Since it was announced all the way back in 2014, development on Crackdown 3 clearly hasn't been as smooth as many would have liked. There have been big pockets of inactivity, only to be followed by a teaser trailer, or small details on the upcoming game.

After many expected to see the game launch last year, Microsoft unfortunately delivered the news of another delay, this time into 2018. Late last week, the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, spent time on Twitter defending Rare and its latest title, Sea of Thieves. Fans used this opening to shift the conversation back to the state of Microsoft's other exclusive, Crackdown 3.

Concerned fans used the active Twitter posting by Xbox Head Phil Spencer to turn the spotlight back on the anticipated open-world shooter, Crackdown 3. Since its delay last year, the game has flown pretty low under the radar, leaving many fans concerned about the state of the game especially after what happened with another exclusive title, Scalebound. Spencer confirmed that Microsoft has a plan in place and the developers are locked in on a new target date.

Unfortunately, Spencer was pretty light on any additional details. While fans still don't have a concrete release date for the game that Microsoft feels was shown too early, it appears that there are plans to talk more about the game at a date that is right around the corner. Could Microsoft have a pre-E3 reveal planned for Crackdown 3, or is the company planning on pulling the curtain back on the open world game at the big show considering it's now only a few months away?

There's no doubt a lot of pressure riding on Microsoft to get this latest entry in the series right, especially considering that the previous game launched nearly 8 years ago. The good news is that the original creator, David Jones, is back on board for this project, assisted by studios like Reagent Games, Sumo Digital, Cloudgine, and Ruffian Games. While there's still a lot of details fans don't know, E3 2017 did give them their first look at actor Terry Crews suiting up and bringing his high energy to the open world action game.

Crackdown 3 launches in the Spring of 2018 for PC and Xbox One.