An interesting batch of information has appeared on Reddit. Not from inside Microsoft, but someone who claims to be connected to a company with deep ties to Microsoft. Who asserts he heard all this information second and possibly third hand. What does this mean?
Depending on the truth, a few different things: If this is an intentional leak to generate hype for future announcements, then it can be taken at face value. Each detail will likely be correct or correct for when the announcement came. On the other hand, assuming the individual is being honest means some of the information may be false, or a misunderstanding resulting from a game of telephone. Alternatively, this is a clever fake comprised of available details, in which case it makes for an excellent compendium.
Regardless of which is the case, the rumor will be broken up into sections and the contents of the claims examined.
-I have a couple of friends that work in the industry and people are ravenous for news and you all seem like a fun bunch, so I thought I’d share a few things they’ve shared. Just save this and revisit it in August.
-Throwaway because there’s work stuff on my main Reddit account.
-I work on the very edge of the industry, so it’s mainly stuff I’ve heard from friends that are a little more in the know.
-I work for a company that is tied to Microsoft at the hip, so most of my information is for Xbox stuff.
Short of becoming Hackerman from Kung Fury or have an in at some intelligence agency, or secret society, we will not be capable of verifying or disproving the validity of this particular claim. It is worth noting throughout the entirety of the “leak” he doesn’t begin divulging details only a high ranking insider would know. Nor does he start accidentally referring to himself as if he is part of the development team or insider at Microsoft.
If his information is legitimate, then it is either a well-written hype based marketing piece, or he legitimately doesn’t work for the company.
-Halo is on track for release this year, as of now, but Microsoft/343 are being super tight-lipped about it. They’re weirdly confident that it’s going to come together, despite some issues that came up during development.
-One thing that has “gotten out” is they apparently have spent significant time reworking Forge mode and the whispers internally are that you’ll be able to create combat “scenarios” for others to play with goals.
-They apparently used Mario Maker as a template and have a wide-range of “clear conditions” like time trials, defeating all enemies, and things like score attack (where you complete as many conditions as you can in a set amount of time).
According to the official Halo blog, Halo Infinite is on track to be debuted during Microsoft’s July 20/20 event. The short entry simply reads:
“You may have seen people talking about this lightly before, but we’re extremely excited to confirm that Halo Infinite will be one of many first-party titles included in the Xbox 20/20 event in July. Get ready.”
Forge Mode was confirmed by 343 to be part of Halo Infinite back in 2019. A level editor that allows players to create their own missions is not new to gaming. Nor is it new to consoles. A similar mode featured prominently in Time Splitters 2 back on the ps2, and as the rumor says, Nintendo has had one as well.
-Playground is making Fable and The Initiative is making Perfect Dark. It’s a done deal. Apparently, the Perfect Dark stuff was kind of in place when The Initiative was created.
-Microsoft sees Joanna Dark as a “face of the brand” character and they want her to exist alongside Master Chief.
-They’re not locked into Perfect Dark forever. There’s already talk about breaking off a few members of the already small team to explore other projects.
-They’re taking advantage of the contract/temporary developer environment that exists in Southern California that other studios use.
-I have not heard anything about Fable. Not a single peep.
Last April, a twitter user browsing the Linkedin profile of Christopher Ng discovered he had detailed some of his work at the studio. Since its discovery, it has been scrubbed from his profile, but it revealed how he was working on mechanics for an Unreal 4 game that would fit nicely in the Perfect Dark universe.
The unannounced project at The Initiative runs on Unreal Engine 4 and features “various weapons, gadgets, and a camera surveillance system”.
This makes sense given most of the Xbox Game Studios work with the same engine to share tech & knowledge.https://t.co/c28gR2gP5q pic.twitter.com/34USYIGXwi
— Klobrille (@klobrille) April 26, 2020
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
From a marketing standpoint, having a legacy character with an established fan base and having said character be female placates a lot of demographics. Despite being equivalent to walking into a minefield, it is something Microsoft who previously boasted about how inclusive their control design would do.
Something to keep in mind this sentiment might go no further than an internal idea that will never be green-lit for marketing. Especially not with an unproven game from a 15-year dormant franchise.
Playground is confirmed to be working on an open-world reboot of the Fable series, but other than speculation, rumors, and possible concept art, there is no information available on the game.
