A video has been sent to Polygon showing footage from what is allegedly a game that the Australian studio Blue Tongue was working on before its closure by THQ in mid-2011.
The video shows an action brawler based on the WWE license called Brawl. Players appear to take on the role of a pro-wrestler before being tossed into a room with other wrestlers to battle it out. Among the wrestlers that players can choose include John Cena, The Miz, and Big Show.
A Polygon source who used to work at Blue Tongue tells us the game was in development for 1.5 years, with the video footage below showing the game after six months of development. The video shows the game in its pre-alpha stage; many elements had not been implemented yet, such as the UI, AI, certain gameplay features, and environments.
THE STUDIO COULD HAVE COMPLETED THE GAME HAD THQ NOT INTERVENED.
Approximately 30-40 developers were working on the game and our source tells us it was similar in scope to other Blue Tongue projects but with a higher profile because the WWE is one of THQ's biggest licenses.
Another former Blue Tongue employee told Polygon that the game was going to be "pretty big" with plans for a merchandise and TV show tie-in. The source tells us Blue Tongue was attempting to create something unique with the WWE license, such a completely original game world.
The source that sent us the video said the game's cancellation was an unfortunate case of mismanagement and that the studio could have completed the game had THQ not intervened.
The two minute long video shows a cartoonish take on the world of WWE, with tables and chairs exploding on impact and punches releasing blasts and sparks.
A similar video was released a year ago by the WWE to show the potential of the WWE license, but this was before the studio's closure.
Blue Tongue was based in Melbourne, Australia, and is best known for its original IP, de Blob and de Blob 2. The studio was closed in 2011 when THQ closed all its Australian studios, including Studio Oz (also known as THQ Brisbane).
Gameplay Video
EDIT: I just realized the title is misleading, mods, please change it.