Gamspot did a thorough Rumor Control on this one...
Microsoft axing big-name project?
Source: The latest 1Up podcast, during which EGM executive editor Shane Bettenhausen teases that he knows of "a big Microsoft first-party title that's been in the works for a very long time that people are very excited for sounds like it's being cancelled."
What we heard: At the end of 1Up.com's latest podcast, Bettenhausen tossed out the rumor with little background or explanation. Telling his fellow podcasters that he'd heard the rumor "from all over" and saying they had "a 97 percent chance of being true," Bettenhausen teased audiences with the information but refused to go into any more detail on what he had heard. Given an unsubstantiated and unsourced rumor, the Internet did what it is wont to do and began speculating wildly about Microsoft-published games that could conceivably fit the given criteria.
Rare's new Banjo Kazooie project was among the first games floated, but the UK developer was quick to shoot down such speculation, proactively reaching out to gaming press.
"It's definitely not Banjo," a Rare employee told GameSpot. "That said, I haven't heard these rumours internally, so it could all be hot air for all I know."
Next up on the list was Silicon Knights' Too Human. Given the prolonged development cycle of the game and the legal battle being waged between Silicon Knights and Epic Games over the former's licensing of the latter's Unreal Engine 3, such a cancellation would not be entirely surprising. However, when contacted by GameSpot, a Silicon Knights representative shot that suggestion down as well, saying, "It is definitely not Too Human."
Another game that would certainly fit the "long-awaited" label of the rumor is Remedy Entertainment's Alan Wake. Originally announced in 2005, Alan Wake has remained on many gamers' lists of most-anticipated titles despite keeping a very low profile since its original announcement. Troubled development would explain why so little of Alan Wake has surfaced in the last two years, but again, the developer was quick to shut down the notion of it being canceled. In a post on the studio's official forums, a Remedy representative assured fans the rumor "has nothing to do with Alan Wake..."
Peter Molyneux is known for having his ambitious and heavily hyped game designs overstretch his studio's ability (or perhaps any studio's, for that matter) to make them a reality. While he always seems to find a way to get a game finished and out the door, it's conceivable that Microsoft could pull the rug out from one of his titles if it appeared to be unsalvageable. Fable 2 didn't appear to be in such a state the last time it was shown off to the press, but just in case fans were worried, Lionhead's community manager debunked the idea on the game's official forums, simply saying, "It's not Fable 2, I can tell you that much."
An Ensemble Studios poster on the official Halo Wars forums didn't specifically deny that the high-profile real-time strategy spin-off of Microsoft's sci-fi cash cow was canceled. However, he did post a picture of a man in a tinfoil hat in the thread on the subject, showing exactly what was thought of the suggestion.
As of press time, representatives with Cryptic Studios, developer of Microsoft's upcoming Marvel Universe massively multiplayer online game had not responded to a request for comment, and a browsing of the studio's forums failed to turn up any Cryptic-penned posts on the matter. However, a MMOG attached to a license as powerful as the Marvel Universe will likely get every chance to succeed, and Cryptic's recent sale of its interest in City of Heroes and City of Villains to NCsoft suggests the developer's other projects are going well enough that it doesn't need a safety net to fall back on.
Developer denials aside, 'tis the season for publishers to evaluate their slate of projects for the coming year and determine if there's any dead weight that needs to be cut loose. Ideally, the people who have devoted years of their lives to a project should know if it's going the way of the dodo before word leaks out to the press (and certainly before anyone in the press leaks that rumor out to the world), so it should be safe to take these developers at their word.
It's possible that final decisions on Microsoft's lineup haven't been made yet, and Bettenhausen's tease is based on what a handful of people involved in the process expect to happen. Though he certainly believes the rumor to be true, he admits there's a slim chance his info is wrong. Combine that with 1Up News' complete silence on the matter, and it appears that whatever information Bettenhausen and the Web site have isn't quite concrete enough to run with yet.
The official story: "No comment."--A Microsoft representative.
Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus that Banjo Kazooie, Too Human, Alan Wake, Fable 2, or Halo Wars has already been canceled. Abstain on whether or not they (or any other Microsoft projects) will stay that way.
