One of the big questions surrounding the current financial struggle of Crytek was: what’s going to happen to Homefront: The Revolution if all the key management staff are jumping off the boat like the Titanic sinking in the ocean? Well, the property won’t be sinking to the bottom of the development floor because Deep Silver has thrown it a life-jacket and picked it up from the financially dire position to which Crytek resides.
A press release was issued by Deep Silver today making it known that Homefront: The Revolution would not die a virtual death at the ends of any potential bankruptcy or property forfeiture at the hands of Crytek. Instead, the company will gather up what’s done and have another team finish the game for them.
Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, CEO of Koch Media Group and the parent company of Deep Silver, stated that…
“We are thrilled to see another great IP joining the Deep Silver universe,” … “We strongly believe in the potential of Homefront: The Revolution and trust in the new team to continue the path they have been walking in the last years.”
The game’s development will be handled by the new Deep Silver Dambuster Studios.
That’s got to sting a little for Crytek you know? It’s like all that talk about what they were doing with the game and utilizing and maximizing the potential of the CryEngine 3… and then wham! They get hit with financial troubles… or rather, the troubles surface like a six-foot length, 200lb bag wrapped with belts in the Hudson River.
The reality is that Crytek hasn’t really been in the clear for quite some time. A lot of it came to a head during the rocky sales of Crysis 3 and then it was later followed with the poorly received hack-and-slash launch title for the Xbox One, Ryse. Sales for both games basically tanked and that didn’t fare well for helping keep the CryEngine maker financially afloat.
The company recently issued a public statement about how they’ve acquired some capital during their “transitional period”, but it looks like it wasn’t enough to maintain the development of Homefront: The Revolution.
The good part about this for Deep Silver is that if the base structure of the game is complete (i.e., the lighting system, the rendering pipeline, the basic game mechanics and interactive assets) it makes their job a heck of a lot easier. However, if Crytek was still in the early phases of development and the structural components of the game’s mechanics are still incomplete, then it could be a real uphill battle for Deep Silver, like a bunch of hamburger-dieted bowlers trying to climb up a mountain in flip-flops and sweat pants during a muddy thunder storm.
I’ll keep you posted on Deep Silver’s progress on Homefront. For now you can attempt to learn more by paying a visit to the official website.
