Following the Activision-Blizzard deal, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has cited his desire to work on franchises from his childhood. Inevitably that leads to the question: What other titles could be brought back for the Xbox Series X/S generation? Let’s take a look at 15 of them here.

Scalebound

Set in a fantasy world with dragons, it saw protagonist Drew having a massive dragon named Thuban by his side. Along with functioning independently, one could also give commands to Thuban while fighting. It was also possible to directly control the dragon and enter Berserker mode for increased power. Announced in 2014 as an Xbox One exclusive, the hack and slash combat combined with battles on a massive scale looked promising, especially with up to four players in co-op.

Originally slated for release in late 2016, Scalebound would be delayed to the next year and subsequently cancelled in January 2017. Studio head Atsushi Inaba felt that “both sides failed” when it came to the cancellation and that it “didn’t do all of the things that we needed to do as a developer.” PlatinumGames has expressed interest in returning to the project – especially since Microsoft still owns the IP. It may not happen any time soon but never say never.

Thomas Downes – Red Dead Redemption 2

Rockstar Games’ latest Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game about characters. In addition to the richly realized open-world brimming with personality, Arthur Morgan’s tale of redemption is also brimming with a complex and meaningful supporting cast of characters. Players meet Thomas Downes while completing extortion missions for Strauss, wherein a brawl against this person, who is on his deathbed gives Morgan tuberculosis. As our beloved cowboy realizes that he might not even live long enough to see Dutch’s grand plan come to fruition even if it was any good, to begin with, we start to see him change as he becomes a more empathetic and caring man than he was once before – a major courtesy of Thomas Downes.

There is probably no set of gaming fans that is more long suffering or hard done by than fans of the classic British developer, Rare. Rare used to rule the world back in the 1990s, with a Naughty Dog-sequel string of prestige and commercial hits—except they did it across multiple genres and game types, multiple times in a single year. 

Unfortunately, Rare’s star has long since fallen from their glory days. Once Microsoft purchased the studio, things unfortunately went south for well over a decade, with the studio only beginning to show signs of its old brilliance with Sea of Thieves. Continued support for Sea of Thieves elevated that game into being worthy of the old Rare—and also immediately led to fans wondering if this meant Rare would be more confident in taking on some of its classic IP, like Banjo Kazooie. An unexpected (but delightful) Super Smash Bros. collaboration surely did not help matters on that front.

And yet, Rare’s new game is not Banjo, or Conker, or Perfect Dark, or Blast Corps. It’s not even a new Sea of Thieves. It is, instead, another new IP, a seemingly meditative and contemplative one that apparently takes some cues from Breath of the Wild, named, er, Everwild.

So, why do that? Why, when they are finally back in the limelight, put out another new IP, rather than giving fans some of their beloved favourites? In an interview with Eurogamer, studio head Craig Duncan explained why the developer prefers to work on new franchises, rather than sticking with their established brands.

“If that was our logic we’d have been making Jetpac for the last 35 years. The great thing about making games is putting a set of passionate people together making something they truly love and believe in,” he said. “That’s the goal of making anything. That’s why Sea of Thieves is the game it is. That’s why Everwild will be the game it will be, because we have a team of people who are truly passionate about the thing they’re creating. Then my job as the studio head is to create an environment where they can go do that, and they can do their best work, and we can create something amazing. It’s not about me picking the game I want made, or I want people to go do. It’s about the team building the thing that is in their burning desire and heart to go make the most amazing experience.”

And you know what? That’s totally fair. Rare got to make amazing games like Banjo and Perfect Dark because they were allowed to continually invest in new IP, rather than make sequels to existing hits endlessly. I would rather the studio not lose sight of that culture. 

A rumor began circulating recently about Microsoft expressing interest in Playtonic Games. The studio is mostly composed of former members of Rare and has released two games in the Yooka-Laylee series (including the recent Yooka-Laylee and The Impossible Lair). Apparently, Microsoft was looking to acquire the studio to create a new Banjo-Kazooie title.

Playtonic Games has issued a statement on Twitter, denying that it’s working on a new Banjo-Kazooie. It also noted that it was staying independent. Though the developer would “love to work with the bear and bird again”, it unfortunately stated “that ball isn’t in our court.”

It’s a shame, for sure, but Playtonic has plenty going of its own work going on. Besides, if Microsoft is serious about reviving the Banjo-Kazooie franchise, why wouldn’t it utilize its own resources like Rare? That’s not accounting for studios like Double Fine Productions which are currently under the Xbox banner and could create an entirely new property that’s exclusive.

For now, we’re just going to have to be content that Banjo-Kazooie are playable in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

A statement from us! pic.twitter.com/nZHqI5GaYe

— Playtonic (@PlaytonicGames) November 6, 2019

With next gen right around the corner, all of us have all sorts of wishlists in our minds, and most of them, of course, are all about the thing that matters most- the games. There’s so many games we’d like to see on next-gen platforms, so many franchises we’d like to see making a return. In this feature, we’ll be talking about fourteen sequels to Microsoft-owned franchises that we’d like to see on the Xbox Scarlett, at one point or another.

Some of the games we’ll be mentioning will be obvious picks, the kind that will inevitably show up sooner rather than later, while others will be more out there, as hopes and dreams go. In all cases though, keep in mind that this is a wishlist, not a prediction list. With all that out of the way, let’s get started.

HALO WARS 3

Halo will, of course, be a major presence on Xbox Scarlett – it’s launching with the next big Halo title, after all – but we’d like to see more from the franchise on the console than just its mainline games. Halo Wars started as an interesting strategy offshoot, and though the first game was definitely a flawed one, it showed plenty of promise. Halo Wars 2 made good on a lot of its potential, and was a much better game than any of us were expecting it to be. Our hope is that Microsoft will continue to invest in this branch of Halo, and allow Halo Wars to continue its upward trajectory with a third game.

