Pitch your own Xbox Game Studios game idea

Gaming
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With so many new studios, the future of Xbox Game Studios has never looked brighter. We have studios with experience in almost every genre so the possibilities are endless.

In this thread, we will pitch our dream games following the format below:

Developer:

Inspired by:

Elaboration:

Sales pitch:

I will start with my own.

Developer: Ninja Theory

Inspired by: Diablo

Elaboration: A co-op action RPG like Diablo but with PvP. It can be fantasy, sci fi, super heroes or anything.

Sales pitch: Diablo 3 and its expansion Reaper of Souls sold 30 million copies as of 2015, but the only other games in the genre are by Torchlight 3 (which bombed last year) and Path of Exile. Both of those games are by smaller developers and either are not on consoles or have only been recently ported (without couch co-op). The market is thirsty for this kind of game but with Diablo 4 still years away demand isn’t even close to being met. As one of the few developers that can go toe to toe with Japan’s greatest in action combat, Ninja Theory would be a perfect fit and can add something new to the genre. The Bleeding Edge team should move on to this, imo.

Developer: Rare

Inspired by: Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons, Stardew Valley, Rune Factory

Elaboration: Imagine a family friendly game that lets you build your own village/town like in Animal Crossing, but also has a deep farming system like in Stardew Valley, made by a developer responsive to community feedback (i.e. not Nintendo). Combine this with robust but optional online features and excellent GAAS support. They could even add in combat and dungeons like in Rune Factory if they’re up to it. As the makers of Sea of Thieves, Rare would be perfect for a game like this.

Sales pitch: Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been a breakout success that has moved a ton of console units. Nearly a year later, it is still topping sales charts worldwide. As of September 30, it was at 26 million units sold but it is surely past 30 million by now. Part of the reason for this is that there is nothing else like it on the market. A family friendly game like this would be a strong addition to Xbox’s catalogue and would 100% top Steam charts like Sea of Thieves.

9 Likes
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Nice thread, love your idea :slight_smile:

Developer: Arkane

Inspired by: Dark Souls/Dark Mesiah

Elaboration: Single player first person A-RPG souls like in medevial universe with boss fight

Sales pitch: Arkane have great gameplay formula but didn’t find commercial success since Dishonored and lot of people don’t see the perfection of Arkane’s gameplay. A souls like would force player to use more option and focus on gameplay more than story of Arkane’s game.

Developer: The Coallition

Inspired by: Uncharted 4, Gears 5

Elaboration: Single player cinematic third person adventure game in Mad Max universe

Sales pitch: The Coallition would be a perfect fit for a Mad Max game more cinematic and linear. I think they are one of the best studio in term of action adventure, they can produce great staging.

8 Likes
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Great Idea!

Name Crimson Skies

Developer: Xbox Games Studios Global Publishing/A suitable developer with creative involvement from Harebrained Schemes (and by default Paradox).

Inspired by: Crimson Skies, Uncharted,

Elaboration: Literally Crimson Skies 3/Reboot. It’s a story-driven open-world Crimson Skies game with on the ground combat and aerial combat. Think Starfox Adventures but with far more dogfighting, and more Uncharted than Zelda inspired.

Sales pitch: Jordan Weisman wants to reboot, MS wants to settle the FASA rights (and seems to since Mechwarrior 5 is coming to console), MS wants its own Uncharted and Indiana Jones is not a guaranteed exclusive, they own the IP for gaming, It’s been dormant for 18(!) years so it may as well be a New IP.

Name: Fallout: Re-Emergence Day

Developer: InXIle NOLA/Krome Studios

Inspired by: Fallout

Elaboration: Remake of Fallout 1 with the combat and visuals of Wasteland 3.

Sales pitch: Much of the groundwork is already laid. InXile/Obsidian’s modified Unity is great. Fallout needs content.

Name: Blood Moon

Developer: Arkane Austin

Inspired by: Arx Fatalis, Vampyr, Bloodborne, Dishonored.

Elaboration: A vampire-themed gothic fantasy immersive sim. I want these rumours to be real so bad.

