Paging all armchair generals - please wax your moustaches, don your monocles and, er, plump your armchairs. Microsoft appears to be working on a new instalment of a classic strategy game franchise, as per a job ad spotted by NeoGAF.
"Microsoft Studios is looking for a highly experienced senior games developer to help build and lead the team for a new AAA title within an established and well-loved strategy game franchise," it reads. The successful candidate's "primary responsibilities will be to recruit and lead the client-side engineering team, drive technical strategy for client development, manage the day-to-day engineering rhythm, and evaluate and recommend appropriate middleware and tools to accomplish our goals".
Microsoft has three strategy franchises that could fit the label "established and well-loved", by my reckoning. The most obvious is Age of Empires, created by now-dead Ensemble Studios - there hasn't been a peep on that front since 2011's free-to-play instalment Age of Empires Online, which is due to be closed down in July 2014.Ensemble is also the studio behind Halo Wars, one of the few well-regarded and successful console-native real-time strategy titles. I'm not sure I'd call it an "established" franchise, though - sales weren't spectacular. Phil Spencer praised the game's control scheme while expressing guarded enthusiasm for console strategy experiences in January.Last but not least, there's Viva Pinata, Rare's intensely sugary animal husbandry sim. The developer has ideas for how a new game might make use of Kinect, and Microsoft's head PR honcho Major Nelson has broached the subject on Reddit. I also can't help noticing that Rare retweeted our retrospective from last month. On the other hand, the job listing above is based in Redmond, rather than at Rare's HQ in Leicestershire, UK.Any frothy bits of speculation to share?
It's plain obvious that they are going for new installment of age of empires
Ahe of Mythology is probably what they're after. They're doing a remake / v2 of it IIRC. I've read that some where
Most likely Age of Empires or Age of Mythology, Theyve been getting alot of publicity lately with the releases so maybe they caught on people are still interested
and what does this news have to do with brotherhood of nod? xD
KANE IS THE TRUE MESSIAH
In the name of kane!
kane lives in death!
Yeah, if EA sold the rights for C&C to Microsoft, I'm sure we'd have heard of it before they decided to announce reviving a beloved franchise.
...
Kane lives in death.
Betcha they'd sell it for dirt too, seeming as they have ripped it to shreds, and it'd be up to Microsoft to pick up the pieces.
im thinking its Age of Empires since microsoft apparently intend to air a show based on it..(video from machinima)
along with
halo
gears of war
fable
and others
I doubt its a command and conquer revival. Last I checked, ea owned CNC.
Yeah, if you want anything new from C&C, or rather for C&C you have to look towards your modders. Some of them are doing an amazing job.
As much as I'd love for microsoft to give CNC a go I doubt its CNC.
*cough* Rise of Nations II would be cool *cough*
It's definitely not Halo Wars. (And I say that as someone who enjoyed it thoroughly.)
Indeed, halo wars is hardly a self-contained beloved franchise.
It could be improved on massively especially if they moved it to a PC copy
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Rise of Nations 2 and Age of Empires 4 pleaseee XD
Mechcommander 3? If only... Its almost definitely Age of Empires 4
well from what i heard from youtube and all that stuff, I'm pretty certain it isnt any of those games, Gearbox bought the rights to HOMEWORLD, and they have already released info about their newest installment to the series AND a completely remastered edition including HW1 and HW2... But to see C&C Revived.... I.... I would cut my legs off and sell them just to get it....
-MPRA2
is halo wars 2 :D