14 DAY TRIAL // Crytek boss Cevat Yerli has revealed that the newly formed Crytek USA studio, which includes the veteran team from Vigil Games, won't continue working on the Darksiders franchise, as Yerli believes the new company should focus on other things.
THQ's bankruptcy auction saw plenty of franchises and studios purchased by different companies, but among them weren't Vigil Games or the Darksiders series. As such, the studio disbanded while the IP rights will be sold at another auction.
Fortunately for the Vigil staff, large independent developer Crytek came to their rescue and formed Crytek USA, a new studio led by Vigil founder David Adams that immediately hired 35 veteran members of the old studio.
According to Crytek boss Cevat Yerli, he was quite surprised that no other company bid on Vigil as he basically gave up making an offer because he believed the studio would be sold to somebody else.
"We were surprised when nobody bid on Vigil," Yerli told GamesBeat. "We would have liked to have bid, but there were too many unknowns. I thought that maybe we could reconsider bidding, but eventually we decided not to because the projects [the developer was working on] weren't strategically fit for us."
Even so, Yerli continued to talk with Vigil founder David Adams who emphasized the dedication of his team.
As such, while on Friday the doors of Vigil were closed forever, on Sunday Yerli was in Austin, Texas, discussing with Adams and his staff the creation of Crytek USA.
The executive also emphasized that the Crytek USA team wouldn't continue working on the Darksiders franchise, as it doesn't really fit into the company's strategy right now.
"We didn't want to continue with Darksiders III, since that doesn't fit with our strategy," said Yerli. "It's not like we set the team on a specific game concept. They're actually going to work on what David and the team identifies as what they want to do. Right now, they just know what the strategy of Crytek is and the framework we need to satisfy, but none of that drives what the game is about."
Even if Crytek USA won't be resurrecting the Darksiders franchise, it's great to hear that Adams and his staff will continue working in the industry together.