Microsoft drops major hint on Crackdown sequel

Microsoft's given a less than subtle hint that a sequel to Realtime World's beloved open-city 360 shooter, Crackdown, is a little more than fantasy.

"I'm here to tell you on behalf of the community, I want - we need - another Crackdown," Xbox Live's director of programming, Larry Hryb, told MGS boss Phil Spencer in the latest Major Nelson podcast.

"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."

"Yes, Crackdown's one of my favourites," said Spencer. "I'll leave it at that."

A sequel to Crackdown never materialized as "the numbers just didn’t add up," we were told by Realtime Worlds studio boss Colin Macdonald told us this summer.

Macdonald himself said at the time that the studio was open to negotiations on a second game.

"I don’t think the door’s closed," he said. "Obviously, right now we’re tied up with APB and everything else, but hopefully in the future we’ll have the resource and something can be worked out with Microsoft.”

Crackdown, a first-party Microsoft game, shipped in February 2007 to general critical acclaim.