Microsoft Game Studios

What does "Triple-A" or "AAA" really mean? Well, it's a turn-based strategy game based on the Axis & Allies board game. It also stands for the Australian Automobile Association and the highest level of minor league baseball. In video games, triple-A most often refers to the full retail games that come from major, successful franchises or even simpler, high profile releases.

There's no hard definition and for some, a triple-A game may simply refer to a non-casual, non-downloadable console game but the point remains the same: triple-A is the biggest, perhaps even the "best." Knowing that, Microsoft Game Studios is working on an "AAAA" game, quad-A if you will.

That's right, Microsoft is looking to hire an Executive Producer - Core Publishing with veteran industry experience to work on a "AAAA" Xbox game, a first party title that requires lots of travel and communication between multiple developers. What that means is anyone's guess but if they're only beginning development on a new game and are intentionally throwing in a fourth "A" it's possible that Microsoft is working towards bringing one of their core franchises to the next-gen consoles. There is however, no mention of next-gen or of an existing brand, so that's just speculation on our part.

Microsoft Studios (Xbox) is looking for a dynamic and seasoned Executive Producer to lead and develop a world-class team who will own the creation and delivery of a AAAA experience that delivers on 1st party goals and, more importantly, creates a fun gaming experience for our audience. The EP will be responsible for identifying a great development partner who shares our passion and goals, mapping the product roadmap, all aspects of production, from initial concept development through retaining world-class production capacity to delivering high-quality games that are on time and on budget, and improving the viral performance of the games.

What's clear is that the game is huge, expensive and by Microsoft, exclusively for the Xbox platform. So, whether or not rumors and denials about an Xbox 720 unveiling at E3 2012 are to be believed, we know the Xbox 360 successor has been in development for a while and it's safe to assume that such hardware will release next year or the year after.

What franchise do you think it could be? Could Rare be bringing back one of their franchises (Perfect Dark!) with Microsoft? 343 Industries is in the final stretch of development on Halo 4 and Lionhead Studios is working away on Fable: The Journey, although there were job lists in February that hinted at Lionhead staffing up for next-gen development so perhaps this is related?

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Source: Microsoft