The controversy-riddled trademark for Manhunt has been renewed by Take-Two Interactive, perhaps suggesting something in the works behind the scenes.
The first installment in the stealth-based psychological horror franchise was released by Rockstar Games back in 2003 for PlayStation 2, and a year later for Xbox and PC. It was followed by a sequel in 2007 for PlayStation 2, PC, and surprisingly, Wii. The franchise has since then gone dark, and for good reasons.
Manhunt was received fairly well by critics but it was the media that helped the game get banned in several countries because of its gruesome nature. In fact, a horrific murder in the United Kingdom was linked to the game as well. This was before the sequel was released and hence, the negativity was only amplified further.
It wasn’t just the blood and gore that made Manhunt so popular. It was the ability to perform hair-raising executions on enemy gang members, a feature that was also implemented in The Punisher from Volition and THQ back in 2004.
The franchise has collectively sold more than 1.7 million copies to date. Take-Two Interactive might be thinking of bringing out a third installment or maybe the renewal of the trademark was simply to protect its intellectual properties.
Rockstar Games is currently busy with Red Dead Redemption 2, while Rockstar North is rumored to be working on the probably-scrapped Agent. It seems unlikely that either of the two would be involved with Manhunt 3, unless the parent company has assigned another subsidiary for the project.
