Details posted to Xbox.com reveal that Ruffian Games' sequel to Crackdown -- the sleeper open-world, super-powered crime fighting game -- will feature cooperative four-player gameplay. The original game featured two-player, drop-in, drop-out co-op. Also noted: 16-player online multiplayer -- though not confirmed, this is presumably competitive and team-based. If you haven't done it yet, watch the official reveal trailer.

[Thanks, Erluti!]

"The city is infected. You are the cure."

So begins the first trailer for Crackdown 2. The trailer subsequently showcases one of the Agency's supercops doing what he does best. If you've played the first Crackdown, you'll know that what an Agent does best is basically to be a complete and total badass. The only difference is that this time, it looks like the Agents just might have met their match. We won't spoil it for you, so just go ahead and give it a watch.

Microsoft answered many an open-world action game fan's prayers today by finally confirming Crackdown 2 for Xbox 360. The game -- which has been rumored for some time -- was shown in trailer form during the company's pre-e3 press conference, currently underway in LA.

The footage appeared to be an in-game cinematic and showed a monster emerging from a sewer. We noticed that, while the game's art style is reminiscent of the original's, it did appear slightly more realistic. Also as rumored, the game is being developed by Ruffian Games, a studio comprised of many former Realtime Worlds staffers who worked on the first game. No release timeframe was teased. We'll do our best to crack down Microsoft's PR walls and get more info on the game over the next four days.

While many other development studios are withering beneath the sweltering heat of the recession, it seems at least one studio is blossoming -- Ruffian Games, founded earlier this year by a number of former Fable II, Crackdown and GTA devs, recently announced that it had bolstered its staff with 15 new recruits.

This is great news for the unorthodoxly expanding studio (and for the recently employed developers), but we still don't know what Ruffian is working on. Apparently, this fact bothers them as much as it bothers us -- studio head Gaz Liddon said, "Now we're in full production, we're itching to share the fantastic work these guys have been producing," adding that he hoped said sharing "won't be too far away." We hope so too, as our attention span is pretty limited as far as -- Hey, a butterfly! Neat!

Things are tough all over, and after months of industry cutbacks and studio closures, a number of video game professionals have been left holding the bag in one hand and a pink slip in the other. While last week's Game Developers Conference gave many jobless developers the opportunity to hand out resumes, a new report from the LA Times writes that many are still having a difficult time finding work.

One issue is that with so many industry professionals pounding the streets, studios have their pick of talent. According to the Times, Ray Miller, an exec at Crackdown dev Realtime Words, collected a shopping bag full of resumes from job seekers at GDC, commenting, "We've been so busy talking to people that we haven't even touched our lunches." Still, as ECA blog GameCulture points out, all is not doom and gloom for those still on the outside, and with game sales in the US showing a steady increase so far in 2009 there is reason to hope that the recently unemployed will be able to find work soon. Then again, they could just start up their own company instead. That's working out alright for some of the downturn's victims so far.

[Via GameCulture]

It's fully a month on and we're still no closer to discovering just what newly founded Ruffian Games is up to than we were when it first broke ground. The fledgling company was first announced in January, formed by team members having worked on such titles and franchises as Fable 2, Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown.

Now a pair of new faces have joined the Scotland-based studio's eclectic cast, including Steve Iannetta, former lead world designer on Wheelman for Midway Newcastle. Iannetta was also a designer on Crackdown alongside Ed Campbell, who also joined the company. With so much former Crackdown talent on Ruffian Games' payroll (most everyone at the company had at least some part in the game's development), the smell of open worlds and explosions coming out of the Ruffian's kitchen is unmistakable.

Writing about the announcement of a new studio is always tough, because there's just not a lot of information to go on. Take, for instance, newly founded Ruffian Games. It's located in Scotland, which seems like a good a place as any. Its mission? "To bring the best in action gaming to current generation consoles." Which, yeah, we guess we're on board with that.

The team members have worked on games like Fable 2, Crackdown, MotoGP and Grand Theft Auto, which all seem pretty ... disparate? What are we supposed to derive from this? Maybe we'd be better off just wishing Ruffian the best of luck and sitting on our hands until we see an actual game.

Realtime Worlds honcho Colin MacDonald confirmed the studio is in "ongoing discussions" with Microsoft about the possibility of Crackdown 2. In a statement sent to VG247, MacDonald responded to rumors that a sequel is currently in development by Ruffian games, a new studio that allegedly employs several former Realtime Worlds staffers from the Crackdown development team.