It’s been a busy day for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fans. Banjo-Kazooie, the newest Challenger Pack, has gone live, and Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury was announced as the next DLC fighter. But that’s not all – in a lengthy video with director Masahiro Sakurai, he showcases the moves for Banjo-Kazooie, along with the new stage and tunes.

The real surprise is the reveal of the new Mii Fighter costumes, which crossover with other franchises. Swordfighters get Goemon from Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, along with Zero from the Mega Man X series. Proto Man from the Mega Man series is also in as a new Gunner skin. Brawlers get new Team Rocket skins from Pokemon.

But the best is yet to come, as Sans from Undertale has also been revealed as a new Gunner skin. With Toby Fox collaborating with Game Freak on the upcoming Little Town Hero, perhaps there’s a chance of other Undertale characters being added in the future. Stay tuned for more details, and check out the video in full below.

Banjo-Kazooie is, to this day, considered one of the greatest 3D platformers of all time, but the series has been slumbering for many, many years. Though Microsoft attempted to bring it back with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, that was deemed a disappointing sequel by fans of the series, while indie attempts at making “spiritual successors” – like Yooka-Laylee – have also yielded mixed results.

Recently, however, Nintendo made the announcement that the iconic platforming duo would be returning to the limelight by being added to the roster of fighters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (a move that was easier on both, Microsoft and Nintendo’s sides than one would expect). Fans were elated about the announcement, in light of the fact that this was something the Smash community had been demanding for years. But considering just how rapt the response to this has been, does this mean Microsoft might now consider greenlighting a proper sequel?

Grant Kirkhope, composer of the franchise and one of the people most commonly associated with the series, doesn’t know if that’s the case. “My honest opinion is I don’t know if there’ll ever be a new Banjo,” he said while speaking with VGC. “It’s easy to go, ‘look at these numbers’, but it might be a drop in the ocean for Xbox.

“Is there a market for it? I just don’t know. I would think that Rare probably doesn’t have the appetite for it. They’re super busy with Sea of Thieves and that’s a gigantic game: it’s going to take the whole studio to keep making content for that.”

“Maybe the E3 reception has made Microsoft think about it,” Kirkhope continued. “But the trouble is, if I say anything more definitive than that then the fans will think I’m in the know! When really, I’m just a composer.

“I have no connection to that decision what-so-ever. Gregg Mayles and Tim Stamper are the real inventors of Banjo… I’m just the most visible on social media.”

We do know that Rare is working on something else beyond their continuous support for Sea of Thieves, while Microsoft’s recent push for first party exclusives would also give one hope that a Banjo revival might not be that far-fetched. Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking. Let’s just hope Microsoft sees value in the brand, especially after the reaction to the Smash announcements, and decides that it’s worth one more go after all.

The Pain – Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

At first, The Pain seems like a joke. Controlling bees? What’s next, throwing honey at his enemies? Of course, you need to remember that dozens of bees can literally sting you to death. During a battle with Ocelot, Snake ran afoul of The Pain and barely escaped death by stinging. Though he eventually defeated the Hornet Soldier, he most assuredly wasn’t the joke we made him out to be.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a game where dreams come true. For years, fans had been fantasizing about getting to play as Banjo-Kazooie in a Smash game, and impossibly enough, Nintendo announced during their E3 2019 Direct presentation that it was actually happening.

But though Banjo-Kazooie and the property’s creators Rare were both once owned by Nintendo, the two now belong to Microsoft, which means for the iconic platforming duo to make it into Smash, a deal between Nintendo and Microsoft had to go down. Which must have been interest, right? Well, not according to head of Xbox Phil Spencer, no.

When asked by Kotaku how the deal came about, Spencer said that the “how” of it wasn’t actually that interesting, citing Microsoft’s and Nintendo’s excellent relationship as being an easy springboard for the deal to launch off of. Oh, and he also called Microsoft one of the biggest third party publishers on the Switch- which is weird, but also technically true, because, well, Minecraft.

“The ‘how’ is not actually that interesting,” said Spencer. “Obviously we’re one of the biggest third-party publishers on Switch, so we have great relationships with their third-party team. And you’ve seen the ambition they’ve had with every character that’s ever been in Smash and even more. So it was just kind of part of the partnership relationship we have with them.”

“There wasn’t anything kind of CEO-to-CEO that had to happen,” he continued. “People have asked me on social [media]—I’m sure you’ve seen that—over many years: ‘Would I welcome having Banjo in Smash?’ and I’ve always been open to that.”

“The licensing relationships between the two companies, they’re there and are kind of ongoing,” Spencer added, speaking about Nintendo and Microsoft’s long-standing relationship. “The reason it’s not some interesting, deep conversation is because with us owning Rare and the history between those two things, there are a lot of conversations over the years about, ‘Hey, we want to do “X” is that okay?’”

“I think it’s cool that Banjo is going to be in Smash,” he added. I think it’s cool, too.

Banjo-Kazooie are joining Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s roster as DLC in Fall of this year. Before that, however, the Luminary from Dragon Quest 11 will be joining the roster as its second DLC character, following Joker from Persona 5.

Grunty’s Furnace Fun – Banjo-Kazooie

The most immediate example that comes to mind is Banjo-Kazooie. Before fighting Gruntilda, she presents a rather odd puzzle to stop our heroes – Grunty’s Furnace Fun. There are unique panels that present everything from timed challenges (like the sandcastle puzzle) to identifying different worlds. You also have Grunty’s personal questions which are randomized each time and can only be answered by speaking to Brentilda, her sister, throughout the game.