

Listened to the pirates of the Caribbean theme for the first time in about 5 years today at work. Was thinking about how I never saw a game of the series besides the Lego ones. How cool it could maybe be. And then you upload this. Wtf.

[@THines1980]

Love your channel. ❤ When are you re-releasing the plushie?

[@voodooopaque6357]

Happy to see someone thats finally talking about this game, I wish it released

[@peterthefish97]

Thanks to Triple Jump (UK gaming channel) quick time events will always be called Jackanisms in my head

[@WikipediaLover94]

We had a Pirates of the Caribbean open world game on original Xbox and you could barely play it because if you tried to put certain guns on certain ships it would load/crash

[@Homurro]

Split Second... Loved that game as a kid.

[@AUM_-po9sc]

Oh, hey, last time I saw this game mentioned was like 4 years ago by GVMERS channel.

[@blackirontarkus4015]

Would love to see an ep about Deep Down. Looks like it had some amazing potential!

[@jaegershoemaker8959]

I enjoyed Turok and was eagerly awaiting this game. Excited to hear why I never played it.