'Historic' Rare franchise for Xbox One to appear at E3, Microsoft says

Microsoft is promising 15 Xbox One games from its stable of first-party studios in the first 12 months, a mix of brand-new IP — like Remedy's Quantum Break — and established franchises — Forza Motorsport 5 from Turn 10 Studios, for example. One of those Xbox One titles, destined for E3 2013, will please fans of veteran developer Rare Ltd., Microsoft Studios corporate vice president Phil Spencer told Polygon.

When we asked Spencer what Rare was up to and whether Microsoft was looking at franchises like Perfect Dark and Killer Instinct for Xbox One, he said that developer's "historic IP" may make an appearance at E3.

"Fans of Rare and Rare IP I think will be pleased with what we're going to show at E3," Spencer said. "We had a limited amount of time today and a lot of story to tell. But Rare remains an incredibly important part of our development capability.

"That historic IP that they've built I think can play a real important role on Xbox One."

Microsoft purchased Rare Ltd. in 2002 and the developer retained rights to franchises Banjo-Kazooie, Conker, Perfect Dark and Killer Instinct. Some of those franchises appeared on the Xbox 360. Rare also developed new IP for Xbox 360, including Kameo: Elements of Power, Viva Pinata and Kinect Sports.

In Sept. 2012, Microsoft announced it had renewed the trademark for one of Rare's classic franchises, fighting game Killer Instinct.