Microsoft on Killer Instinct: This is Not Some Hacked-off Remake

Killer Instinct isn’t coming to the Xbox One as a cash grab or a simple play on fans with more nostalgia than actual sense. When the fighting game makes a return as a launch title for Microsoft’s next-generation box, it’ll be because of the passion both the community and the developers feel for the series – what many would call the “right” reasons.

This is at least according to corporate VP of Microsoft Studios Phil Spencer, who told OXM that Killer Instinct is seen as a frontline game by the company.

“We wanted to pick a game that we had the passion to build," Spencer said. "We had the internal team with Rare creative people – there were certain people that I wanted to make sure were close to this experience to make sure it's tried and true. People ask me about Rare and I always go back to, like, Battletoads, but there aren't many people from those games that are still around.

"We had a core of people that still understood what Killer Instinct was about. We thought some of the features of Xbox One, like asynchronous matchmaking where while I'm actually fighting it's setting up my next game, made a great mechanic for a fighting game. I won't say the things on Twitter had no impact on it, I wanted to bring back something and Killer Instinct just seemed like the right thing."

The fighting title has received some attention at EVO, as well as on Jimmy Fallon’s show. It’s a game that draws eyes, and this fall, Spencer also believes it’ll be a project people fall in love with.

"We are building this to be a great fighting game," he said. "This is not some hacked-off remake. We're working with Mad Catz on control, we've got Rare people looking at it. We've got people focusing on how it's going to play because we want to build a great fighting game built for a live ecosystem. This isn't going to cash in on the name; it's going to be a real frontline game that people fall in love with."