One of the most notable things seen on-stage at the May 21st reveal of the Xbox One’s expansive lineup of Live TV features was a small image of a Crackdown orb inserted into the console’s Dashboard interface. Microsoft failed to talk about a potential sequel to the franchise at E3, but we are now hearing that the orb on the Dashboard was anything but an accident.
Speaking to IGN at E3, Microsoft Game Studios vice president Phil Spencer, commented on the Crackdown orb, saying:
“Oh… Crackdown is one of my favorite games, and not just because it’s a Microsoft first-party game. I have a lot of love for that franchise. The homage to Crackdown in the [Xbox One May 21 event] reveal screenshots was… I know there was some, like, ‘Did we accidentally sneak that…?’ It wasn’t accidental. Definitely.”
“No, I don’t think Crackdown is dead at all. It’s a franchise that’s still close to me. I think there’s a lot of room, especially… For me, the natural progression for a game like Crackdown – and you see this showing up on our stage – is in these living, open worlds that live in the cloud.”
Crackdown 2 was released way back in 2010, so the timing of the orb’s appearance at the Xbox One event certainly seemed to indicate that a next-gen sequel would be announced at E3. Obviously, that didn’t happen, but I’d say fans should consider Phil Spencer’s comments as the next best thing.
We will keep an eye out for any further news on a potential third Crackdown for the Xbox One and let you know as soon as anything pops up.