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Rumor – Xbox Sports Network Returning


Weapon 117
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XSN was the original sports line for the Xbox brand. The short lived line of sports games ran from 2003 to 2004 with the face of the line being Peyton Manning who was the cover athlete for NFL Fever.

 

The rumor of Microsoft actually reviving the Xbox Sports Network is actually coming out of Take Two, not Microsoft. You may remember that Take Two’s own 2K brand absorbed some of the studios involved in the making of XSN games - studios that were responsible for Top Spin, Amped, and others.

While this is only a rumor, we’ve looked at some of the facts that lead us to believe this could happen.

 

- Take Two has publicly been hurting financially and has already sold off it’s peripheral subsidiaries and has been rumored to be shopping it’s distribution centers around to potential buyers.

 

- Recent rumors have even had Take Two’s most profitable developer/publisher, Rockstar, shopping around on the market. We’d imagine Take Two would release a smaller dev before letting go of it’s lead horse.

 

- The commercial failure of All Pro Football 2K8 has caused many to wonder if the line will continue. Which makes us wonder what would happen to the football centric part of Visual Concepts.

 

- EA’s exclusive license of NFL properties is coming up soon (by logistical business standards) and we’ll likely see studios shifting to prepare football game development. Although this doesn’t effect the tennis, snowboarding, racing, and other sports lines that would likely return to XSN.

 

- Microsoft has built up some capital after selling shares of Bungie back to Bungie themselves. This could open up financing to acquire other studios.

 

While this rumor has us excited at the possibility of seeing an original sports line of games and franchises return, we’re going to wait for some confirmation before we get too excited. But based on the ramblings out of both Take Two and Microsoft, it’s looking like some sports fans may have their wishes come true shortly.

 

Source: http://xboxfamily.com/xf/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=993&Itemid=1

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