Sales pitch: Vampire games are few and far between. The mechanics of being a vampire lend themselves exceptionally well to an immersive sim.

Name: Mob Rules

Developer: Alpha Dog

Inspired by: 1 Versus 100, HQ Trivia, Jackbox.

Elaboration: It’s 1 Versus 100 for Microsoft points and giveaways.

Sales pitch: Phil wants to do it, Alpha Dog has no experience in console gaming and this can help them cut their teeth on it, they don’t have to pay anyone for a license since it’s a New IP, it would be an easy Game Pass addition and work great on mobile over XCloud.

5 Likes
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Name: Halo ODST: Planet Omega

Developer: The Coalition

Inspired by: Halo ODST, Dead Space, Aliens

Elaboration: Survival Horror with RPG elements, upgrades and gadgets. 1st person.

Sales pitch: A Halo story based of a single ODST being lost on a foreign planet alone after their ship crashed. The ODST tries to find the lost ship to send for help but unusual things happen. The game would be set on 2 planets and the ship that crashed before it crashed and after. The story would be cannon and link back to Halo Infinite. Visuals and performance will be key focus, lots of raytracing, 60fps and really good audio.

It would play heavily on horror, not just jump scares but more prolonged fear with a bit of jump scares in there to spice it up. There would be other people you find and talk to during the game. Planet 1 would have lush forests and amazing vistas, day and night cycles with day being much shorter than night and night lasting long time, the weather will be a factor also.

Planet 2 would be more set in massive caves and oceans beneath the surface of the planet. Upgrades and gadgets will play a big role with collecting resources from the environment to craft ammo and items. The environment would be dynamic so you can manipulate the environment to help your cause.

You will be fighting multiple types of enemies both physical and mentally with the planet playing tricks on your psyche. Some would include the flood, the banished and human-like species plus many other types. There will also be allies on these planets that you find to help you find out what happened and how to help fix the problem/help with the upcoming war (after Halo Infinite) which could give the UNSC a big advantage.

5 Likes
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+1000 This would be amazing. But i’d make it a Fallout 1 and 2 remake.

2 Likes
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Name : Forza Horizon World :heart_eyes:

Developer : Playground games :kissing_heart:

Inspired by : Forza Series and Halo MCC

Elaboration : Game is divided into two parts - Forza Nostalgia and Forza Next

Forza Horizon Nostalgia - Maps from previous titles combined in one game with graphical and frame rate improvements.

Forza Next - Ever expanding world of Forza horizon. Countries being added in every 1-2 years.

Expansions free for Gamepass ultimate members.

4 Likes
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Name: Pendulum Wars

Developer: Machinegames

Inspired by: Gears of War

Elaboration: Game tells the story of the war between UIR and the COG

Sales Pitch: With the rich lore, devoted fan base, and talent Machinegames has shown bringing the Wolfeinstine series; we will be able to start a new shooter within the Gears of War Universe that isn’t tied to the ongoing trilogy and allows to expand into new characters and stories.

Name: Forerunners

Developer: 343i and Obsidian Entertainment

Inspired by: Mass Effect and Halo

Elaboration: A first person RPG shooter which follows the events of the Forerunners as they combated the flood while interacting with current and old alien races in their infancy.

Sales pitch: With 343i love of the Forerunners lore and excellent FPS gunplay we can build off the existing source to build a cinematic first person shooter with narrative and RPG elements worked on by the Obsidian Entertainment.

Name: Zoids Arena

Developer: The Coalition

Inspired: Gears of War 4 and Zoids

Elaboration: Online muliplayer game where you play as mechanical creatures to fight through third person shooting or melee combat.

Sales Pitch: The Coalition has already show the ability to make giant robot combat feel good and online muliplayer games are always a strong market place. Add a battle royal and team based fighting similar to the anime and the game that conforms to current trends while feeling fresh and original.

Name: Star Wars: Knights of the High Republic

Developer: InXile

Inspired by: Wasteland 3

Elaboration: Wasteland 3 gameplay in the world of Star Wars exploring the demilitarization and political changes in the Star Wars Universe following the war against the Sith in the Old Republic.

