Xbox is working on a sequel for a major franchise, but it could take a decade

A small group of ‘gamers' have filed a lawsuit against Microsoft in the US in an effort to block the pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard. After going through the most recent batch of filings, some interesting nuggets of info have been revealed, including plans for a massive (and expensive) mystery sequel to an existing IP. 

As discovered by Stephen Totilo, a document found in the case file suggests that Microsoft is well aware of the growing amount of time it takes to produce a AAA game. The document points out that Microsoft is developing a sequel in an established franchise, which “may take a decade” to release.

Most intriguing redactions from last week's amended complaint in the gamer lawsuit agains the Microsoft-Activision deal:

– A Microsoft franchise sequel on a possible 10-year dev cycle
– A presumably detailed explanation of something bad from May 2022 (Redfall/Starfield delay?) pic.twitter.com/OJETHAy8MM

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) April 20, 2023

Unfortunately, the sequel and name of the franchise are redacted in the document in order to avoid leaks. While this information might be pertinent for a judge to make a decision, it isn't meant for public consumption.

There is a good chance that the game being mentioned is The Elder Scrolls 6, which was announced by Bethesda back in 2018, before the company joined Microsoft in 2020. The game is still in the design phase and won't really progress until Starfield has wrapped up and released. Based on how long it has taken to make Starfield,  The Elder Scrolls 6 is unlikely to release before 2028, which would mark ten years since its public announcement.

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KitGuru Says: We've reached a point where AAA game development can easily eat up more than five years of work and hundreds of millions of dollars. It makes these types of games riskier for publishers to rely on, which in turn is leading to a rise in multiplayer and service titles, which can generate long-term income to fund bigger projects. 

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