Gamescom in Germany is the next big gaming event on the calendar, taking place next week, with rumours already circulating about what will be shown during Geoff Keighley’s Opening Night Live showcase on Tuesday, August 25. CD Projekt has confirmed that its new DLC expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will appear, and Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will see a new trailer, presented by director Naoki Hamaguchi.
Now, a rumour from a reliable insider points to a secret Xbox project being announced: a sequel to a Microsoft-owned property that hasn’t been seen in recent years. According to NateTheHate, who has a consistently accurate track record for video game rumours—such as leaking the existences of Nintendo’s remakes of Star Fox and The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time—he’s heard of a ‘neat Xbox announcement’ at Gamescom and is sharing titbits of info for everyone else to piece together.
What the Insider Says
Based on what he’s willing to divulge, the game is a sequel to a recent Xbox IP that’s in development at a third-party studio and could release before the end of the year. While he won’t name the game, NateTheHate has already shot down several suggested theories, ruling out anything related to Fallout, Wolfenstein, Starcraft, or Banjo-Kazooie.
Given Xbox’s limited first-party portfolio in the recent past, it is possible to narrow down the possibilities to just a few games, although it does rather depend on NateTheHate’s definition of ‘recent’—but the obvious assumption is that he means the Xbox One era or later.
Possible Candidates
A common suggestion that sounds entirely plausible is a new Ori game. Although Microsoft published 2015’s Ori And The Blind Forest and its 2020 sequel, developer No Moon Studios was never bought out by Microsoft and remains independent. The two companies had a falling out, allegedly over Moon Studio’s working conditions, with the latter now concentrating on their own game No Rest For The Wicked.
NateTheHate has also said he’s personally interested in the project because of the developer involved, adding, ‘I’m really curious to see how they approach this IP,’ which points to a studio handling a franchise they’ve not had prior experience with. Taking this into account, there’s also 2016’s ReCore, an Xbox-only action platformer which was a joint project between two now-defunct studios: Armature Studio and Comcept. Although ReCore doesn’t have much of a fanbase, so it’s hard to imagine it’s that.
It could be a new Crackdown game, as there have been some demands for a sequel to the sandbox shooter series despite only the first game from 2007 being fondly remembered. So far, all three games have been handled by different third-party studios, so it wouldn’t be strange for Crackdown 4 to be handed off to yet another external developer.
2014’s Sunset Overdrive could also be a candidate, as it was a solid enough game and relatively well received at the time. Plus, Xbox would need a new studio to helm a sequel, since original developer Insomniac Games is now owned by Sony. However, the IP belongs to Insomniac, and Sony registered for the Sunset Overdrive trademark in 2021, which sparked theories of a PlayStation port or sequel that never materialised. And under current Sony, they never will, as Insomniac is far too busy making Marvel games. There’s nothing to suggest Xbox has bought the IP from Sony in the intervening years, and considering Microsoft is keen to prioritise established franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Doom, it’s unlikely to want to spend money acquiring the rights to a game that was only ever a minor hit.
When to Expect the Reveal
Whatever the case, you won’t have to wait long for an answer, as Gamescom Opening Night Live airs next week on Tuesday, August 25 at 7pm BST. Xbox is bound to have a presence during the show, no matter what, although it may face a frosty reception from fans considering it gutted almost all of its studios last month and already intends to lay off more employees.
