Microsoft Talks Crackdown, Phantom Dust and Bringing Back More Old IP as Xbox One Exclusives

Microsoft Talks Crackdown, Phantom Dust and Bringing Back More Old IP as Xbox One Exclusives

Giuseppe Nelva June 17, 2014 4:58 PM EST

During its E3 press briefing Microsoft showcased two old IPs that will be brought back to life as Xbox One exclusives, Crackdown and Phantom Dust. Microsoft Game Studios General Manager Matt Booty gave a bit more information about those games and the general trend in an interview on Famitsu.

The Video Game industry has matured now, with a bunch of history stacking on top of itself. With that, there is a choice to either create a new IP or dig an old IP up from the past. To all of the games fans, we wanted to show you an IP of the past expressed with the great power of the Xbox One.

Booty also explained why Phantom Dust was chosen for a remake, despite the fact that the original wasn’t an overwhelmingly successful title:

As you say, “Phantom Dust” was not that big of a hit. However, the game design is really great! There is real depth to the gameplay, which is also strategically rich. So we wanted to give it a second chance.

We then get the confirmation that the original Producer and Director Yukio Futasugi has been asked to work on the game:

The developers have not officially announced, but we have teamed up with a studio with well known for its skills. As we said at the briefing, Microsoft Studio’s Ken Lobb (Creative Director of “Killer Instinct”) is in charge. After that, we asked the original creator Yukio Futasugi to participate. He is the irreplaceable creator of Phantom Dust!

Booty also confirmed that Dave Jones, Director of the original Crackdown has formed a new team and is working on the new game.

Asked if we can expect more old IP brought back to life on Xbox One he teased:

In the future there will be Phantom Dust, then Crackdown a little later, I think that maybe more could come further down the line.

While it’s always important to create new IP, I definitely don’t dislike the fact that both Microsoft and Sony are taking a good look at their history and bringing back old and glorious games for the new generations (and even the old ones, who am I kidding?) to enjoy.

Cicero used to say “historia magistra vitae est” (history is life’s teacher), and I don’t see why that shouldn’t be applied to games.

[Translation: Griffin Tatum]