Perfect Dark and Fable are just two massive franchises that are coming back to life with Xbox Game Studios. The reception to both announcements has been immensely positive, but what helps Xbox choose which games to reboot?
Game Pass, of course.
In a lengthy interview with Kinda Funny Gamescast (transcribed thanks to VGC), Xbox boss Phil Spencer was asked whether the number of players diving into old games encourages the company to reboot older titles. In response, Spencer said: “Absolutely it does", claiming Xbox Game Pass is a "great source" for this information.
“Absolutely it does. Take Prey, which I think was an amazing game when it came out but a lot of people missed. Seeing more people playing something like Prey, or Dishonored or going back to Fable and [that] you can talk about those games, for us as we sit back as a creative organisation and watch what people are interested in, it gives us more data to think about things that we might pick up and take forward with new ideas and new teams that might want to go do that.
“So yeah, Game Pass has definitely been a great source… It was amazing when Bethesda came in and we were able to put so many of the ‘old new’ games into Game Pass and going back with the legacy that we have with some of the IP… even thinking about Rare Replay was a really interesting thing for us to go do and letting people go and experience some of the old Rare IP.”
It's a perfect example of Xbox listening to the community through player engagement. Clearly the success of Fable has prompted another entry, and there must be something in the numbers for Perfect Dark to have made a return.
Personally, we would love to see Banjo-Kazooie return one day, especially considering the platforming genre is coming back with a vengeance. While it may be a pipe dream, we can still hope. But if everyone wants to get online, download the game and sink some hours into it to show how popular it is, we wouldn't complain.
Are there any classic franchises you'd like to see get rebooted? Let us know in the comments below.
[source youtube.com, via videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 15
Then please, play Banjo-Kazooie on Game Pass, everybody 😁.
You heard it, people! Download Banjo! Or play it via cloud! Just play it!
Yooka Laylee IS your new Banjo - I mean, it was developed by the ex-Rare employees everyone loves and adores.
The DNA is there in all but the name.
Quick, everyone play Banjo, Crimson Skies, Fusion Frenzy, and Conker!
I wonder if that's the reason why they added Conker to this month's Games with Gold, i.e. they wanted to see how many people would download the game and in turn how much interest there is for the IP. Well I'm glad that I contributed to that in that case, I'd love to see another Conker game.
New Crimson Skies using the Flight Simulator engine! Banjoe-Kazooie vs. Conker!! Jade Empire by Ninja Theory!!!!
leaves quietly
Good thing I replay Banjo-Kazooie pretty much once a year then
I'd LOVE a sequel, but in my experience, it's not worth getting your hopes up. Play what's in front of you and stop wishing for a sequel. Soooo many franchises I've loved have stayed dead for 10+ years and it's a shame that IP holders like MS never really put these kinds of classic licenses to use.
It's not that I don't like some of this old IP, I was a massive fan of Perfect Dark on N64 and I'd quite like to see Conker return. But my trouble is I can't keep up with all the new games I want to play let along find the time to go back to older titles.
God I hope they bring back Banjo (and Viva Pinata) this gen. Some of us original fans are getting a little older and have kids, it would be awesome to play a new Banjo with them before they turn into CoD Bros or something.
@GamingFan4Lyf
Problem with that game is it played like a platformer from 20 years ago.
If Banjo is to be properly rebooted it needs to feel modern with a nod of the hat to the past games.
@blinx01 this!
A new banjo should feel like Mario Odyssey, or better: Bowsers Fury!
It should not feel like an overloaded Mario 64.
WHERE'S MOTHER 3??
I hate anyone talking about Prey because I'll never be able to accept what they did to an existing game that was a completely different franchise. I get it, the dev was gone, and I wasn't even a huge fan of the original game. But it was something exponentially different than what Arcane made, and I don't understand why they bothered even using the name, when it was literally just a name with no connection at all to the original. I will always picture the school bus set whenever I think "Prey." And Art Bell as himself. It worked. It was so 90's but it worked....
@NEStalgia I think it was more about "Prey 2" being teased years before that was a proper sequel to the 2006 game...the trailer for that game was so popular that once that project was cancelled, Bethesda capitalized on the hype by re-using the name for Prey 2017.
Don't give me hope, Phil.
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