[Evan]

Then we get to Arena in 2007.

I would argue that gaming is in a completely different place now. Indie games were much smaller then and smaller games were much less accepted. I could imagine that something like a slightly bigger Everspace 2 could work for Wing Commander. Maybe with a bit more focus on the storytelling.

For a full budget AAA game (without micro transcations), the market is just not there, I am afraid.

If you give me a realistic mid-range budget, I'll reboot Wing Commander I with an engine and style similar to Howie's Wingleader fan project for the gameplay and 1980s anime-styled 2D cutscenes for the cutscenes and talking heads.

I love the prequel idea, which could be a soft reboot as well. But the WC1 reboot is probably the safer bet. I would definitely play a full fledged Wingleader, but I am afraid that this would fall into the trap the Quarto mentioned: This one would probably only get all the hardcore Wing Commander fans. Maybe even less, because it does not have FMVs.

In some ways, Star Wars Squadrons provides a sort of basic recipe, even though they ultimately messed up.

I loved Squadrons! Something like that would be awesome, I feel. But then again: It was not really successful, I feel.

 

[kingmakeress]

[...] But the WC1 reboot is probably the safer bet. I would definitely play a full fledged Wingleader, [...]

I believe as well it is the best option at the time being, but it must be done carefully with respect to lore as well as to gamepley.

 

[capi3101]

Enyo. I've got half a script for it already...

 

[Bandit LOAF]

I think it's pretty important not to count out nostalgia. If you're going to make this work, you have to find a way to harness that. Because the very tough question that any pitch has to answer is: why is this a Wing Commander game? That is to say: why isn't it a Mass Effect game? Or a Star Wars game? Or an original IP without any barriers? What about Wing Commander makes it the best choice? And it's not that people will like it, it has to be that /more/ people will like it than one of those other choices.

So the first thing we need to do is figure out what makes a Wing Commander game and why will that thing be more appealing than any similarly priced options? That's part of why I like Wingleader as a starting point; it's the only take I've seen other than Star Citizen that sells itself straight out (and Star Citizen had Chris Roberts as a selling point, we don't). It looks like you remember Wing Commander... without the very expensive/impossible thing that the board room is certain people remember about Wing Commander... and if we can take that and make it matter, that's the pathway!