-Microsoft apparently has two studios that are either done deals or are agreed in principle. The internal rumor is Poland and an Asian studio.
-One of my friends said he heard The Farm 51 is the Polish studio, but he heard it from someone who wasn’t really in a position to know, so shrug.
-No word on the Asia studio, if that’s true, but that’s not unusual because a newly formed team in Asia is handling that process.
-The internal talk about an Asian studio has also carried a caveat that it’s been close a few times, but never really hit the finish line, but apparently is done or at least as close as it has ever been.
-I wish I knew more on that, because it’s obviously a juicy tidbit, but that’s partially why there’s a lot of buzz around it.
Kevin Gammill, Microsoft’s Game Development Manager, accidentally let it slip in March that the company had 16 studios working under their umbrella. Later Microsoft would claim he made a slip of the tongue, but rumors have persisted of a Polish acquisition for some time.
A rumor that gave birth to baseless speculation that the company had acquired CDPR. Who aside from not being for sale has been taking active measures since 2016 to prevent a buyout.
As for the studio mentioned for acquisition, it does appear a valid candidate, given Microsoft’s pattern of purchases. Similar to other studios, The Farm 51 Group has posted millions in losses for years now. With its development of three-dimensional scanning solutions and other technologies, it would be an ideal purchase for Microsoft.
In November, Microsoft confirmed they were not done acquiring studios and had shifted their attention to the Asia region.
-The Asia acquition is not Sega. Everyone internally is pretty confident about that, because in the first half of last year I heard about a Sega/Xbox partnership starting with PSO2.
-I honestly didn’t believe it at the time, but as you know, PSO2 showed up on Xbox’s E3 stage last year.
-The rumor was there was three other elements to the “partnership” but no one’s really sure what they are.
On record, Microsoft has stated the Japanese gaming industry is important for them going forward. During the May event, Yakuza, a traditionally PlayStation game made an exclusive appearance. It cannot be confirmed, but given their commitment, and available demonstrate of a prior non-X-box game advertising for Xbox, it is likely.
-There’s also an internal rumor that one of the three elements is an exclusive game from a “legendary” franchise, but again, that rumor came from someone who wasn’t really in a position to know.
This is personal speculation, and I will never let this die, but this is likely Dead Rising 5. As previously covered according to the leak confirming Dead Rising 5’s development, the game was not under development in Vancouver. Capcom has already had timed exclusivity deals for Dead Rising 3 and the poorly received 4.
Capcom continues to highlight the Dead Rising franchise in their yearly earnings, with it being billed as one of their top franchises. Even if the original rumor were false, there is unlikely Capcom would abandon the franchise while telling their investors otherwise.
-Another weird thing going around internally: Compulsion has two projects in development, one that was originally kicked around during the days of a short lived internal studio called Microsoft Games Studios Victoria.
-They apparently nabbed one of the people from that studio (Microsoft Game Studios Victoria) to come over to Compulsion, as he was kind of the primary visionary on that initial pitch.
It is standard industry practice to have one major project in the works and a smaller project being developed by a smaller team that the primary team will move onto when they are done with their next major game. No confirmation on the Victoria connection, but there was nothing disproving it either.
-Another weird one: Xbox Game Studios may be working on a sports game. They’ve been working with two basketball players named Ja (lol. Not Ja Rule. I asked) and Zion. I don’t know much about basketball, but their names are so distinct, I actually remembered them. I have Googled them and they’re real people.
-There was a little more attached to this one. Microsoft is kind of trying to enter the same space as Rocket League with an approachable sports game.
-Matt Booty from XGS has a history of working on sports stuff at Midway and it’s kind of been identified by him as an “area of opporunity.”
-One of my sources said this stuff pretty confidently, but another one said they thought they were just doing commercials for GamePass.
-That being said, if such a commercial exists, it hasn’t aired yet. That being said, they’re not playing basketball because of the pandemic. Shrugs
The two athletes in question are Ja Morant and Zion Williamson. Both vied heavily for rookie of the year in 2019, and it is hotly debated which of the two was more deserving of the title. No confirmation whether either has worked with Microsoft or any word on a sports game being in development.
-Again, not much to say about Rare, because they’re not based in the US, but I have heard they have FIVE projects in development.
