Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms - Book II Delayed?

Well after finding no more news about the release of the Book II of Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms I found some new information on Steam , and it's not good news.

Just in-case everyone forgot their publisher bitComposer Games had financial trouble,and forced the developer to halt development because of the insolvency proceedings.

To be more correct, they are undergoing insolvency proceedings; one of the results is that they may end up in bankruptcy, or they may exist further; we unfortunately don't know how the situation is going to turn out in the end.

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So as of now its permanently delayed, and might not be released.

More information.

Now this is a huge letdown. I thought S:HK would have done well enough for them to continue on.

Apparently not. So much for that.

Yeah, I picked it up during a sale and when I finally got around to playing it I thought 'This is a great game, why haven't I heard anything about this?' The answer unfortunately is it's incomplete and may remain so. Bummer.

This is a great game with a unique gameplay mechanic. Hope we get to see more.

very old news.

as of now, it's 20something bucks out the window.

Well it isn't quite that bad (yet). It really depends on what happens to bitcomposer. There has been no news in quite a while about bitcomposer; no clue if they are going to reorganized or vaporize or soemthing inbetween.

Sacred_Path said:

as of now, it's 20something bucks out the window.

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you said:

very old news.

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What is old news to you is new information for other readers.

I already knew about bitComposer and was more interested in Book 2's release.

Aubrielle said:

Now this is a huge letdown. I thought S:HK would have done well enough for them to continue on.Apparently not. So much for that.

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I thought it sold decently enough myself despite the negative reviews on Steam calling it a rip-off due to the publisher releasing the Deluxe Edition with cut content.

I hate that BitComposer. First Chaos Chronicles then this. I hope Games Farm can take game rights from them and goes to the crowdfunding route. I enjoyed both Kult and Shadow games.

Hmm I seem to remember that Chaos Chronicles has been renamed, and has a new developer now. I hope the game isn't changed to much from the original version.

I also hope Games Farms can can get thier IP back.

Shame But maybe not all is lost yet.

Couchpotato said:

Hmm I seem to remember that Chaos Chronicles has been renamed, and has a new developer now. I hope the game isn't changed to much from the original version.

I also hope Games Farms can can get thier IP back.

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I'm not sure that will help if Bitcomposer goes under. The new development team might not be able to release the game, regardless whether it turns out to be good or not.

forgottenlor said:

I'm not sure that will help if Bitcomposer goes under. The new development team might not be able to release the game, regardless whether it turns out to be good or not.

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Well they can always auction off the Ip. It wouldn't be the first time a publisher sold IPs due to bankruptcy. I doubt anybody would be interested except for Nordic Games.

Why Nordic Games well some of the original developers are now working on the next Spellforce game for the publisher. So it makes perfect sense to me at least.

Update: The new studio is called Grimlock Games.

Link -http://grimloregames.com/projects/

Nordic Games announced today that Grimlore Games is currently working on the third part of its SpellForce game series, SpellForce 3. Founded by Nordic Games, Grimlore Games comprises of experienced developers, graphic artists and designers who have worked on titles including The Settlers 2, Knights and Merchants, Cultures and – of course – SpellForce 2.

As Nordic Games noted, the rich talent pool in Munich was a key factor in deciding the new studio’s location.

“Many young and highly skilled developers gather in Munich who, in the coming months and years, will complement the core team at Grimlore Games.”
The studio will focus on PC games for core gamers, specifically the role-playing and real-time strategy genres.

There are no screenshots, artworks, or any ETA. All we know is that the game will be coming to the PC.

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Lets hope they manage to finish the game or auction the IP off. But I doubt anyone would be that interested in buying it.

I read somewhere interview with Games Farm that they would like to work on Book 2 but they have even problems getting any revenue out of Book I since bitcomposer insolvency

Everyone knew that bitComposer was in deep trouble since the beginning of 2014. After the failure of JABIA and JA: Crossfire, things went down pretty fast. When i've heard who the devs of Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms signed for publishing i asked myself how people can be that ignorant, why did not they read about the situation of bitComposer, especially after what happened with Chaos Chronicles.

And what the frag is wrong with the german publishing companies?! They treat the devs and the customers like c..p and they go bankrupt. CDV, Jowood, Playlogic, bitComposer and i could list more. IP's are lost, the legal stuff is a complete mess (well, most of the time) and many devs are drawn in the same situation. In our days and age, self-publishing is not an imposibility, especially if you have a solid game. And let's face it: Shadows is a solid game. The management side of Games Farm should do their homeworks before signing a deal. Check the situation of the publisher, see if he can deliver, see if he's hiding something from you. Check the web for news, ask friends, see how things went for other devs that were signed to that publisher. It's not an impossibility. Such a shame to see a good game wasted...