For fun: Xbox video game pitches that will likely never happen

Source: Windows Key

Recently, Microsoft revealed its blockbuster acquisition attempt of Activision Blizzard, massively swelling the number of games it has available to offer on Xbox Game Pass — at least potentially. Nosotros know about many upcoming Xbox, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard games, from Diablo Iv to Contraband, but what about after that?

Video game development is a slow and backbreaking process, frustrated all the more by the shift to a piece of work-from-home civilisation fostered past the good ol' pandemic. As we look beyond the next few years of upcoming Xbox and PC games from Microsoft and its teams, what kind of games could or even should Microsoft explore for the future?

Purely for fun, as an ignorant gamer, rather than a dev, here are a few ideas that bubbled upwards in my head during random bouts of anxiety-induced insomnia!

A big Xbox IP MOBA

Heroes of the Storm Source: Activision Blizzard

I of the strangest things to me is how huge MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) games are on PC, and how practically invisible they are on consoles. As well SMITE, in that location are basically no major MOBAs on Xbox or PlayStation consoles, which is a huge caput-scratcher to me. Some people may bespeak to the fact that they demand mouse and keyboard controls to be played well, to that I happily indicate at games like Pokémon Unite on Nintendo Switch and the multitude of affect-based MOBA games that are popular on mobile. Games like Diablo Three bear witness that isometric action games tin can work with a controller, so why has League of Legends, DOTA 2, then on, never been released on consoles? Who knows?

In any case, there'southward clearly a gap in the market here that Microsoft and its new partners could hands fill up. Activision Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm MOBA is finer on hiatus right at present, in minimal support way. I suspect HoTS fans wouldn't enjoy this suggestion, but bringing HoTS to Xbox (and even PlayStation), complete with characters from beyond Blizzard IPs, like Master Chief, DOOMguy, Battletoads, heck, put The Evil Within'south iconic "Safehead" Keeper in it. It would fill a big gap in the MOBA market on panel, and bring in new fans using Microsoft, Bethesda, and Activision'southward wider IP puddle to revive Heroes of the Tempest in the procedure.

Halo ODST revival on the Telephone call of Duty engine

Halo 3 ODST Image Source: Xbox Game Studios / 343 Industries

Another sacrilegious idea from yours truly. Halo's ODST soldiers are a bottom-appreciated grapheme in the wider Halo canon, but they did once upon a fourth dimension go a whole spinoff defended to them, dubbed Halo ODST. For those of the states who don't gel well with Halo'southward uniquely tactical FPS gainsay ... what if there were a Halo-themed twitch shooter to appeal to a more than casual audience?

With rumors that Microsoft may zippo the annualized version of Phone call of Duty, and given the fact Phone call of Duty is substantially struggling to remain fresh, what if in that location were a Halo x Call of Duty crossover? A twitchy Call of Duty-styled Halo ODST reboot would be but what the doctor ordered in that scenario, bringing together fans of both franchises and potentially helping Halo find a whole new audition in the process.

Hexen revival by id Software

Hexen Source: id Software

With DOOM and DOOM Eternal going from success to success, id Software has been on a bit of a curlicue in recent years. DOOM Eternal'southward DLC effectively wrapped upward that chapter of DOOMguy'due south story quite nicely, and while I highly doubt nosotros've seen the concluding of DOOM, the franchise may be in for a bit of a quiet period while id Software explores other things.

id Software is hiring right at present for developers with familiarity with DOOM, so it stands to reason they're already hard at work building a new shooter on its iconic id Tech engine. With Microsoft exploring the buy of Activision Blizzard, what if the Hexen IP could finally be reunited with id Software and partner studio Raven?

Hexen was finer DOOM, with magic instead of guns. Playing as a warlock armed with medieval weaponry and occult sorcery, in Hexen yous dispatch the forces of evil with a hail of magical bolts. Hexen would be a cracking franchise to explore if the ABK purchase does go through, with id Software dorsum at the helm.

Starcraft Ghost revival by The Coalition

StarCraft Ghost is a long-lost shooter based on the pop StarCraft RTS IP, which takes place in a distant future full of mecha and aliens. StarCraft Ghost was supposed to revolve around psychic espionage gameplay featuring Nova from the franchise, from a third-person perspective.

The game was originally in development for the PlayStation 2, announced literally twenty years ago. After a notorious serial of developmental problems, the projection was famously axed, never to be seen or heard from once more.

With Activision potentially joining Microsoft in the hereafter, what if Gears of War developers, The Coalition, were to give the IP another look for a potential revival. With Gears of War equally a franchise probably in need of a scrap of a pause, it would fill up sense after Gears six to requite The Coalition something new to explore, and few studios know how to build third-person action games like The Coalition.

StarCraft Tactics with deject-aware mobile APIs

Starcraft 2 Image Source: Blizzard Entertainment

Speaking of StarCraft, reviving the RTS would undoubtedly be something Microsoft would exist interested in exploring, but what if there were other tactics genres StarCraft could tap into? The Coalition and Splash Harm successfully translated the Gears of War formula to plough-based tactics with Gears Tactics a lilliputian while back, although the lack of management gameplay and depth probably stopped it from actually scratching the XCOM itch many fans accept.

StarCraft seems like a perfect candidate for something that could translate well to tactics-mode gameplay, especially if information technology was built from the basis upwardly with Xbox Cloud Gaming cloud-aware APIs for smaller screen gameplay and touch controls. Turn-based games aren't as susceptible to latency problems equally cloud-based games have, also. It would certainly need to take more depth than Gears Tactics, though.

Globe of Warcraft II

Warcraft Jailer Sylvanas Source: Blizzard

And here'due south the mack daddy of "probably won't happen": World of Warcraft II. I wrote recently nigh how WoW has more competition than e'er, from more modern takes on the format like FFXIV, or the rise of free-to-play titles like Lost Ark. League of Legends developer Anarchism is too thought to exist building an MMO based on the IP, which will undoubtedly give WoW a true run for its money.

One of the biggest strengths and biggest weaknesses of WoW is its aging engine. Aye, the game can be run on a white potato, giving information technology a huge range of PCs to potentially proceeds audience share from. And yes, the game has close to 20 years of content y'all tin can explore within it, although but the latest expansions tend to be "current" and relevant from a gameplay perspective.

From a modern audition appeal perspective, I think one of the biggest things property WoW dorsum is undoubtedly its engine. Graphically, Blizzard has made a huge amount of effort to upgrade and modernize the game's visuals, but there's but so much the developers can do when it comes to building quests and so on. The creativity of Blizzard's quest blueprint and raid design teams cannot be understated, given how much creativity and uniqueness they've been able to extract from the WoW engine over the past couple of decades. I tin't help merely wonder what the game would look similar with a fresh slate, with a world designed from the footing up to be expanded over fourth dimension, with a linear quest narrative that doesn't become strange and disjointed equally more content is added to the game.

Possibly wiping the drawing board clean and starting over would give WoW the jiff of fresh air it needs to motility into the future, only rebuilding a earth as huge equally Azeroth with modern visuals would undoubtedly exist a very, very expensive project.

What practise you recall?

Xbox Series S Source: Matt Brownish | Windows Central

Microsoft and Xbox have more than games in development than ever, with dozens upon dozens of upcoming Xbox games in development from a huge list of Xbox's internal, Bethesda, and third-party studios. The possibilities for the hereafter and across are crazy to think about. What do you want to see from Xbox and Microsoft? What genres are missing from their lineup? What characters and IP would y'all like to see revived? Hit the comments, allow us know.

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