Microsoft to Take Halo, Fable or Forza Franchises in New Directions

Microsoft's Kevin Unangst, the senior director of PC and mobile gaming for the large corporation, has revealed that popular franchises like Halo, Fable or Forza Motorsport will be taken into new directions, not just through regular sequels.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 exclusives that will appear in 2011 can't really match up to the series of titles Sony is currently preparing for its own PlayStation 3 this year.

That doesn't mean the company will neglect its core franchises, as Unangst promised to Gamasutra that Microsoft is set to take its popular series into new and exciting directions.

"There always has to be a balance," he said. "You have to bet big and develop the franchises and universes that you know people care about, and take those and grow those in new directions. You don't want to just sequel, sequel, sequel, you have to be pushing the envelope; you've got to invite new people in."

Microsoft is going to route more money into the development of the franchise in order to see more sequels, but it will also try to expand them into new directions, including mobile or Kinect applications.

"So yeah, we're still going to double down, you're going to see us do more with Forza, with Halo, with Fable; all the franchises. But we're also, of course, looking to bring in new IP, looking to bring new things. As a first-party studio, our job is also to experiment, also to lead the way, set the example... things like the integration between Kinect and the phone."

Microsoft is also confident that its E3 lineup, which includes titles like Kinect Star Wars and lots of unannounced projects, is going to really please all sorts of gamers, both hardcore and more casual ones.

“This is not the sum total. Although I love what we're doing... there's games that we've already even talked about coming this year. Games like Forza 4, games like Kinect Star Wars that we're not yet talking about. That, and some other surprises I'm sure you'll see and hear from us at E3 about.”

Overall, it seems Microsoft is quite adamant in launching a lot of unique experiences for the Xbox 360 as well as other ones for devices like the Kinect or Windows Phone 7 mobile phones.