Crytek opening new studio in Austin, offers ‘new start’ for Vigil members

Vigil Games may be gone as a result of THQ's bankruptcy, but it looks like its spirit will live on under the banner of Crytek. According to Gamasutra, Crytek, the developer of Crysis, will be forming a new studio in Austin, Texas. Crytek USA Corp will be headed by CEO David Adams, the former GM and co-owner of Darksiders developer Vigil.

The report claims Adams will oversee a team of "35 experienced developers" consisting of "some of the brightest development talent in the industry." Furthermore, a representative "strongly hinted" that the staff will have other veteran developers from Vigil.

Crytek representative Jens Schafer described the newly formed Crytek USA as "more like a new start for [the team at Vigil]." This is obviously some great news for the Austin-based gaming community, which has seen some rough times over the past few months. In addition to the Vigil closing, Starhawk developer Lighbox saw some major staff reductions, as well as a "restructuring" at BioWare Austin. 

The fate of the Darksiders franchise remains to be seen, however.