We sparked some rumors a few weeks ago in regards Crackdown 2, and now Gamasutra has thrown some fuel on the fire. Key members from the original Crackdown team have formed a new studio in Scotland called Ruffian Studios. In fact, Crackdown lead designer Billy Thompson, is part of the trio of founders and the unconfirmed rumors state a sequel is already in development.
Realtime Worlds doesn't own the rights to the franchise, Microsoft does, so they can assign any developer they choose to create the surprise hit's sequel. Since the original developer is busy with massively multiplayer APB, all the ducks seem to be a row to make this a reality. Of course, because the studio is now new, the game would be very early in development so I wouldn't count on seeing it for some time.
All this talk about Crackdown makes me want to fire up my copy for some good ol' fashioned co-op play. In fact, I think I'll add that to my agenda.
Source: Gamasutra.com