At least two credible sources in Jeff Grub and Windows Central have stepped forward to confirm that Certain Affinity has worked on the unannounced game since 2020. In particular, Grubb claims that the project is scheduled for a 2023 or 2024 release, with the game resulting from Capcom’s too steep a price tag to put Monster Hunter on the Xbox Game Pass. Certain Affinity isn’t a marquee studio, but the developer does have an impressive resume. Certain Affinity worked with 343 Industries and Activision before, acting as a support studio for a handful of Halo and Call of Duty games. The studio specializes in multiplayer projects, which makes sense because Monster Hunter is heavy on co-op gameplay. Many believe that the Monster Hunter-style game is the one that Certain Affinity started hiring for last year. Having said that, we wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft wanted to start getting first-party exclusives on the Xbox Game Pass. The tech giant now owns two of the largest video game publishers in the world in Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax Media. Instead of paying developers to put their game on the Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft can lower the costs by making the games themselves. Of course, whether the game will succeed or not is an entirely different story. We’ll find out more if Microsoft’s newest first-party exclusives are successful once they start coming out later this year, headlined by the likes of Starfield and Redfall. In other news, Netflix issued a response to Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The streaming giant thinks that the massive buyout is proof of how popular subscription services are in today’s market. Meanwhile, reports suggest that a Gears of War remaster collection similar to Halo: The Master Chief Collection is in the works alongside a live-action adaptation starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
