It’s a great time to be a fan of open-world racing games. It might be even better with a potential return for Midnight Club.
Forza Horizon 5 is a huge success, with millions of players exploring its diverse Mexico map. Kylotonn’s Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown could also be one of 2022’s best racing games. Releasing in September, Solar Crown will be the first TDU game in 11 years.
And now in a surprise twist, Midnight Club could make a comeback too.
Midnight Club could make a comeback
Before Test Drive Unlimited and Forza Horizon, Midnight Club was a popular arcade open-world racing series. Developed by Rockstar San Diego (previously known Angel Studios) and inspired by Japanese street racing, the first Midnight Club was a launch title for the PlayStation 2 in 2000. It focused on illegal street racing long before NFS Underground.
While the Midnight Club series has sold over 18 million copies and gained a cult following, there hasn’t been a new entry since Midnight Club: Los Angeles in 2008 on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation Portable.
After years of silence, we were starting to lose hope of getting a Midnight Club sequel. Surprisingly, however, Midnight Club came up in a recent investor call by Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games.
"Our labels are home to some of the most iconic brands in the world,” said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, “including Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, Midnight Club, NBA 2K, BioShock, Borderlands, Sid Meier's Civilization, Mafia, and Kerbal Space Program."
In a press release, Take-Two also refers to Midnight Club as one of the “most beloved series in the world” along with franchises like GTA and Red Dead Redemption.
Of course, this doesn't confirm a new Midnight Club is in development. However, Take-Two bringing up Midnight Club out of the blue is intriguing. While franchises like Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, and Bioshock are either active or have sequels in development, the last Midnight Club game released 14 years ago.
Is a new Midnight Club mobile game in development?
To put this into context, Take-Two has bought Zynga, the developer of mobile games like CSR Racing 2. In one of the largest game company acquisitions in history worth a whopping $12.7 billion, Take-Two wants to work with Zynga to bring some of its biggest franchises to mobile.
This raises the possibility of a new Midnight Club mobile game. In an investors presentation, Midnight Club was listed as a potential mobile franchise according to IGN. Rockstar’s dormant racer was also listed as one of the company’s top franchises as it sold over five million copies.
Any release date on the horizon?
If a new Midnight Club game is in development, don’t expect it to release for several years. We’re keeping our fingers crossed, but Zelnick admitted it’s "early days" for collaborations between Take-Two and Zynga.
But considering how long it’s been since the last game, an official acknowledgement of Midnight Club is enough to get fans excited about the prospect of a sequel.