Homefront: The Revolution publisher Deep Silver (and its parent company, Koch Media) have acquired the Homefront IP and is setting up a new studio to take over development of The Revolution, the company announced today.
The status of The Revolution had been called into question as repor ts circulated about financial troubles at Crytek. One of the company's subsidiaries, The Revolution developer Crytek UK (formerly known as TimeSplitters maker Free Radical Design), had reportedly not been paying staff, who were in turn leaving the studio. Crytek initially denied reports about any problems, but recently admitted it is in a "transitional phase" and said it had acquired new capital that protects its future.
Today's announcement sounds as if it could be part of that arrangement to secure new capital, as Deep Silver--originally set to be The Revolution's publisher--is now the owner of the entire Homefront IP, which Crytek originally acquired as part of THQ's bankruptcy auction. Today's deal consists of the Homefront brand and "all coherent assets from Crytek."
What this means for Homefront: The Revolution is it will now be developed by the newly formed Deep Silver Dambuster Studios. Notably, this studio is located in No ttingham, England, the same city Crytek UK is based out of--suggesting former Crytek UK staffers will continue to work on the game, but for a new company. Backing up this possibility is a quote in today's announcement from Koch Media CEO Klemens Kundratitz, who says, "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."
Deep Silver confirmed with GameSpot that Crytek UK is no longer involved with development of The Revolution, but could not address the composition of Dambuster Studios' staff as the company is "in the process of setting up the new studio."
Crytek had been known to be working on a sequel to Homefront for some time, with The Revolution being formally unveiled as an open-world FPS for Xbox One , PlayStation 4, and PC in June. The game was shown off on E3, even making an appearance on GameSpot's stage show, which you can watch above. At the time, it was expected to be released in 2015. Deep Silver has not yet commented on whether that timeline is still in place.
| Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheSmokingManX |
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