The statement from MacDonald relays that about "five or six" ex-Realtime Worlds staff are employed by Ruffian, noting that he doubts whether Microsoft would harm its "otherwise fruitful existing development relationship" by funding a Crackdown sequel with a start-up on RTW's doorstep. We'll have to wait and see what happens, but if Ruffian does develop a potential Crackdown 2, it sounds like Realtime Worlds wouldn't be too happy.

[Thanks John. P]

Talking to videogaming247, Realtime Worlds studio head Colin MacDonald addressed the recent Crackdown 2 rumors, specifically the fact that Ruffian Games was developing the sequel.

"Although to date we haven't had an offer from Microsoft for the Crackdown sequel rumoured, we continue to have ongoing discussions with them" admitted MacDonald adding that if Microsoft were to chose another studio to make the sequel, they'd want it done by "by an established, renowned developer that had the track record of delivering the quality gaming experience Crackdown players would demand." MacDonald confirmed that a handful of ex-Realtime employees have gone to Ruffian, but that the majority of the team remains and also made it clear that they doubt MS would chose a "startup on RTW's doorstep" (Ruffian) to develop Crackdown 2.

Stil no Crackdown 2 rumor busting or confirmation, but this is turning into a developer soap opera. How entertaining.

[Via Game Stooge]

As rumor goes, Crackdown 2 is supposedly in development by the newly formed (and unofficially announced) Ruffian Games, a team comprised of a few "key" ex-Realtime Worlds employees. As is the norm, Microsoft isn't saying a darn thing. Though, if true, we hope Crackdown 2's release gets us access to the Halo 4 beta.

[Via Joystiq, Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We're not exactly sure how "A leads to B" in this case, but Edge claims a new Crackdown could be in development following the creation of Ruffian Games. The new studio, which has not been officially announced, is allegedly comprised of several members of the Crackdown development team, including "key members" and the game's lead designer.

Realtime Worlds, the original developer of Crackdown, is currently working on APB. Of course, all this sequel talk falls snugly in the realm of rumor and speculation. We've contacted Microsoft, which owns the rights to Crackdown, to ask if Crackdown 2 is currently in development. It's a Friday, might as well take one good shot in the dark before the weekend starts.

Update: "Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation."

Chatting with videogaming247, Realtime Worlds' main man Colin Macdonald admitted that "it was a horrible, horrible decision" to not jump right into development of a sequel to their super human sandbox game Crackdown, also confirming that the possibility for sequel love is still there.

"I don't think the door's closed," said Macdonald, "obviously, right now we're tied up with APB and everything else, but hopefully in the future we'll have the resource and something can be worked out with Microsoft. We would have loved to have seen it. We poured five years of our lives into that game. You know, we've got guys on the development team that have Crackdown tattoos, permanent tattoos on their arms. We're extremely passionate about it."

Wow, permanent Crackdown tattoos, eh? Someone at Realtime or Microsoft needs to green-light a Crackdown sequel just to pay respect to the dev team's tattooing. You can't let someone tattoo Crackdown on their arm and not make a sequel ... that's just blasphemy!

Many 360 owners would really love a sequel to the superpower-infused crime fighting favorite, Crackdown. From the sound of things, developer Realtime Worlds would really love to return to the game's open-world universe – and is actually mighty upset that it didn't immediately upon finishing the original.

VG247 spoke to Realtime Worlds studio head Colin Macdonald at the recent UK Develop event, where he said that not starting work on Crackdown 2 straight away "Was a horrible, horrible decision that we still dwell on." Why not just do it, then? Macdonald explained that it was all about sales. "The numbers just didn't add up," he admitted. "We're not in the business of doing things because we'd like to, if we can't guarantee that it makes sense for the company." Instead it moved on to something new, and RTW has been happily cranking away on its crime-themed MMO, GTA Online APB, since.

Still, Macdonald related that the dev could revisit Crackdown once APB wraps. "I don't think the door's closed," he revealed, adding, "Hopefully in the future we'll have the resource and something can be worked out with Microsoft." The house Bill Gates built might have already worked something out, though – with another developer.

Each week, X3F tips gamers to the tricks of the trade of Achievement hording in Points>Life. Every week a new achievement is unlocked to help you continue your unhealthy obsession with the Xbox 360 meta-game.

This week on Points>Life we're giving you nothing! Well, actually what we're doing is going back and recapping the tips we've given you and added a little postmortem comment. After releasing each feature the X3F Army shared best practices on other methods to obtain similar achievements.

This week we go back to the last eight weeks of tips and tricks, so if you're new to Points>Life ... today is your day!