Sales Pitch: Disney is currently actively building out the High Republic era and producing a video game to flesh out the lore would be an easy way of cementing this time point. It would also bring fans of KOTOR out without opening to direct comparisons because of the changes in gameplay.

2 Likes
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Developer: Ninja Theory

Inspired by: Eternal Darkness, Hellblade

Elaboration: Spiritual reboot and evolution of Eternal Darkness with Hellblade elements, call it Deep into that Darkness, The Lair of the Beast, Primordial Chaos or something like that

Genre: Action/adventure, psychological horror

Sales pitch: Like the original game, it’s a Lovecraftian journey into madness against the Ancients, especially Azathoth (ruler of the Outer Gods, symbol for primordial chaos, called The Deep Dark or The Cold One).

It takes place accross several locations and time periods (where and when major events took place):

  • ruins of Babylon (current time, first location of the game)
  • Paris Catacombs, France, 1814 (when the French Empire collapses and Paris invaded)
  • the Tower of London, England, 1588 (the year the Invincible Armada is defeated)
  • the Templar fortress of Tortosa/Tartus, Syria, 1188 (when the Knights Templar are declining and Saladin gaining power)
  • during the battle of Abritus, modern-day Bulgaria, 251 AD (when 2 Roman Emperors are killed on the battlefield)
  • during the fall of Babylon, 539 BC (when the King of Persia is invading the Neo-Babylonian Empire)
  • an underground necropolis built under the ruins of Babylon by an ancient civilization unknown to modern humanity (current time, final location)

The main character is a Scottish female archeologist who is investigating in the ruins of Babylon. She discovers an evil old book bound in flesh (similarly to the Necronomicon) which causes her to enter in contact with the Ancients and Azathoth.

She starts to revive some important events from the past (which are all linked together).
As the game progresses, the Ancients are corrupting more and more her mind and her perception. As a simple human, it’s becomes harder for her to resist against the immense power of evil beings.

But she has no choice but to fight as she soon realize that the Ancients, led by Azathoth, are battling to regain supremacy for Earth with a master plan that was secretly set in motion millennia ago (after the Ancients lost the control of Earth against the Great Old Ones).

You can learn and use magical runes against the enemies. Swords and guns depending of the time period.

3rd-person. Big focus on the atmosphere, audio and sound design like in Hellblade and Eternal Darkness.

Lenght: 7-10h

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2 Likes
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Super cool idea,

Developer:- Ninja Theory

Inspired by:- Dragon ball Kakarot and DmC

Elaboration: Action adventure game where the hero has to prepare for an incoming invasion where the foes use martial arts. There are 7 legendary warriors in the world with their own unique style. You’re the chosen one to learn from each master, but first you have to earn their respect before they train you.

Sales pitch: Clearly I grew up a big DBZ fan. Ninja Theory has proven they know how to do a good stylish action game. The game has the action of a DmC and the craziness of DBZ with insane fights and feats that no mere mortal can do. Like how Kakarot has the hub worlds, this game would do the same, each hub world would be unique and set to the martial art master who resides there. You’ll have missions to do to learn and gain the trust of each master before you’re ready to fight the incoming invasion lead by the universes strongest fighter.

1 Like
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You know what, that sounds like an awesome game. I love the historical details.

1 Like
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This actually sounds really cool.

Add in Asura’s Wrath (which is incidentally also made by Cyberconnect) to the inspired. Imagine starting with battles on the scale of those in Dragon Ball and escalating to Dragon Ball Z fights and ending up with battles on the scale of Asura’s Wrath where you’re protecting the Earth from the giant finger of a god.

2 Likes
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Name: Halo ODST 2

Developer: 343 Industries or The Coalition

Elaboration: Sequel to Halo 3: ODST taking place during the events of Halo 3 (which has conveniently several plot holes)

Sales pitch: You play as an ODST in a new side story taking place during Halo 3 (and the battle of the Ark notably).

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The Rookie returns as the main protagonist, alongside Buck, Dare, Dutch, Mickey and Romeo.