-One is Battletoads (which I’ve heard is getting a serious re-work after getting a negative reaction), one is Sea of Thieves, one is Everwild, so that leaves two projects unaccounted for.
Following the 2018 E3 showcasing Battletoads was met with significant backlash over its CalArts art direction and revisions to the Dark Queen. Afterward, it went radio silent, so either it has been canceled or underwent revisions.
If Rare is putting their focus on single-A and indie-style games, having five projects in development is not unreasonable with over 200 employees.
-Gears story DLC is coming.
-I’m not sure what’s going on with the Coalition since Rod left. Based on the traditional hiring process, it doesn’t seem like they’ve even attempted to find a replacement yet. Shrugs
Rod Fergusson was the face of Coalition, but as far as management went, he held a unique position that is now redundant following his termination. Albeit one where he was allowed to keep his dignity and quietly leave on his own terms to ruin Diablo.
-Obsidian’s XGS transition is apparently going amazingly. Obsidian’s unannounced RPG is shaping up great and they’re confident it’s going to bring the house down when announced.
-It originally wasn’t going to be announced this year, but that plan has since changed.
-Things are going so well on that game that Microsoft is fast-tracking The Outer Worlds 2 and they’re adding a ton of people to that team, although that plan has been delayed a bit because of the pandemic.
-I’ve heard the long-term goal is two AAA teams for TOW and this new franchise (I’ve been told it’s not Pillars of Eternity).
-There’s also one unannounced smaller project and Grounded.
-There’s some question if those smaller projects will continue if Obsidian goes “full fat” with two AAA RPG teams.
-Obviously, Grounded will still come out and get finished, but it’s unclear if they’ll do more small projects or those teams will get folded into the AAA teams.
Not only did The Outer Worlds make money, but it has a confirmed expansion in development. Microsoft has said it has the potential to be an enduring franchise, so a sequel, while not confirmed, is all but guaranteed.
Despite Obsidian’s proclivities towards going woke, they remain a strong brand for Microsoft. From a business standpoint, it would not only make sense to expand their studio, but it wouldn’t be surprising if in the future Inexile experienced a rebranding to be an Obsidian studio.
-I’ve also heard good things about inXile. I’ve heard nothing about their new major project other than the pitch was really unique.
-They have two smaller projects in development, in addition to Wasteland 3, but I’ve heard one will probably get shelved.
-The other is a battle royale that was originally designed for VR, but is now non-VR as well to exist on the Xbox family of devices.
Unsurprising considering Torment: Tides of Numenera outright failed as did The Bard’s Tale IV. It should be fairly obvious to any observer the company does not make good decisions when it comes to development. Putting a strong focus on gender and other politics rather than gameplay mechanics.
-Ninja Theory is also pretty minimal, but like the Rare project count, Ninja Theory’s active project count is FOUR.
-One is Bleeding Edge, one is Hellblade 2, one is Project Mara, so they have one unannounced game, but don’t get too excited. It could be a contract job from their pre-acquisition days.
Hellblade 2 is confirmed in development, and Bleeding Edge is effectively a ghost town. Averaging only 55.9 players per day as of this writing. Project Mara is another “You’re crazy,” game that has been teased by Ninja theory.
-I have heard things aren’t going well at Turn 10, but when I pressed the person that was telling me about it, they gave me a weird look and wouldn’t elaborate.
From research on Glass Door, it appears Management at Turn 10 has run the company into the ground. The art design is outsourced to India, Vietnam, and likely the industry’s new favorite cheap labor source Malaysia.
-In terms of non-Microsoft stuff, I’ve heard that Ready at Dawn has a Playstation exclusive locked and loaded.
-I’ve also heard that there may be more restructuring going on at Blizzard soon.
-One more weird one: I heard that Retro had FOUR games (that were in various state of development) cancelled between the release of Tropical Freeze and them beginning work on Metroid Prime 4.
-I will try to clarify anything as best as I can if people are confused.
Ready at Dawn with their long ties to Sony likely have a next/cross-generational title ready to go.
Blizzard has been hit with round after round of layoffs and restructuring. As it has not turned the company around it is pragmatic to assume it is going to happen again.
The Retro statement cannot be confirmed nor disproved.
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