Take this with a grain of kryptonite, but rumor has it that the Xbox Series X could launch with a Superman game; a console exclusive, no less. According to NeoGaf forum user OsirisBlack, Superman is one of a handful of third-party titles set to launch with Microsoft’s next-gen console.
It might seem odd to take the word of an anonymous forum user, but OsirisBlack has been reliable in the past, dropping plenty of details about the PS4 Pro before Sony officially revealed it.
Alongside a Superman title, OsirisBlack also dropped hints about a new Killer Instinct and a possible zombie title. Microsoft owns Killer Instinct and zombies have been all the rage for years now, so neither of those seem all that surprising. But Superman? That seems surprising considering that two decades ago, Superman 64 kicked off a long, cursed history of Superman games.
Despite being the most iconic superhero of all time, Supes has never had a lot of luck when it comes to video games, at least not with solo outings. In all honesty, the Superman beat’em ups from the Super Nintendo era are probably his most successful games, but those are just copy-and-paste brawlers (which are still awesome).
Superman Returns for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 was your typically awful movie tie-in game. Superman: The Man of Steel for the original Xbox gets props for (loosely) adapting a comic storyline featuring Brainiac 13 rather than being an adaptation of a movie or the animated series, but it gets those props immediately taken away for being a terrible game.
That isn’t to say Superman hasn’t been in some good games. As mentioned above, it’s his solo outings that leave a lot to be desired. The Injustice fighting games, Lego Batman games, and DC Universe Online are all successful, enjoyable titles that feature the Man of Steel. For whatever reason, developers just can’t seem to produce a solid Superman solo game.
If the rumor is true and there’s one in the works, who’s the developer? Rocksteady would be the obvious (and awesome) choice after what they did with the Batman Arkham games, but they’ve gone on record in the recent past specifically saying that they’re not working on a Superman game. They’re definitely out.
What other developers would be a good fit for a Superman game? Sound off in the comments below! You can expect further details at this year’s E3 event.
