Back in the day, Killer Instinct was a franchise that stood at the height of the fighting community’s popularity. It’s a such as fan favorite, that you’d think a sequel or re-release would be in the works at some point down the line.

Unfortunately, Killer Instinct Gold remains the last release for the long-dead series, but former Rare developer Donnchadh Murphy tells Not Enough Shaders that the team wanted to make another one:

Are there any Rare games you would like to see as HD remakes on Xbox Live Arcade?

Probably the same game every Rare fan wants to see and that’s KI3 (Killer Instinct 3). We all wanted to make KI3, but Microsoft [was] more interested in broadening their demographic than making another fighting game.  So it never got made, I doubt it ever will.

Murphy also noted that Rare being bought by Microsoft stemmed a lot of the team’s creativity, and as a result, the company suffered a bit during the lead-up to the launch of the original Xbox.

According to Murphy, Rare had a longer leash when the developer was producing games like Killer Instinct, Donkey Kong Country, and Banjo-Kazooie, but being a first-party studio for Microsoft shifted a lot of the company’s focus. It’s an interesting interview, especially considering that Rare’s golden days were arguably with Nintendo.

Still, the idea of HD remakes for Killer Instinct actually sounds like a great concept—especially considering how much the technology gap since 1996 could benefit a re-release.

Source: My Nintendo News