Crytek to Nordic Games: ‘More than happy to take Darksiders off your hands’

Several former members of Vigil Games — now at Crytek — have offered some advice to Nordic Games on how to handle a potential sequel to the Darksiders franchise. As was reported last night, Nordic Games purchased several THQ franchises, including Darksiders and Red Faction, in a $4.9 million bid. In a message to fans of the newly acquired series, Nordic Games CEO Lars Wingefors mentioned, "we either want to cooperate with the original creators or best possible developers in order to work on sequels or additional content for these titles."

Naturally, several former members of Vigil Games took to the Nordic Games' forums to share some advice for future Darksiders titles, while offering to take the IP off Nordic's hands.

"As one of the co-founders of Vigil and the lead level designer/principal designer on both games, all I can say is… make it adventurous," offered Crytek's Ryan Stefanelli. "And do what we would've done: let people know what happens when those other three comets land on Earth! Four player co-op or bust! Good luck to you guys. You've adopted our baby."

Ex-Vigil Games lead combat designer Ben Cureton, who is also now at Crytek, added: "If you actually ever go forward with the Darksiders franchise, be sure to focus on the things that made DS and DS2 cool. Things like… that feeling of adventure (that Ryan mentioned), the fast-paced combat, the sense of scale, quality voice acting, and don't forget that Strife and Fury need to be BADASS… whatever you do, don't forget to crank the BADASS meter up to 11. If you are ever in doubt of what to do… just add more skulls!"

Cureton didn't offer advice without a bit of temptation. "If you decide you don't want to continue making games for the series, let me know. We'd be more than happy to take the IP off your hands." I love to see this type of passion from a developer about a game they've worked on. It truly shows they care more about the game itself than the money. "In fact, you can even have all of the money that DS1 and DS2 continue to generate!" he offered.

Perhaps Nordic will take Crytek up on the offer and outsource the development. Given the rave review for Darksiders 2, I'm sure the new Crytek studio would certainly be up for the task.