It only existed for a month, but its vision was revolutionary. Dungeon Keeper 3 was supposed to be like Age of Empires

Peter Molyneux is a figure who probably doesn't need an introduction. There was a time when that silver-tongued developer, known today primarily for making empty promises (although there is a chance that he will redeem himself through the Masters of Albion project), regularly inscribed his name in golden letters in the pages of video game history.

One of his outstanding works was Dungeon Keeper, a series of strategy games that allowed you to become a real lord of darkness, residing in his underground kingdom. Although the franchise created by Bullfrog Productions studio only saw two main games (and received a mobile spin-off, which is better to keep quiet about), at some point, it seemed that the series would receive another, truly revolutionary installment. Let's check what Dungeon Keeper 3 had to offer us.

From the ground to the surface

Fans of the series could find out that Dungeon Keeper 2 might get a continuation by watching a short trailer attached to this title. As Horny was featured in it, suggesting that the third Dungeon Keeper would bring a radical change and allow us to breathe some fresh air.

The first attempts to create the third installment of Dungeon Keeper took place in November 1999, and the official start of work on this project was announced at the beginning of February 2000. Interestingly, the project was canceled just a month later, in March, but that was officially announced in August of the same year. You might think that just a few weeks isn't much time, and the devs probably didn't come up with anything specific, right? Well, nothing could be more wrong.

Sketch of the fortress of the dungeon dwellers in Dungeon Keeper 3. Source: Dungeon Keeper Wiki.

Stronghold Keeper of Empires

The Bullfrog Productions team managed to prepare a fairly clearly outlined vision of the project, from which emerged an image of a game reminiscent more of Stronghold and Age of Empires, rather than the previous parts of the series. The game would give us three new races to play with - heroes, dungeon dwellers, and elders, a new addition to the series. In contrast to the first two, representing good and evil respectively, the latter would be neutral.

The differences between the various factions were supposed to be visible at first glance. Heroes would build clean and organized fortresses, while the places of dungeon dwellers were supposed to be maintained in dark colors and look intimidating.

Moving the action to the surface would mean that instead of digging tunnels and rooms during the game, we would be building classic strongholds. Of course, we would need resources and gold for this, which would be gathered for us by the workers. However, it's not known how the devs intended to do the combat—whether it would still be somewhat automated, allowing us only to "deploy" units into action and support them with spells, or whether they would give us direct control over the soldiers.

Drawing presenting the heroes' fortress in Dungeon Keeper 3. Source: Dungeon Keeper Wiki.

Uphill from the start

Unfortunately, the third Dungeon Keeper had a hard time from the beginning. At the end of 1999, the designer and writer Zy Nicholson left Bullfrog Productions and was replaced by Ernest W. Adams. The project team was really small, and it was hard to find artists or programmers in it. For this reason, almost no materials from this game have been preserved; the exception is just a few sketches.

Why was Dungeon Keeper 3 canceled, though? Let's give the floor to the developers who wrote this on their website:

Unofficially, it was said that Electronic Arts' plans to focus on licenses like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings hindered the further development of the Dungeon Keeper brand, which wasn't seen as profitable as those two.

Sketch showing the headquarters of the elders in Dungeon Keeper 3. Source: Dungeon Keeper Wiki.

What happened next?

It's not even worth mentioning Dungeon Keeper from 2013. The void left by this series was finally filled (at least to some extent) by the Dungeons franchise, developed by Realmforge Studios and Kalypso Media since February 2011.

Dungeon Keeper 3

cancelled

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• Overview

• strategy games
• EA / Electronic Arts
• Bullfrog
• cancelled games
• Necro Gaming