It is the dream of a lot of studios to work with massive IPs. Being able to play with their favourite toys in new ways, and potentially bring them to a whole new audience via a kickass video game. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II did just that, and yet its developer could have worked with what sounds like an even cooler IP.
Saber's chief creative officer, Tim Willits, recently chatted with IGN, and revealed that there was a game the studio had to turn down not once, but twice, and it was working with a major IP Willits cannot speak about. "I can't say it, but there's a game that they came to me twice, and so it's my 'like someday in the future, I will brag about it'. I can't say it now because I'll get in trouble, but it's the coolest IP ever, and I can't make the game because we just have too much going on."
"If I could tell you the game that I turned down twice, it would shock the world," Willits said. Statements like that, of course, send people into speculation overdrive. Immediately, your mind is probably drawn to Star Wars, but considering the KOTOR remake is still on the cards, that probably doesn't count. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings spring to mind, too, but there really is a lot of potential out there for what Willits considers the "coolest IP ever."
Maybe one day he'll get to brag about it and we can then groan as we realise what we missed out on. Saber is incredibly busy right now, still supporting Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II, working on the sequel, publishing Turok: Origins, working on the aforementioned KOTOR remake, publishing the Hellraiser game, oh, and creating a John Wick game too. There's a whole bunch of unmentioned stuff they're working on, too, so we can see why they might have to turn down a project here and there, no matter the IP it's attached to.
