Pre-Production of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning 2 Had Begun

Category: Gaming
Posted: May 29, 2012 08:20AM
Author: ClayMeow

Over the past couple weeks, we've reported on the unfortunate demise of 38 Studios and Big Huge Games, which has also resulted in the public never getting an official Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning patch to fix the game's remaining problems. It seems the lack of patch release is not the only repercussion of the studios' closings. Joystiq is reporting that several sources informed the site that a sequel had been in pre-production prior to all the layoffs. Speaking under anonymity, sources told Joystiq that the studios carefully listened to fans and critics, and that the sequel would have offered better graphics, no loading screens between zones, expanded and improved combat animations, fewer branching quests, and the ability for players to have a greater effect on the world.

Although 38 Studios technically still owns the IP, technology, and code, it is highly likely the Rhode Island government will seize all that due to the studios' defaulting on the loan. Unfortunately, the state's asking price to release those assets is apparently too high, which means we most likely will never see a proper sequel. Former BHG employees state that the government loan was for an MMO project and not Reckoning, but at this point, that may not matter. This is unfortunate, because despite the collapse of the studios, Reckoning actually received a lot of critical acclaim, hovering around the 80 mark on metacritc for all three platforms. Its selling of 1.2 million copies in its first 90 days is also impressive for a brand new IP, but sadly it wasn't enough to keep the studios afloat.

• Email Link
• Print News

This news has comment postings disabled because it is now archived.