Microsoft has registered the name Ender Dragon for a new game, but it’s unclear whether it’s a new spin-off and who is making it.
Just yesterday, Io Interactive were talking about how it would be years before they could get around to Hitman 4, because they’re currently working on their new James Bond game and an unnamed fantasy title, that’s rumoured to be a role-playing game with dragons made in conjunction with Microsoft.
And what do you know, but the very next day Microsoft is caught trademarking the name Ender Dragon, and it’s not clear what exactly it’s for.
The Ender Dragon is the final boss of Minecraft’s survival mode but the trademark is not for a specific character but video games and related merch. Since the Ender Dragon has been around since 2011 this does seem to be for a specific new game and not the creature itself.
Minecraft already has two spin-offs, in the successful Minecraft Dungeons and the upcoming Minecraft Legends, so another one wouldn’t be at all surprising.
The existing Minecraft games are all experiments in well established genres and in that sense a role-playing spin-off would make plenty of sense.
On a more practical level, Io Interactive are an independent developer who are years way from being able to make a new entry in their most successful franchise, so doing contract work for Microsoft seems a very sensible way to way to pay the bills and diversify their output.
The trademark listing, first spotted by Insider Gaming, doesn’t offer any further clues but something involving dragons definitely seems to be going on at Microsoft, which is ironic considering the fate of PlatinumGames’ Scalebound.
Minecraft games are always multiformat but the original Io Interactive rumour was couched in very vague language and never actually mentioned the world exclusive.
The original report merely said that Microsoft and Io were working together on a ‘new fantasy RPG’ codenamed Project Dragon, that’s ‘incredibly ambitious’ and a ‘completely new direction for Io.’
That doesn’t scream Minecraft but whether this is just a coincidence or not it does seem to point to Microsoft having at least one dragon-related game on the way, and possibly two.
Email [email protected], leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter.
MORE : Hitman 4 is not going to happen any time soon as Io Interactive focus on 007
MORE : Minecraft world editor mode footage leaks – official release must be close
MORE : Hitman dev working on Xbox exclusive RPG with dragons claim multiple sources
Follow Metro Gaming on Twitter and email us at [email protected]
To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.
![GameCentral Newsletter](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/client-mu-plugins/metro-newsletters/signups/images/gamecentral-signup-logo.png)
Sign up to all the exclusive gaming content, latest releases before they're seen on the site.
Share this with