Several Transformers games have reappeared on the Xbox Store.
We originally found this shared on Twitter by user X_Series_X/S, but have verified it independently. Three Transformers games originally published by Activision, are now listed on the Xbox Store. These games are listed as “Not Available For Sale,” so the store pages are just pages for now. We’ll run down each title below.
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron was originally developed by the now defunct High Moon Studios, and published to Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in 2012. An upgraded edition was published in 2016 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. This game is the sequel to Transformers War for Cybertron, and tells the story of the Cyberton civil war between Autobots and Decepticons that ends with the destruction of their home planet, and both factions transported to an ‘unknown location.’
Transformers The Dark Spark is a strange concept that really could only have happened when it released. The titular MacGuffin, the Dark Spark, can open holes between dimensions, and brings together High Moon Studios’ Cybertron universe and the Michael Bay/Steven Spielberg Transformers film universe. This game was developed by Edge of Reality, and released in 2014 as a multiplatform, cross generation release, across Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and even the Wii U, in 2014. Curiously enough, it was originally titled Transformers: Rise of The Dark Spark. We don’t know why this game would need a name change.
Finally, Transformers Devastation was bold bet from PlatinumGames and publisher Activision. This game leaned in on the nostalgia for the Transformers Generation One cartoon from 1984, and depicted a storyline that would have fit in from that show, complete with a cel-shaded aesthetic reminiscent of the cel animation from Toei. But since this was actually part of Hasbro’s Transformers: Generation toy and merchandise line, PlatinumGames was actually free to create an original storyline, the details of which we don’t want to spoil here.
While fans were primarily calling for the return of the High Moon Studios and PlatinumGames Transformers games, it is worth remembering that Activision has a few more such titles in their library, primarily for the Michael Bay Transformers film franchise. Of course, these various games were delisted because the licenses for them had individually ran out. Hasbro itself would reuse the War for Cybertron name for an animated series, with its own continuity, co-produced by Netflix and Rooster Teeth but with no involvement from High Moon Studios, Activision, or Microsoft.
The funny thing is, if you may not remember, a Hasbro employee claimed that Activision may have lost their code and production materials for the Transformers games last August 2023, only to take it back that same week. That exchange seemed to indicate that Hasbro and Activision/Microsoft were interested in bringing the games back, now that Microsoft is the effective publisher of these games.
A lot of Xbox owners hope that these games make it to Game Pass, but wouldn’t it be exciting if they work out a deal for these games to also go multiplatform? With Hasbro in particular looking for more deals with partners now, the stage is set for these games to all be brought back in one way or another.
