Namco cancels next-gen title

Namco has announced that development of its Xbox 360 title Frame City Killer has been cancelled due to undisclosed development issues.

Originally billed as the Japanese publisher's debut title for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, Frame City Killer was initially scheduled for a release during the Christmas season of 2005 but the release was moved forward to this summer to allow additional development time.

EA confirmed the cancellation to our sister site, Eurogamer, last week. A note on the Japanese homepage for Namco, which has been translated by Gamasutra.com reads:

"Our Xbox 360 title Frame City, planned for a Spring 2006 release, has been cancelled due to various circumstances. We apologise to everyone who was looking forward to it. Our company will continue to develop high quality titles for the Xbox 360 next generation machine, including a new RPG, which will be announced in the near future."

The reasons for the cancellation of the game have not been disclosed, but Namco is set on continuing its support for the machine, backing up positive sales of Ridge Racer 6 with several new games and a host of arcade classics heading to the Xbox Live Arcade service in the coming months.