Gameplay would be a big departure as it would be a 3rd-person shooter with a big emphasis on tactical and teamwork (and no hub but missions like in classic Halo games). Night missions. Great in co-op (up to 4 players). Like this concept:

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Chief’s mission is to hunt the Prophet of Truth (= events of Halo 3).

ODST’s mission is to assist him by taking down the new Chieftain of the Brutes (that replaced Tartarus) and to destroy Truth’s Dreadnought from the inside with the help of Mendicant Bias (that’s why we never saw the Forerunner Dreadnought in combat during Halo 3 (despite it being a juggernaut) and why the Loyalists lost the battle despite outnumbering the Separatists and UNSC 3-to-1).

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That would explain why the Covenant looked so exhausted and disorganized during the battle of the Ark (no Dreadnought, no Chieftain of the Brutes). It’s because Alpha-Nine did the job behind the scenes.

Game would have an All-Star cast and thus be a throwbrack to the original trilogy. Other key characters making an appareance:

  • Master Chief
  • Sergeant Avery Johnson
  • Rtas 'Vadum
  • 343 Guilty Spark
  • the Prophet of Truth
  • the Arbiter
  • Miranda Keyes
  • Lord Hood
  • Mendicant Bias
  • Tragic Solitude 000 (caretaker of Installation 00)
  • the Gravemind and the Flood

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Some missions:

  • (first level) defending the UNSC and ONI Headquarters (aka HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6, or The Hive), Sydney, Australia, from the Covenant. They are trying to breach into the complex in order to retrieve Admiral Parangosky (Commander of ONI). The intro is an orbital jump like in the first Halo 3: ODST.

(… after some more missions on Earth, the games move to the Ark like in Halo 3)

  • infiltrating and destroying the Forerunner Dreadnought with explosives and eliminate the Prophet of Truth if he’s confirmed onboard (Alpha-Nine damages badly the Dreadnought with the help of Mendicant Bias’ fragment but Truth manages to escape)
  • an alternate version of the level The Ark from Halo 3 that actually featured ODSTs: your team is dropped in the same area but have a different objective. It happens in the exact same time as The Ark level in Halo 3 (and you can hear the communications and dialogues from Halo 3 while progressing).
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  • taking down the new Chieftain of the Brutes and his personal guard (final mission).

Lenght: 6-8h

1 Like
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Developer: InXile

Inspired by: Wasteland 3, KOTOR

Elaboration: A tactical turn based cRPG ala Wasteland 3 set in the Star Wars verse during TOR

Sales pitch: Essentially a new KOTOR game whether a sequel or an original game set during the same time frame. Rather than being in the same vein as Dragon Age Origins and focusing more on the DnD dice rolling mechanics, a cRPG similar to Wasteland 3 ei tactical turn based combat.

Preferably no create a character, except maybe the main protagonist who can be a jedi/sith/bounty hunter/smuggler etc. Every other character is original similar to KOTOR 1 and 2. HK47 returns.

Runs off Unreal engine instead of Unity.

2 Likes
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Developer: Coalition

Inspired by: the Division, ODST, Gears 4-5

Elaboration: A third person action game in the Halo universe focused on a team of marines stuck on a Halo ring.

Sales pitch: Heavily inspired by the Division style gameplay loop, but with a campaign inspired by ODST. Customizable characters, 15 hour campaign, co-op, MP grind and a zone similar to the dark zone in Division where it’s nuts anything goes almost horror like gameplay w/ Flood.

2 Likes
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Developer: Turn 10

Inspired by: Forza Horizon, Need for Speed, Driver San Fran, Freelancer, Hotline Miami

Elaboration: A getaway driver inspired narrative racer game where the driver has a “home base” that they use to accept missions as a getaway driver, upgrade car, create a crew, and so on. Missions would have multiple paths and ways they could go based on choices made before/during them.

