Long-awaited sequel Lords of the Fallen 2 is back in development. Publisher CI Games has established a new development studio called Hexworks to pick up work on the game. It'll be the studio's debut title.
What will the new studio bring to Lords of the Fallen 2?
Hexworks is based in Barcelona and Bucharest. The new studio was established at the beginning of March and is comprised of around 25 staff members, some of whom are veterans with triple-A development experience. According to CI Games, under Hexworks, Lords of the Fallen 2 "is a shift from the original's power fantasy to dark fantasy". In addition, the new version of Lords of the Fallen 2 will be "much more loyal" to the challenging combat template established by the Souls series to which the original Lords owes a large debt.
This news comes after CI Games and developer Defiant Studios split last year. CI alleged "inadequate execution" of development work on Lords of the Fallen 2 on Defiant's part. In response, Defiant head David Grijns said the studio "categorically disagree[s]" with CI's assessment, but did not expand on the matter due to contractual confidentiality obligations. It's not yet clear whether Hexworks will be using any of the work done by Defiant on the game or whether they will scrap it and start afresh as Defiant originally did.
When will Lords of the Fallen 2 launch?
Unfortunately, we still don't know the answer to this question. The game has had a somewhat troubled development history. CI Games originally brought in Defiant Studios to work on Lords of the Fallen 2 after attempting to develop the game in-house. After the acrimonious split between the two companies in May last year, Lords 2 went radio silent. This is the first we've heard of the game since that time, and there's still nothing other than Hexworks' statement to indicate the direction in which the game is moving.
According to the official Hexworks website, Lords of the Fallen 2 will be a more challenging experience than the original game and will be built on the latest Unreal Engine. Hexworks and CI Games are targeting "next generation console platforms and high-end PCs", so it doesn't sound like Lords 2 will be appearing on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. As soon as we have more information about Lords of the Fallen 2, we'll let you know.
What would you like to see from Hexworks' vision for Lords of the Fallen 2? Let us know in the comments below!
