Last month we reported that the core team that developed Phantom Doctrine had departed CreativeForge Games amid a leadership crisis. We actually had a chance to talk to Kacper Szymczak, who was the interim CEO of CreativeForge for some time. Now he is officially the Creative Director at Artificer, the new studio founded by him and the core team of Phantom Doctrine.
Today, Good Shepherd Entertainment, the publisher of Phantom Doctrine, has made an official announcement that they have acquired a majority stake in Artificer. The deal is intended to foster "close cooperation between publisher and studio to fully leverage skillsets, services, and creative opportunities."
The official announcement took place at the game conference Reboot Develop Blue. According to the publisher, "Artificer is already equipped to punch well above its weight class: the team consists of over 30 award winning industry veterans who have previously worked on numerous acclaimed titles including the Call of Juarez and the Dead Island series."
Kacper Szymczak also commented on the official establishment of Artificer: "We envisioned Artificer as a place where accomplished craftsmen may put their love of their work in projects they wholeheartedly believe in and do so in a sustainable fashion. I am tremendously excited to say that we have already built a close-knit team which is hard at work on our first project." The CEO of Good Shepherd Entertainment, Brian Grigsby, is satisfied with the deal: "We’ve been impressed by the quality and unique talent present in Poland and we intend to expand Good Shepherd Entertainment's long-standing presence in the region with our newly formed Artificer relationship."
While there are no financial details on the deal, the creative juices seem to be flowing freely. Artificer will "apply its philosophy of sustainable and measured development to a wide variety of genres." While they are initially focusing on a single flagship project to establish the studio, they are also exploring additional opportunities in both creative and business spheres, in order to expand their potential. Details on the flagship project will be released soon. Good Shepherd Entertainment also intends to reveal details on its latest major published title scheduled for announcement in early May.
What do you think of the deal between Good Shepherd and Artificer? Are you looking forward to a new turn-based tactical RPG like Hard West and Phantom Doctrine? Let us know in the comments below!