14 DAY TRIAL // It's always hard to know what projects big videogame companies are working on, especially when they refuse to offer information or when they don't comment on rumors. But with the recent increase of the data that can be gleaned from a variety of online sources, more and more projects get detailed way before the developers are ready to show them to the world.
This is what has happened with Pure 2, which was apparently being worked on at the Black Rock Studios that has also handled the creation of the first game bearing the same name.
A site called Superannuation has uncovered the resume of an artist who was employed by the development team and who stated that Pure 2 was initially conceived as a videogame aimed at the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. But Disney, the parent company of the studio, decided that the project would be put on hold for the time being, mainly due to the limited resources available as a result of the world wide economic crisis.
Currently, Black Rock Studios is working on a racing game called Split/Second, which is set to arrive in 2010 for the PlayStation 3, the PC and the Xbox 360. The game is set to be more arcade than full simulation and will offer players a chance to experience movie-like racing sequences.
When the first Pure was initially released in 2008, it was very well received by reviewers, who praised the feeling of speed and the way tricks were built up. Still, numbers released by the NPD Group showed that the game only managed to sell about 300,000 units on all platforms in North America, which is rather disappointing. With Split/Second coming in 2010 and considering the limited performance of the first game, Pure 2 might only arrive sometime in 2011 or be canceled for good.