Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Reviews

Darksiders may be dead, but its developers will live on as the newly formed Crytek USA

Anthony John Agnello
By
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Many of THQ’s studios and properties survived the company’s bankruptcy, finding new life at new publishers. Ubisoft saved THQ Montreal, Sega took on Relic, and Koch Media took on Saints Row creator Volition. Vigil Games, sadly, wasn’t so lucky. Having just finished Darksiders II, a game that didn’t light up sales charts in the first place, Vigil was hard at work on a new franchise, but no publisher wanted to take the risk. What’s a studio with a cult following, new ideas, and little marketability to do? Start fresh. Germany’s Crytek opened Crytek USA Corp. in Austin on Tuesday, its first US studio, with much of Vigil’s core staff at the center.

“Crytek has always enjoyed a special relationship with gamers and business partners in North America, so establishing a permanent presence in the US was a natural step,” reads a statement from Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli, “We are extremely excited about the work that we will be undertaking from our strategic new location in Austin, with David Adams and his team of 35 experienced developers.”

Recommended Videos

David Adams was the general manager of Vigil Games before THQ failed to find a buyer for studio. “I’m thrilled to be a part of the newest Crytek studio, which will boast some of the brightest development talent in the industry.” While Yerli mentioned that Crytek USA has an initial staff of 35 in addition to Adams, not all of them are former Vigil team members.

“We weren’t just looking at Vigil’s team [for staff], but the whole Austin development community,” Yerli told Gamasutra. What will the team be working on? Crytek also bought THQ’s Homefront series, so will Vigil start working on a sequel to that game? “It would be pretty much safe to say that this team will be working on online games… and kick-ass triple-A productions. It is going to be quite a significant investment for Crytek over the next five years.”

Yerli did emphasize that Crytek will not be buying the Darksiders license for Crytek USA to continue development on.

This isn’t the first time that Crytek has saved the remnants of a moderately successful studio with a passionate fan base. Following its dissolution in 2009, Crytek bought what remained of TimeSplitters developer Free Radical after that studio was crippled by canceled projects like Star Wars Battlefront III. Now called Crytek UK, it’s that studio that’s reportedly working on Homefront 2.

Anthony John Agnello
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…
Hades 2: release date prediction, trailers, gameplay, and more
Melinoe standing in a stone circle.

Just like Zagreus' never-ending quest to escape the Underworld in Greek mythology, it seems we too are destined to continue fighting through new levels of demons and monsters in the sequel to the amazing roguelike Hades. We're not complaining, as that game was one of the best games released in 2020, and no one expected a sequel at all, let alone one announced so soon. Hades 2 will be the first sequel studio Supergiant Games have ever made, and it makes sense given how successful and popular the first game ended up being. Aside from some notable exceptions like Rogue Legacy 2 and Spelunky 2, not many roguelikes ever get a direct sequel, so there's a lot of mystery surrounding how Hades 2 will be different from the first game. But there's no need to dive into the depths of the Underworld yourself in search of answers, as we've pulled all the information we could from the jaws of Cerberus.
Release date

Hades 2 has no release date quite yet. However, the team has apparently been working on it since early 2021, and, just like the first, will come out first in early access. Supergiant has stated that details about this early access period would be revealed in 2023, however, that does not guarantee it will actually begin in 2023. The first Hades was in early access for almost two years, but we know that a slightly bigger team is working on Hades 2 from the start so this game may hit 1.0 a bit faster.
Platforms

Read more
Tales of the Shire is a The Lord of the Rings-themed take on Stardew Valley
A Hobbit gardens in Tales of the Shire.

Private Division revealed a new game set in the Middle-earth universe called Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game. The title, developed by Wētā Workshop Game Studio, is a cozy life simulator set within the world of the books by J.R.R. Tolkien.

In 2022, No Rest for the Wicked publisher Private Division first teased that it was working on a game based on The Lord of the Rings with Wētā Workshop, the visual effects studio whose initial claim to fame was working on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Wētā Workshop has technically had a game studio since 2014, but Tales of the Shire will be its most significant release yet.

Read more
How to start the Nuka-World DLC in Fallout 4
People standing outside Nuka World.

The first major DLC expansion for Fallout 4 lets players go to the abandoned amusement park called Nuka-World. While there's plenty of fun and excitement to be had here, don't expect it to come from the roller coasters or carnival games since this park is the battleground between rival raider gangs. This new zone adds a ton of new quests and side activities to the base experience, but it isn't as simple to get to as a real theme park. Don't worry if your Pip-Boy isn't helping you get to Nuka-World -- we'll show you how to start this DLC.

Read more