Next Homefront Game Will Be Developed by Crytek

By Kevin Parrish
published

THQ has chosen Crysis 2 developer Crytek as the studio to create the next Homefront installment.

Tuesday THQ announced that Crytek, the studio behind the popular Crysis series, will be developing the follow-up to THQ's first-person shooter Homefront which was launched back in March for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. THQ said the yet-to-be-named sequel is scheduled for release in its fiscal year 2014 on console and PC platforms.

"Selecting Crytek to take Homefront forward underscores our strategy of working with the industry's best talent," said Danny Bilson, EVP Core Games, THQ. "Homefront's unique setting and storyline captivated gamers the world over. With Crytek's industry leading technology and legendary experience in the FPS genre, we're supremely confident that the next Homefront will deliver that AAA-quality experience that players demand."

If anything, the news reveals that THQ is still dedicated to the series despite the first installment's lackluster launch. Currently Metacritic shows a score of 70 across the board for Homefront, with Gamespy saying that the game literally "sucks" while FiringSquad says that it plays like a "standard COD clone." THQ closed down the studio behind the game (Kaos Studios) three months after the launch and shifted Homefront development over to THQ's Montreal studio. So far there's no indication that the Montreal arm will have any part in the Homefront sequel.

"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."

Crytek released Crysis 2 on the PC and consoles back in March. The developer is currently working on a free-to-play first person shooter called Warface scheduled to launch in "Western markets" next year. Crytek is also working on an action game called Ryse for Microsoft's Kinect motion sensing peripheral.

Kevin Parrish
21 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dreamer77dd
    They just taking easy money? Some easy to get contracts after making a name for them selves? hmmm
    Reply
  • ben850
    Trashfront
    Reply
  • kcorp2003
    2014 eh? lets hope the new consoles will be released. Homefront CM was pretty close to the PC community. joining podcasts and talk about PC stuff and support. i have respect for them.
    Reply
  • cats_Paw
    If they keep making games based on consoles, i aint buyin any of them.
    Reply
  • Gman450
    Homefront wasn't a good game.
    Now they're planning a sequel?
    Reply
  • eddieroolz
    I enjoyed Homefront, though the story was a bit far-fetched. I played it mostly for the graphics.
    Reply
  • phishy714
    "Homefront will be developed by Crytek"

    In other words, PC gamers should not buy the game until we get an update patch that will add DX11 (even though at the time we will probably be in DX12) and updated textures. Fiscal year 2014 release date + 3 months is when I am maybe looking at this game.
    Reply
  • Supertrek32
    Awful characters, a pretty weak story, horrid graphics, and gameplay worse than the other 3 combined. Homefront was not a good game. I will not be buying the sequel.
    Reply
  • back_by_demand
    eddieroolzI enjoyed Homefront, though the story was a bit far-fetched. I played it mostly for the graphics.A far fetched story is sometimes the basis for a successful game because that is what you remebember the most, even if the graphics are relatively poor.
    Games that fall into this category would be Wing Commander, Deus Ex, Half Life, they spawned successful franchises because the back story is unique and interesting.
    Homefront has a strong back story, just the first game was a bad implementation, a good studio can take the back story and make a great sequel.
    Reply
  • beardguy
    I kind of liked the game. Awesome premise, and it fictitiously took place in my home town!

    Still though it needed a more fleshed out story and characters. And lets face it, the Crytek team has never been good at either. So we will see ... hopefully the new installment is good.
    Reply