Sales pitch Take the incredible driving and visuals of Forza, add a bit of exploitation-style ham, and make a racing game that isn’t just another open world repeating races/tracks. Make a great thief story, great characters, maybe have section in third person, no shooting, but where you get out of car and run around. Maybe you have missions where you pre-plan and to walk around and scope out the locations like Payday. A nice hub-based racing game w/ a well written story and interesting third person to racing mechanics.

6 Likes
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a conker game that is a parody of kingdom hearts but travels through xbox IP instead of Disney IP

4 Likes
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InXile

Gameplay Inspired by: Front mission,wasteland, Battletech, aesthetically by Gundam, metal skin panic Madox 01, genesis climber mosepda

Elaboration: The combat in wasteland 3 was excellent. I’d like to see another isometric RPG from them but one with mecha/power armor since mecha/power armor could really benefit from great weapon customization and have all sorts of gadgets to change the tide without attacking. Ideally it’d have space and ground combat, being turn based means they wouldn’t have to come up with tons of new mechanics and space is just the like another map.

Aesthetically I want stuff like this

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Sales pitch: would not take up much budget and manpower as a 3D game, could find an audience on PC, and gives Xbox a mecha franchise they own. Phil Spencer has mentioned a couple of times over the years that he wants to bring back mechassault but it doesn’t look like that is happening anytime soon.

Ninja theory

Gameplay inspired by devil may cry, ninja gaiden, aesthetically by Godfall, Asgard in MCU movies etc

Elaboration: I’d like to see a hack and slash take place in a fantasy utopia being invaded. I’d like to see the kinds of armor that godfall was pushing for as well with a handful of unique weapons.

Aesthetically I’d want stuff like this

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Sales pitch: Xbox doesn’t have a huge hack and slash franchise. One with the kind of high fantasy godfall was going for sets it apart from other hack and slash games and action games like that have a niche but dedicated fanbase. Worth having at least one IP going.

Developer 343

Gameplay inspired by: ghost runner, doom eternal, aesthetically by Mass effect andromeda and Halo 4-5

Elaboration: 343 was going for high mobility in halo 5. While they made halo infinite have less mobility they don’t have to stop either. They could have a small team do an action game. I’d like for it to be a sort of metroidvania in the same way dark souls and Jedi fallen order were in an alien space station, where the protagonist finds themselves in and uses alien weaponry and machinery to stay alive. I’d like for it to have walljumping and running mechanics alongside thrust sprint and such.

Aesthetically I’d want stuff like this and halo 4-5 enemy/ player armor art style

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Sales pitch: The direction 343 was going is good gameplay but different from ok’d halo. Those that want to continue could continue it. Having a small team at 343 work on a new IP would let those that want to continue high mobility continue it and would make for another great IP. Dying light and doom are loved so I think a second first person action franchise wouldn’t be bad.

Starfield online

Developer zenimax online and BGS

Inspired by Starfield, FO76, TES online

Elaboration: I enjoy playing TES online and FO76 with a friend or two and even solo. I’d like a multiplayer spinoff of Starfield to come at some point.

Sales pitch: TES online has been successful and FO76 is in a much better state. Having a multiplayer spinoff of BGS new IP would work if done well and strengthen Xbox as the place for multiplayer games.

3 Likes
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Here is my pitch.

A reboot of Ski Free

as a survival horror.

I know that sounds crazy but the longer you think about it the more it makes sense. The monster form that game comes out of nowhere and kills you, scaring the sihit out of new players. You can’t ever escape him.

THAT’s the hook for the new game. Survival mechanics where you have to sleep, get food, stay warm etc and survive an abandoned 90s ski resort as you are bieng stalked by a snow monster that you can only scare off but never kill. Take all the awesome AI from Alien isolation, and add survival mechanics on top of that. You can’t outrun the creature on foot, so the fastest way through the snow is on skis. You need to scrounge for resources, avoid the monster as you unwravel the mystery of what it is and why it is here, while also findig a way down from the mountain.

Naturally the final setpeice of the game is a mad dash down the mountain side with the monster in hot pursuit.

2 Likes
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Good one.

I watch some animes in this style.

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In an era where party games are a craze

Fusion Frenzy with a crossover of characters from Xbox.