14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer Starbreeze has announced that it is currently working on a new game, called Cold Mercury, which is set to use the free-to-play business model and will probably launch at some point during this year.
The company is also downsizing after the launch of Syndicate, which was published by Electronic Arts, and is currently looking for another company that it can collaborate with on the launch of another AAA project, called P13, created in collaboration with a Swedish director named Josef Fares.
Starbreeze is seeing Cold Mercury as a stop-gap measure, allowing it to get another project under its belt while it waits for more high-profile development opportunities.
The company has not offered clear information on Cold Mercury, but given Starbreeze’s profile it will probably be a shooter that also takes a few elements from other genres.
Despite the development of the free-to-play game, the company is still interested in making titles based on high-profile franchises.
Mikel Nermark, who is the chief executive officer at Starbreeze, stated, “Starbreeze will not leave the AAA segment.”
He added, “We are discussing with several leading game publisher on publisher financed games, but we will broaden our product portfolio of games in the new business models and segments that have arisen in the games industry. I am convinced that Starbreeze will be successful with the new games.”
During February Starbreeze and Electronic Arts launched a reboot of Syndicate on the PlayStation 3 from Sony, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the PC.
The game took the tactic classic from the ‘90’s and re-invented it as a simple first-person shooter where the main character also has three special powers that allow him to deal with groups of enemies.
The story of Syndicate failed to impress and the game, despite getting a number of good review, failed to sell very well, according to the NPD Group sales figures for February in the United States.