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Deep Silver acquires rights to Homefront: The Revolution from Crytek
Crytek’s money problems just will not go away. Last month, rumors began to swirl that the high-profile developer wasn’t paying their employees and had canceled several major projects. Today, Deep Silver announced that they have acquired all rights to Homefront: The Revolution. The deal also includes 2011’s Homefront, which Crytek obtained at the THQ bankruptcy auction.
The story behind Homefront: The Revolution is one of the more complicated tales in the entire industry. THQ originally announced the shooter sequel a few months after the successful launch of the original Homefront. Crytek was on board as the developer from the beginning and they assigned the game to their Crytek UK team. Then came THQ’s bankruptcy woes and everyone stayed quiet on the Homefront until this year’s E3 Expo, when Homefront: The Revolution was officially unveiled.
Due to Crytek’s inexperience in the self-publishing arena, they recruited Deep Silver to distribute the game and stand in as something like a co-publisher. So this acquisition likely won’t disrupt development too much. However, the game is moving from Crytek UK to Deep Silver Dambuster Studios. Both studios are located in Nottingham, so I’m curious to know how many former Crytek UK employees have jumped ship to Deep Silver’s new endeavor.
Hopefully, Homefront: The Revolution is still on track for a 2015 release.
UPDATE: Crytek has confirmed that all members of the Homefront team will transfer to Deep Silver Dambuster.
Continue Countdown #5 – Mortal Kombat X, Forza Horizon 2, Pre-E3 Predictions, More
It’s the most wonderful time of the year as the 2014 E3 Expo is right around the corner. The Warp Zoned staff spent a recent night chatting about some of the big pre-E3 announcements during the latest episode of “Continue Countdown.” We pre-pre-judged Mortal Kombat X, Homefront: The Revolution, Forza Horizon 2, BattleCry, Battlefield Hardline, and Hyrule Warriors in the first six segments of the show.
But we also wanted to worry and fret over a trio of delayed games (Batman: Arkham Knight, The Order: 1886, and Quantum Break) as well as speculate about what a Smash Bros.-style Mario Kart game would be like (spoiler alert: it would be AWESOME). And the eternal question (How much would you pay for an E.T. cartridge excavated from a landfill?) was answered.
Finally, we slipped a few E3 predictions in there. We’re probably way off the mark, but it’s that magical pre-E3 time when anything seems possible.
9 Topics… 30 Minutes… And Go!
Posted in PC, Podcast, PS3, PS4, Top Story, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight, BattleCry, Battlefield Hardline, E3 2014, Forza Horizon 2, Homefront: The Revolution, Hyrule Warriors, Mortal Kombat X, Quantum Break, The Order: 1886
Homefront: The Revolution will rise up in 2015
Philadelphia was at the center of the first American Revolution and, according to the storyline for Crytek’s upcoming Homefront: The Revolution, it will also be right in the thick of the second. Co-published by Crytek and Deep Silver, The Revolution is a sequel to Homefront, which was originally released by THQ in 2011. Crytek acquired the franchise in 2013 when THQ was forced to auction off their assets after a well-publicized bankruptcy. Crytek has assigned their UK team (formerly Free Radical Design) to the task of developing Homefront: The Revolution.
The second Homefront game has actually changed quite a bit since we first heard about it in late 2011. The original plan was to move the action to Europe, but an open-world Philadelphia (which can be explored as part of a single-player campaign or in a four-play co-op mode) will serve as the setting instead:
Catastrophic events have brought the United States to its knees and enabled the Korean People’s Army forces to impose a brutal military occupation. Trapped in this American nightmare, Philadelphia has become a police state, where surveillance drones and armored patrols keep her once-proud citizens at heel, crushing any dissent with totalitarian force.
To overcome their oppressors, players will have to engage in guerrilla warfare and use ambush, infiltration and hit and run tactics in thrilling un-scripted firefights. At every turn they’ll find a sprawling open-world city, in which recruiting fellow revolutionaries and building improvised homebrew weapons are just two of the keys to creating a powerful resistance force.
Homefront: The Revolution is currently set for a release sometime in 2015 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Crytek and Deep Silver plan to unveil the first gameplay trailer of the game during this year’s E3 Expo.
Crytek plans to release first Homefront 2 details soon; release date delay likely
Crytek’s purchase of the Homefront franchise hasn’t impacted the development of Homefront 2. In fact, Crytek UK General Manager Nick Button-Brown confirmed (in an interview with VG247) that executives within the company want to unveil a more revealing look at Homefront 2 sooner rather than later. But, Button-Brown also confirmed that the title might be delayed due to Crytek’s desire to create the best game possible:
“Crytek’s focus is fairly similar to THQ’s -namely to make the best game possible. So this will not have too much impact on the development itself. However, we might change the release date that we haven’t announced, and move this to another release date we won’t announce yet either.”
