Is Crackdown 2 in development?

In my opinion, Crackdown is probably the most underrated game on the Xbox 360 to date. Realtime Worlds created a gem of a free-roamer with drop-in/drop-out co-op and an entire city as your playground. Sadly, the game was overshadowed by the Halo 3 beta, and what a shame that was. This game didn’t need the beta to sell copies; the fact that it was fun, original, and pleasing to play should have been enough. Given the fact that people who bought it just for the beta actually ended up really enjoying the game is a testament to how good Crackdown actually was. So with all this, it’s hardly surprising that I’m jumping with excitement that there could actually be a sequel in the works.

A while back, there were whispers of a possible sequel in the making, but that was shot down by Phil Wilson, who stated that the team was “heartbroken” and that “Microsoft were a little late in stepping up to the plate to ask for Crackdown 2, and by then we had already started working on bigger, better things.” That, of course, ended up being the promising MMO APB, which is slated for a PC and Xbox 360 release next year. Nothing has been heard since, but recently these whispers have started to come back and are now getting louder and louder.

Xbox 360’s Major Nelson stated in a podcast involving Microsoft Game Studio’s boss Phil Spencer, “I’m here to tell you on behalf of the community, I want -- we need -- another Crackdown.” He carries on, “That’s all I’m going to say, so you don’t have to confirm for deny anything. I’m just saying we want it.” Spencer replied,“Yes, Crackdown’s one of my favorites, I’ll leave it at that.”

Realtime Worlds stated recently that they “were open for negotiations” and that “I don’t think the door’s closed. Obviously, right now we’re tied up with APB and everything else, but hopefully in the future we’ll have the resources and something can be worked out with Microsoft.” Well, so far, so good. A sequel is in the cards and all it needs is backing from Microsoft, but things are now looking better than ever.

Gaming blogs Kotaku and VG247 are both stating that developers on the original game have left Realtime Worlds, have formed their own studio, and are in fact developing Crackdown 2. The new studio is named Ruffian Games, and VG247 have gone a step further by stating they have a source that has told them that Microsoft are funding the startup of the studio specifically for the development of Crackdown 2.

With Xbox executives repeatedly stating they want a Crackdown 2 and with now Ruffian Games formed and reportedly working on Crackdown 2, the sequel may come sooner than we think. TGR think it’s a certainty, we just wait it anticipation of a confirmation from MS.

TGR Rating: Very Likely