By In 2013, Microsoft showcased a brief teaser for a covert game codenamed Project Ranger, which was under development by Blue Tusk Studios—the studio that subsequently rebranded itself as The Collective. Project Ranger was shelved over ten years ago, yet a recent report has illuminated what was intended to be Xbox’s response to Uncharted.
Liam Robertson’s Did You Know Gaming channel has delivered a comprehensive retrospective on Project Ranger, which Microsoft and Black Tusk originally had lofty expectations for. While the 30-second teaser was set in Shanghai, the report depicts it as “Uncharted with spies,” showcasing a third-person action shooter that would have included missions located in cities worldwide.
The initiative was reportedly inspired by the Mission: Impossible films, with an element of James Bond through the gadgets that the player’s character could deploy against adversaries. There was said to be contemplation of incorporating some Kinect features into the title, such as utilizing voice chat to receive guidance from the main character’s handler. However, these controls would also be accessible without Kinect.
Though the concept of the game appears entertaining, the report suggests that it was “never on stable ground.” The undertaking was eventually scrapped in 2014 when Microsoft acquired the rights for the Gears of War franchise and assigned The Collective to focus exclusively on that series.
Microsoft’s Perfect Dark reboot would have traversed similar territory, had it not been canceled earlier this year amidst broader layoffs at the firm. That project was being co-developed by The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics, but the former has since been closed while the latter has faced multiple rounds of layoffs as well. A prospective arrangement with Take-Two to revive the Perfect Dark reboot reportedly collapsed over disputes regarding who would possess the IP.
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