THQ originally revealed Homefront 2’s existence (and Crytek’s involvement with the sequel) back in September 2011. At that point, the game had a late 2013/early 2014 release date. But due to THQ’s financial problems and the title’s eventual acquisition by Crytek, it’s now best to think of Homefront 2 as a “when it’s done” game.
THQ Auction: Ubisoft, Sega, Take-Two, Crytek, Deep Silver all come away winners
The THQ asset auction concluded yesterday and the fate of the company was sealed as the cumulative bids for the publisher’s studios surpassed the $60 million offered by Clearlake Capitol Group. Here’s the complete list of who bought what and for how much:
Relic Entertainment (including Company of Heroes franchise)
Sega – $26.6 million
THQ Montreal (including 1666 and Underdog)
Ubisoft – $2.5 million
Evolve (Turtle Rock-developed FPS)
Take-Two Interactive – $10.894 million
Volition (and Saints Row franchise)
Deep Silver (Koch Media) – $22,312,925
Homefront franchise
Crytek – $544,218
Metro franchise
Deep Silver (Koch Media) – $5,877,551
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Ubisoft – $3,265,306
How this auction will affect the release dates of South Park: The Stick of Truth, Metro: Last Light, and Company of Heroes 2 (all were scheduled to be released within the next three months) remains to be seen.
Vigil Studios (and the Darksiders franchise) and the rights to produce games based on the WWE went unsold. Presumably, they’ll continue to be included with THQ’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
Posted in News
Tagged 1666, Company of Heroes 2, Evolve, Homefront, Homefront: The Revolution, Metro: Last Light, South Park: The Stick of Truth
THQ taps Crytek to develop Homefront 2
Executives at THQ haven’t been shy about declaring Homefront the start of a new series, even before it was released. Today, the publisher made good on their promises by announcing that Homefront 2 is in development at Crytek (Crysis, FarCry).
“We see Homefront as a really strong universe that has a lot of potential and that has been expertly created and marketed by THQ,” said Cevat Yerli, Founder, CEO and President of Crytek. “We believe that bringing our level of quality, creativity and production values to the next Homefront title creates an opportunity for both THQ and Crytek to deliver a truly blockbuster game. It’s really important to us that THQ has the faith in giving us a lot of creative freedom over one of its most important properties to allow us to bring the Homefront world to life in a new and innovative way.”
Original developer Kaos Studios was shut down by THQ earlier this year, prompting the Crytek shift. As development of the series moves to Europe, so does the storyline. It’s just a tease so far, but here’s all we know about the plot of Homefront 2:
“[T]he splintered nations of Europe struggle to maintain peace at home, as the global economy continues its downward spiral, and civil order disintegrates. The world is teetering on the brink of ruin…”
According to THQ, Homefront 2 (which is just a working title) will be available on the PC and consoles during their 2014 fiscal year. For those without a THQ financial calendar handy, that means the game will be released between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014. So it’s very likely the “consoles” THQ is referring to are the Wii U, PS4 and Xbox 720.
THQ closes Homefront developer Kaos Studios
THQ had high hopes for Homefront and while the shooter received less-than-stellar reviews, it managed to sell over two million copies. I guess that wasn’t enough as the publisher announced the closure of Homefront developer Kaos Studios today. THQ Digital Warrington, the developer of downloadable titles Red Faction: Battlegrounds and Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team, was also shut down.
THQ also revealed that development on the Homefront franchise would move to the recently created THQ Montreal. The company’s Montreal studio assisted Kaos during the development of the game, so they have some knowledge of the Homefront universe. THQ’s Vice President of Core Games, Danny Bilson, previously confirmed that Homefront: London is already in the planning stages.
Many of THQ’s other internal studios are now hiring and the publisher has encouraged the former Kaos and Digital Warrington employees to interview for open positions at Relic Entertainment, Vigil Games and THQ Montreal. We wish them the best of luck.
THQ’s Homefront is a hit
THQ’s take on a Korean invasion of America in the 2027 has proven to be a hit with gamers across the globe. Described by company executives as one of the biggest games they’ve ever done, Homefront has now sold one million copies worldwide. THQ has also revealed that they’ve shipped 2.4 million copies of Homefront to stores since its release two weeks ago. So there’s plenty of copies out there if you want to become Homefront player #1,000,001.
“We are very pleased with strong worldwide shipments and sell-through for Homefront, and we continue to fulfill new retail orders for the game across the globe,” said Brian Farrell, THQ President and CEO. “Homefront is clearly resonating with gamers and we are certainly pleased with our initial sales results.”
Even before Homefront was released, THQ hinted that a sequel was in the planning stages. With the game crossing the million-seller mark already, expect to hear an announcement of Homefront: London any time now.