‘Three console racing franchises’ might be a bit much
Speaking to IGN on Podcast Unlocked, Microsoft Game Studios VP Phil Spencer chatted a bit about Project Gotham Racing, which continues to live on in my heart. It’s only natural that the future of the series was discussed with the Xbox One launch nearly here — it was PGR3 and Kameo that got me through the Xbox 360’s debut in 2005.
As to whether or not the franchise has a future on Xbox, Spencer said “Maybe. I think the Kudos system that we had in PGR was the real secret sauce. I thought that was the thing that people really loved. It had a great feel, it was there at launch, which I think was important.
“I think some of the rumors around PGR were probably us working on Forza Horizon with Playground, and I think people just kind of were guessing that it was a PGR game,” he continued. “We talk, [Forza developer Turn 10 head] Alan Hartman and I, talk about PGR. I think we’re kind of full in the racing space right now when we think about our franchises, but I know there’s a lot of love for that franchise out there and it’d be interesting to think about what we could do. I don’t know that we’d ever have three console racing franchises. That seems like a lot for a first party with Forza Horizon and obviously Forza Motorsport.”
So I guess that means Horizon is here to stay? With console life cycles as long as they are, perhaps it’s not out of the question that we’ll one day see more PGR. I’d like that very much.
Microsoft Talks PGR, Halo Wars, and Dance Central Prospects [IGN]