Frontier Developments PLC has announced their acquisition of the rights to an unnamed major Hollywood franchise from a studio. Fans will recognise Frontier Developments as the developers of the in-depth space simulation Elite: Dangerous and the theme park management game Planet Coaster. This will be the developer’s third title in a succession of high-quality games.

“The third franchise is an important next step in our growth,” said David Braben, Chief Executive at Frontier Developments. “We have chosen to license this particular IP to work with as our third franchise because we believe we can create something very special. It is creatively stimulating, already has a high worldwide profile, and is a perfect match for our expertise.”

Details regarding what particular franchise are cagey at best. We know that the franchise is an “enduring movie franchise of global renown,” and that Frontier Developments feels that their expertise will fit the bill to a tee. Even the developer’s previous two titles offer little help, as they offer few similarities. Elite: Dangerous is a free form space simulator that encourages player freedom and mobility, while Planet Coaster casts the player as the owner of a wild theme park, tasking them with the construction of attractions daily park management tasks. Both are highly technical simulations that emphasise the player’s freedom and creativity to accomplish a goal. They don’t even have a similar art style.

So, if speculation is your desire, the essential question you’ll ask is what game is Frontier most likely to be influenced by. Planet Coaster could easily give way to something like Jurassic Park, while the hard Sci-Fi setting of Elite: Dangerous would make a modern Dune game something to look forward too. Odds are, no one but Frontier Development will really know what they’re working on for a while, but it’ll be some sort of highly polished, technical simulation, and I can’t wait.

This news comes to us by way of the London Stock Exchange.