Monster Hunter: World gik hen og blev et enormt hit for Capcom, og har til dato passeret over 20 millioner solgte eksemplarer. Ikke bare det, Iceborne-udvidelsen har solgt næsten 10 millioner eksemplarer, så det er let at se hvorfor andre udviklere og udgivere ønske sig en bid af den kage.
Og spørger du Venturebeat-journalist og insider Jeff Grubb, så arbejder Microsoft netop på en afart Monster Hunter-spil. Under det seneste Giant Bomb podcast beskriver han det således:
"They're working with Certain Affinity on what seems like a Monster Hunter style game - a Monster Hunter clone. They see this gameplay style succeeding, and Microsoft's like, 'hey, we should try to make one of those, is anyone out there going to pitch one?'"
Certain Affinity har I mange arbejdet med eksempelvis Bungie på Halo-serien, og har lavet nogle af de mest ikoniske multiplayer-baner. Desuden har de også assisteret med blandt andet Doom og Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered.
"They want more variety in the kinds of games they're putting on Game Pass and this is an example of that. They're like, 'we probably can't get Monster Hunter on Game Pass - that would be pretty expensive - but we definitely want a game like that, because we see the potential for that to grow and be a big thing with long-term support," siger Grubb.
Og midt i det hele har Certain Affinity opdateret deres hjemmeside, hvor der nu står følgende:
"we're excited to reveal that we're leading development on a new original IP! Are we excited to take on a genre and style of game that we've always loved? Thrilled beyond words!"