It's been over four years now since Killer Instinct's last season of content and, in that time, fans have grown increasingly hungry for a brand new Killer Instinct game. At the beginning of this year, Twitch Rivals ran a Killer Instinct tournament in order to raise awareness of the title, push it back into the spotlight, and hopefully let Microsoft know how much demand there is for a sequel. It turns out that Microsoft's own Phil Spencer is eager for a new game as well, but he has some stipulations.
During a recent appearance on the Dropped Frames podcast, Xbox head Spencer briefly reflected on the release of the Killer Instinct reboot for Xbox One back in 2013, where he said the response was fantastic. He adds that he and Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, have talked about where they could take the series. But while they do wish to continue it, Spencer believes they need the right team to handle such a project and the right opportunity.
Originally, the Killer Instinct games were developed by Rare, back before the studio had been acquired by Microsoft. Rare did contribute to the development of the 2013 game as well so it seems like an obvious choice to handle a future game. However, it's possible that Rare is too busy with other projects at the moment. Aside from continuing to support its pirate title Sea of Thieves, it's still working on the elusive Everwild, which has reportedly had its development rebooted.
The 2013 game was also developed by Double Helix Games, but only for its first season of content. In 2014, the studio was bought out by Amazon and was integrated into its Amazon Games division. Iron Galaxy took over for the remainder of Killer Instinct's lifetime. Iron Galaxy has stated that it would love to make a new entry if it was asked; a decision that would likely be welcomed by fans as well.
There were rumors of a new Killer Instinct being in development for the Xbox Series X at the beginning of 2020. Unfortunately, an Iron Galaxy developer insisted that the studio wasn't working on such a project. Iron Galaxy is currently busy with a new project altogether; one that it hasn't announced yet. So, if it were conscripted to make another Killer Instinct, it wouldn't happen for a good few years at least. For the time being, fans will have to make do with the knowledge that the people in charge want a new Killer Instinct just as much.
Killer Instinct is available on PC and Xbox One.
Source: VGC