14 DAY TRIAL // Apparently, Microsoft has some surprises in store for gamers who have been around for a while, in the form of some games from old, established franchises, currently being in the works for the Xbox One home console.
During an interview with The Inner Circle, the head of Microsoft's Xbox division, Phil Spencer, was offered a list of franchises from the glory days, namely Halo Wars, Alan wake, MechAssasult, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Blinx The Time Sweeper, Fusion Frenzy, Banjo Kazooie, Kameo, High Heat Baseball, Otogi, Knights of The Old Republic, and Shenmue, and then asked whether gamers stood a chance of ever seeing their return, in one form or another.
The exec's response sparked hope in gamers all around the world, even though he mentioned that he wasn't able to reveal any specific information.
"There are a couple games on that list that we're doing some work on. I'll just say that. People should know that we listen to feedback, we have ideas, and there are franchises in the past we thing would be great to come again," Spencer said during the interview.
Microsoft aims to take a page out of Nintendo's book
He also mentioned that he planned to invest in franchises owned by Microsoft, and not only because it would make sense from the business point of view.
He cited Nintendo as an example of this, of long-term dedication to popular series, saying that Microsoft aimed to build the same kind of ecosystem over the years, with a great number of instantly recognizable and beloved franchises to call its own.
This means that Shenmue and Knights of The Old Republic, being owned by other parties, will most likely not see a return, and he also mentioned that MechAssault was not one of the games being worked on.
A lot of stuff planned in the long run
Long-time gamers are always pining to get their old gaming crushes revisited, and Spencer also touched on the fact that, at the time, there were no great baseball games on the Xbox One for fans to enjoy, decrying the high licensing costs and stating that he too wanted such a game, and that he was taking the feedback regarding High Heat Baseball into account.
"The time of our best creative people is the most precious thing in our business, and I want them focused on the things that kinda build long term for us as Xbox owners," Spencer stated, adding that for the time being he didn't know whether to use a first-party studio in order to create a baseball game.
In any case, he did mention that a lot of great titles were scheduled to come out in the near future, and that the future flow of games would be "crazy," with a lot of stuff signed and underway for 2016, big games that would require two or three years to fully develop and that would surely please Xbox One owners.
