Shadowrun to return on X360?

Comments from an animator working for Microsoft's internal outfit FASA - the development studio responsible for MechWarrior and MechCommander titles - suggest that the company is currently working on an Xbox 360 successor to classic Super Nintendo and Mega Drive RPG Shadowrun. Microsoft has officially declined to comment.

Speaking on RPG Vault as part of a piece on creating game art, animator Theron Benson said: "I have worked on many projects, ranging from PC games to console, FPS to role-playing. Right now, I am animating for an Xbox 2 project called Shadowrun. It's a first-person shooter based on an old paper RPG of the same name from a couple decades ago."

The original Shadowrun SNES title, later released on the Mega Drive, was developed by Australian outfit Beam Software and published by Data East. It was an isometric cyberpunk real-time RPG effort that was hard to get hold of but extremely popular amongst those who did get hold of it. Apart from a few hopeful rumours about a follow-up there's been little discussion of the property in the period since the game's release in 1993.

Speaking to us this morning, a Microsoft spokesperson said: "We have not made any announcements regarding this particular title and we do not comment on rumours or speculation. What I can say is that we're excited about the quality and quantity of games coming to Xbox 360 and we'll be making more games announcements in the coming weeks and months."