After the figurative (and in the case of the Wii U version, quite literal) dumpster fire that was Mighty No. 9, some gamers gave up on ever seeing a decent spiritual successor to Mega Man. But, then Capcom revealed that wouldn’t be necessary. Why pray for a game inspired by one of the greatest action platformers of all time when you can have an actual, factual sequel staring the blue bomber himself? The Internet absolutely lost it when Capcom announced Mega Man 11, but many gamers couldn’t help but wonder about the fate of the series’ younger, more agile brother, the Mega Man X franchise. Well, Mega Man 11 producer Kazuhiro Tsuchiya recently held a press conference (the Mega Man fansite Rockman Corner has graciously provided the cliff notes) that eventually got around to addressing these gamers’ concerns.
While the press conference was mostly about Mega Man 11, it eventually covered the Mega Man X series, specifically rumors surrounding the potential Mega Man X9. And Tsuchiya was more than happy to address those rumors, even though what he said might disappoint some gamers.
“Right now we need to complete the development of [Mega Man] 11 and gather feedback after it has been successfully released,” explained Tsuchiya. “Regarding the massive spread of rumors that [Mega Man] X9 is in development, there is no such thing.”
Yes, you heard it here, folks. According to Mr. Tsuchiya, Mega Man x9 is not in development. But that doesn’t mean we will never get the game.
“I understand everyone is looking forward to the birth of an X9, but right now there is no way to verify,” continued Tsuchiya. “Of course, we can’t say we have been doing nothing; we are actively and carefully monitoring the reactions from our gamers. Actually, [Mega Man] 11’s birth is the result of the volume of voices from our gamers. The collection that came before it got very good results and feedback. This is a very convincing point, and helps back us up in striving for the approval of a new game development project.”
In other words, Capcom will only make Mega Man x9 if fans love Mega Man 11. If that game does well, Capcom might green light the X game we’ve wanted since 2004. Just so long as X9 doesn’t include a character one-tenth as annoying as the Internet-infamous Flame Hyenard, the wait will have been worthwhile.
