14 DAY TRIAL // THQ and Crytek have announced that the upcoming Homefront 2 title is going to be developed by Crytek UK, the Nottingham-based studio formerly known as Free Radical.
This is quite big news, but expected in some way, as THQ, the publisher and owner of the Homefront series, recently closed down Kaos Studios, the developer of the first Homefront, offering staff there a chance to move to its newly opened THQ Montreal establishment.
"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."
Crytek saved Free Radical from bankruptcy a few years ago, as the UK studio was in serious financial problems, despite launching and owning the pretty popular TimeSplitters series.
Now, it seems that the studio can finally work on a full pledged project, with Homefront 2, which is set to use Crytek's own CryEngine 3 technology, previously seen in Crysis 2 or the upcoming Crysis 1 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.
"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."
The companies have just started working on Homefront 2, with THQ confirming that it's expecting the title to arrive in its fiscal year 2014, which spans April 1, 2013 and ends on March 31, 2014.
What do you think? Will Homefront 2, with a new studio and engine behind it manage to rise to the expectations of THQ, which previously stated it wants the series to fight it out with Call of Duty or Battlefield?