We can now confirm that there are at least two Transformers video games under development with Microsoft Studios.
Transformers fan site TFW2005 reported on a rumor that Microsoft Studios was working on two video game projects that are simply named Transformers. Today, they have evidence that those games are real.
As they now report, the Australian Classification Board has posted two new ratings online, for two video games named Transformers. These are definitely different products, as they have different classification numbers.
Interestingly enough, one is labeled as the original version, and is rated PG, for Online Interactivity and Scary Scenes. The other is labeled as the modified version, and is also rated PG, this time for Mild Violence, Online Interactivity, and Users Interact.
When ratings boards for different countries or regions publish their ratings, we know that that arrives in advance of a game nearing its release. Whether the developer or publisher announced the product well in advance, or whether they have kept their lips sealed, the rating is a legal requirement that the game companies simply have to accept is part of the process of getting their games released.
Of course, unless it’s a high profile product, these ratings don’t usually become newsworthy at all. It’s when the game in question has not yet been announced that we have to pay attention and start asking around.
So we have been reporting since last year on rumors that Microsoft has worked out a deal with Hasbro to republish the older Transformers games that Activision originally published. The last time we checked, listings of some of those old games, whose licenses had expired, returned on the Xbox Store.
But Transformers games had continued to get made in the years since Activision ended their deal with Hasbro. It’s possible that these new games, listed under Microsoft Gaming, were in the works without Activision’s involvement at all.
Now, we also have to acknowledge that it’s entirely possible that these will turn out to be the old Activision published Transformers games. The secrecy may be something that Microsoft has managed to work out with the Australian Classification Board, in such a way that they didn’t share the full name of the products.
So maybe the online indicated here, is really Activision getting ratings for the online modes to return on games like Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. We are sure Activision and Microsoft will find that gamers will be more skeptical if they were working on entirely original online Transformers games. But then again, they may have something genuinely exciting and new that they have yet to show.
In any case, we now have possibly two new Transformers games to look forward to getting revealed. Given how many games Microsoft already has lined up for the end of 2024, these must be scheduled to release sometime next year. But they could be going live this year, if they are the older games. It’s certainly intriguing enough to wonder what this could be, and how much longer before we find out.
