It's been nearly five years since the last mainline Mega Man game (and nearly two decades since the last mainline Mega Man X game - no big deal), so it's understandable at this point that fans of the franchise are eager to hear about where the franchise might be heading next.
Capcom is clearly rather fond of the Blue Bomber itself, having released a number of comprehensive collections over the years on Switch, including this year's Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection. At its latest General Meeting of Shareholders, however, the publisher was asked about its plans for the series going forwards.
Capcom's answer was predicatably safe and vague, but promising nevertheless:
Q: Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection was released in April and has surpassed 1 million units in sales, contributing to existing IP utilization and user expansion. What are your plans for the Mega Man series?
A: Including Mega Man 11, the latest entry in the franchise, Mega Man is one of Capcom’s historic IPs and is loved by fans, and as such we want to take care in how we develop the series. We are considering how to approach the production of new entries in the series, which requires numerous factors, including the development of a solid concept, ideas and gameplay, etc.
So, like we said, it's pretty vague. The good news though is it sounds like Capcom is at least actively keeping Mega Man at the forefront of its priorities, even if it might not particularly feel like it for fans right now.
We're betting a new mainline Mega Man game is most certainly on the cards in the near future. The question, however, is when...