Skip to main content

As Darksiders studio Vigil Games says goodbye, a hope for its signature series

Image used with permission by copyright holder

THQ met its end on Wednesday, and while the process of drawing and quartering the video game publisher isn’t complete yet, the majority of its most valuable games have been snatched up by its former competitors. Sega is now the proud owner of Company of Heroes maker Relic and Ubisoft has brought THQ Montreal, a studio populated by former Assassin’s Creed staffers, back in the fold. Not all of THQ’s studios found a new home, though. Vigil Games, maker of the Darksiders series, will be dissolved in the aftermath of THQ’s bankruptcy. What’s more, Vigil was hard at work on a brand new game series. That game won’t survive it seems, but at least one developer wants to keep the Darksiders series alive.

“I failed to find a Vigil a home,” said THQ president Jason Rubin on Thursday, “Having just finished a product, Vigil was farthest from release of their next game, and we were not able to garner any interest from buyers, despite a herculean effort. Additionally, they were working on a new IP, which meant even more risk for a buyer.”

That game, codenamed Crawler, was reportedly going to be a significant step forward for the studio after Darksiders II failed to connect with gamers. “When the times got together recently to show each other their titles, Crawler dropped the most jaws. It’s a fantastic idea and truly unique,” said Rubin.

Vigil’s lead combat designer Ben Crueton took to forum NeoGAF to post his thoughts on the studio’s closure. “Crawler was going to blow people away. In fact it DID blow people away. We did, in TWO months, what many companies haven’t done in a year. The pride of knowing that no one was doing anything like us was so satisfying, it kept us coming to work giving 100 percent every single day, even through the dark times.”

The studio was definitely a hard sell in the beleaguered video game publishing industry. With retail sales on the decline and a console transition on the horizon with Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4, Vigil had years of development ahead of them before Crawler could be released. The studio has a strong critical track record, with both Darksiders games getting generally good reviews, but neither game was a sales blockbuster. Saints Row, Company of Heroes, and even Homefront, the properties purchased by other publishers, are all good bets for their respective buyers at Kock Media, Sega, and Crytek. Vigil was, unfortunately, a very expensive risk.

For fans of the Darksiders series, not all hope is lost. Platinum Games Atsushi Inaba, producer of the upcoming Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, said on Twitter that he’s interested in buying up the franchise if THQ is willing to part with it for cheap. With its hulking leads War and Death and its ridiculous fantasy storyline, Darksiders seems like a perfect fit for the company that created Bayonetta and Anarchy Reigns.

Editors' Recommendations

Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
Mecha Break’s robot customization shakes up the battle royale formula
Mecha Break robot head with glowing blue eyes

Mecha Break isn't the kind of multiplayer game you can master right away.

You might equip a lance that you barely know how to use because it seemed like a good idea, and spend the rest of a round attempting to bash yourself into enemies to help your teammates. It incorporates action that's more similar to that of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon than it is to the shooter-focused gameplay in Gundam Evolution, Bandai Namco's multiplayer mecha shooter that shut down last year. Overwatch does come to mind, but in a way where mechs are still the focus rather than the pilots within them.

Read more
Visions of Mana paints a promising picture of the RPG series’ return
Red-haired girl with horns and dragon wing in Visions of Mana

The vibrant settings and character designs in Visions of Mana instantly alerted me that I'd be knee-deep into fantasy, riding on the back of a giant black wolf into the grassy plains of Fallow Steppe. A lush landscape welcomed me as I chatted with my teammates on top of my mount and tussled with little woodland monsters.

I had this experience at this year's PAX East, where I went hands-on with a demo of the upcoming RPG. I never played previous Mana games, but I have enough experience with RPGs and real-time combat to name it one of the most gorgeous, action-packed games I played at the show. The shiny open-world and slick combat I experienced point to a strong comeback for the Mana series coming later this summer.

Read more
Sega lays off 240 workers and sells Company of Heroes 3 studio
sega lets relic entertainment go independent company of heroes 3 girl

Sega Europe is going through some major restructuring, and as a result, it is laying off about 240 developers and letting Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and Company of Heroes developer Relic Entertainment spin off as an independent company.

Although Sega's Japanese developers are known for their platformers, action games, and RPGs, its European output is more strategy game-focused. A key component of that was Relic Entertainment, which has made games like Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, Age of Empires IV, and Company of Heroes 3 over the past decade. With the help of investment company Emona Capital, Relic is buying itself back from Sega and going independent for an undisclosed amount. Relic addressed going independent on X (formerly Twitter) with a message.

Read more