Jason Bischoff, formerly the director of global consumer products at Saban Brands and global franchise director at Hasbro, has revealed a pitch for an open-world AAA Power Rangers game that he was trying to successfully get off the ground around 2016. It was called Project Nomad. Bischoff tried to pitch the game to Saban's business development department as an ambitious, open-world co-op adventure that captured the energy, teamwork, lore, and history of the iconic Power Rangers franchise.
He described it as basically the Power Rangers version of WB's upcoming Gotham Knights. The game's story would have taken place on Eltar, Zordon's home planet. With the planet under occupation, it was up to different Power Rangers scattered across the galaxy to to free it.
Bischoff, along with some artists such as Jarold Sng, Carlos Dattoli and Lineage Studios, crafted the pitch further and even created some concept art for Project Nomad. This included individual reimagined portraits of the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, as well as the Red and White Alien Rangers.
Additionally, three alternate designs for the robot companion Alpha were drawn. Another piece of concept art shows Eltar with the Red Mighty Morphin' Ranger commanding his Tyrannosaurus Rex Zord and the Silver Space Ranger flying alongside it. The Gold Zeo Ranger, Ninjor, and Goldar make an appearance in a separate art piece as well.
Let's talk about the 2016 AAA #powerrangers game that never was: PROJECT NOMAD! ⚡️ #powerdown 1/6 pic.twitter.com/injTXorSdq
— Jason Bischoff (@shadowpiper) August 6, 2021
Unfortunately, he says there was quite a bit going on at Saban at the time, and therefore there wasn't enough bandwidth or budget to support this video game endeavor. However, he was able to independently explore other options for funding.
Bischoff said that early discussions with different developers and publishers were promising, but ultimately timing and shifts in business caused any momentum for Project Nomad to fizzle out.
This all sounds very exciting, and it's a shame that the game never materialized. For fans of the franchise, at least the fighting game Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid exists. Bischoff explained that he'll share more info about Project Nomad at another time in the future.
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