Valve's cancelled RPG was inspired by Monster Hunter, Dark Souls

Seven years ago, Valve had a handful of interesting projects in the works including their very own spin on The Elder Scrolls.

Back in 2013, Valve was working on an experimental RPG built with its Source 2 engine. The project was internally codenamed "RPG" and took direct inspiration from role-playing greats like Monster Hunter, Dark Souls, and Elder Scrolls.

From the sound of it, the RPG would've have a grand fantasy scope with emphasis on action RPG combat. The details come from Geoff Keighley's new Valve documentary on Steam that spilled the beans on early Half-Life 3 concepts and the cancelled Left 4 Dead 3 project set in Morocco.

"People wanted to make an RPG game modularly in public, like shipping smaller parts of an experience over time and add features," Valve dev Tejeev Kohli said in the documentary.

The game never took off due to significant design and development hurdles, but almost morphed into an RPG based in the DOTA universe. The Source 2 engine wasn't refined or even finished enough to support their vision for the game--something that would lead to all the other projects being scrapped too.

DOTA 2 ended up being the first real game shipped on Source 2. It's possible this new RPG could be resurrected as some point now that Half-Life: Alyx has significantly bolstered Valve's confidence and ability in Source 2.