Crytek Making New U.S.-Based Studio from Vigil Remnants

By Kevin Parrish
published

The Darksiders developer has been saved by Crytek and will launch as a new Crytek studio here in the States.

Despite its strong track record with the Darksiders franchise, no one placed a bid on developer Vigil Games during THQ's fire sale last week. Instead, all of its employees were laid off, and the future of the Darksiders franchise looked bleak.

However, on Monday Crysis 3 developer Crytek, which purchased the Homefront IP from THQ, announced that it's forming a new studio here in the States. The ninth Crytek studio worldwide, this location will be called Crytek USA Corp and will be led by former Vigil Games head David Adams. What's more, Adams is bringing his 35-member core Vigil team under his new Crytek wing.

"I'm thrilled to be a part of the newest Crytek studio, which will boast some of the brightest development talent in the industry. The studio’s launch represents Crytek’s commitment to delivering diverse and high quality content to players everywhere," said David Adams, the new CEO of Austin, Texas-based Crytek USA.

"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," added 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. We believe our CryENGINE technology will enable the team we assemble to create unparalleled new gaming experiences."

Jason Rubin, former CEO of THQ, thanked Crytek via Twitter for "saving as much as they could of a fantastic team." He also added that the "Darksiders and Red Faction IP have not been auctioned yet," meaning that Crytek's new studio will not move forward with another Darksiders game unless Crytek purchases the rights.

Crytek representative Jens Schafer confirmed with Escapist Magazine that "Crytek USA won't work on a new Darksiders game. At this point in time it is too early to share any future plans."

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Kevin Parrish
19 Comments Comment from the forums
  • buckcm
    Crysis 3 beta is live. It's pretty awful.
    Reply
  • abbadon_34
    Call it average, nothing revolutionary, question is whether they will either NOT optimize it or PURPOSELY cripple it to make it "pc melting"
    Reply
  • bustapr
    these guys make a damn good action adventure game. I hope they make a new IP that doesnt get horridly ignored like darksiders. One of my problems with darksiders was precisely the visuals, but now that they have CE3 and crytek leading them, I see a better importance to pc in the future. or at least better ports.
    Reply
  • buckcm
    abbadon_34Call it average, nothing revolutionary, question is whether they will either NOT optimize it or PURPOSELY cripple it to make it "pc melting"
    All the foliage and crap everywhere makes the game look gaudy. I was getting 70-100+ fps on low settings with ultra textures with a 2500k + 7850 on 1920x1080. The game looks pretty good with those settings.
    Reply
  • downhill911
    If only Crytek employed and/or let someone who can make storyline and overall game more interesting.
    Maybe someone from first Far Cry?
    Also not sure if it is good to make game (Far Cry 3) dumbed down for fat kids which makes use of drugs to look as a good thing.
    Reply
  • neiroatopelcc
    The story in farcry3 was good too.
    The only downside to the game really is the publisher
    Reply
  • cats_Paw
    DUnno, maybe i am asking for too much, but i did not get far cry 3, nor crysis 2.
    I did get Deus Ex 3 thou.
    Perhaps i have too high expectations for games nowdays.
    Reply
  • alidan
    bustaprthese guys make a damn good action adventure game. I hope they make a new IP that doesnt get horridly ignored like darksiders. One of my problems with darksiders was precisely the visuals, but now that they have CE3 and crytek leading them, I see a better importance to pc in the future. or at least better ports.I can't play dark setters one for more than an hour without became completely crashing they failed on the PC side to the point where I didn't care of dark siders came out again I won't be getting in on the console ever I hate consoles for games now, between the games never going on a real sale on consoles and needing to wait 5+ years for it to get a reasonable price while the PC I'm I only have to wait three months to get again for 75% off, but they can optimize dark siders at all for the PC I don't care how good the games are what I can't play them, I have dark siders one installed right now I have two from buying THQ bundle, but I was told there was a worse port in the first game in my got I can't play the first game authority crashing what's this on the to be like. Here's hoping cry tech forces them to go through a how to develop for the PC class.
    Reply
  • neiroatopelcc
    cats_PawDUnno, maybe i am asking for too much, but i did not get far cry 3, nor crysis 2.I did get Deus Ex 3 thou.Perhaps i have too high expectations for games nowdays.get as in understand or get as in purchase? what truely is your point?
    In this economy hardly anyone can afford to purchase every title they want to play, so it's only natural to skip some. Crysis 2 was aweful (singleplayer) by the way - nothing missed. And I skipped Deus Ex
    Reply
  • neiroatopelccAnd I skipped Deus ExYour loss. That game is truly brilliant, whether we're talking about original or Human Revolution.
    Reply