Risen 2 - No Further DLCs Planned

Moriendor sends word of a comment from Deep Silver rep 'FrauS' on the World of Risen forums. As translated by Mo:

We currently do not have any plans for further Risen 2 DLCs.

More information.

No milking the community?
Well… I can respect that decision.

Not planned…because the publisher is waiting for sales numbers before they put in an order for them?

It doesn't mean a ton. Not planned is quite a ways away from we're not doing it.

Originally Posted by Brother None
Not planned…because the publisher is waiting for sales numbers before they put in an order for them?

Could be but PB is such a small team I'd be willing to bet that they are either working on an expansion or on Risen 3 with nearly the full team already while another part of the team is looking at patches and helping Wizarbox wrap up the console version for August.
They're not the kind of team that could easily do a quick DLC on the side in addition to a larger scale project. They're too small.

And German customers are extremely conservative. Deep Silver has already been getting tons of negative feedback (pretty close to a shitstorm really) these last few weeks because of their release day DLC policy and because of having DLC in general. It would be very unwise of "FrauS' to make a statement like that if it were not true that there will be no further DLC. I really don't want to know what category of shitstorm we'd see if DS were to announce more DLC after that post from "FrauS". It would get very ugly.

They could be working on a new Gothic game.

Originally Posted by guenthar
They could be working on a new Gothic game.

That was the speculation, last I heard:

http://www.strategyinformer.com/news…-piranha-bytes

They were a bit evasive about it, but that would make sense.

Very unlikely. They have stated time and again (also at recent Risen 2 related events and in interviews) that they have no plans for Gothic at the moment.

And I disagree about it making any sense. It would be much safer and more convenient for them to continue their cooperation with Deep Silver (DS).
Now you might say that DS could do Gothic with them… well, I don't think that DS would be interested in PB doing a new Gothic for them or with them. DS own the Risen brand and it's very close to Gothic. Why try to establish a used (and abused) brand in parallel to Risen? No way. That wouldn't make any sense. They wouldn't fund a PB-made Gothic.
So PB would have to find a new publisher but who? Also, the usual MO is that the brand is transferred to the publisher. Would they surrender the Gothic brand (give away their "baby" as they put it themselves in the past) another time after how "well" that worked out with JoWooD? I don't think so.
The only way I can see them use the Gothic brand in a way that makes sense would be to either keep it in the bank as a life insurance or to license it to a trustworthy third party under their terms and conditions.
But PB doing a new Gothic themselves? Nope. Not at this time, unless they win the lottery and can afford to develop and self-publish.

I was really looking forward to a Gothic 4 too

DS own the Risen brand and it's very close to Gothic. Why try to establish a used (and abused) brand in parallel to Risen? No way. That wouldn't make any sense. They wouldn't fund a PB-made Gothic

It makes sense in that now they have the rights back - not saying it makes more sense they'd be doing that then anything else. But now that they've finally got the rights back, they can at least so it's plausible. They did have people speculating they were working on the next gothic game before they even got the rights back - that didn't make sense.

Actually I was half expecting to hear they'd be unifying the IPs -> Risen 3: Gothic. Not saying it would be a good idea, but I can hear some marketting junior vp squealing with delight over it. I'm also not suggesting this seems particularly likely, but the worlds do not seem entirely incompatible if one were to believe they were large enough. Pirates vs. orcs? No I'm not really being serious.

Also I think it's a little premature to argue the value of the Risen brand over the Gothic brand until we know how well or poorly Risen 2 actually does in sales. The very mixed reviews being out for half a week before even the PC launch probably aren't going to spur sales - warranted or not. I suppose it will depend on how valauble either franchise still is at this point. They may just want to move on and develop something entirely separate from either - they've been doing variations on high-fantasy for quite a while and might want to do something different for a change anyways.

Originally Posted by Moriendor
But PB doing a new Gothic themselves? Nope. Not at this time, unless they win the lottery and can afford to develop and self-publish.

That is pretty much how I see it myself I am very sad to admit…

Hmm, buy lottery tickets to send to Hoge ?

On the other hand I have to agree that If Risen2 seriously tanked on sales who knows… I do not expect it will come to that though, not even close…

Originally Posted by jhwisner
they've been doing variations on high-fantasy for quite a while and might want to do something different for a change anyways.

I would not be 100% comfortable calling the Gothics High fantasy, due to the "roughness" and down to earth nature of their approach even although after G1 they added more and more elements of that staple.

Making something other than fantasy would be nice. But what I would really want out of them would be a return to the really low key and relatively low magic approach of G1. Not to mention dropping you in a hostile and inaccessible environment without clearly spelling out the end objective (Thou art the chosen one!! Now go forth and slay some Evilness !!11!) but only giving you the first hint to set you on your path…

Actually investing time and the pleasure of discovery while playing not in much demand nowadays it seems…

Given all the other fantasy series, it would be good to see PB do something else. The pirate setting could easily lead into a Napoleonic setting which I think would be great, or even Victorian - i.e. 18th or 19th century. That's not to say all fantasy settings are the same, but we do have Bethesda, Bioware, and the Witcher, Two Worlds and Amalur studios, plus Larian.., all doing fantasy even before counting smaller fry.

Originally Posted by Alistair
Given all the other fantasy series, it would be good to see PB do something else. The pirate setting could easily lead into a Napoleonic setting which I think would be great, or even Victorian - i.e. 18th or 19th century. That's not to say all fantasy settings are the same, but we do have Bethesda, Bioware, and the Witcher, Two Worlds and Amalur studios, plus Larian.., all doing fantasy even before counting smaller fry.

Ditto, I was excited for Risen 2 for exactly this reason. On the other hand, these settings would almost certainly require guns… (and many here don't seem to like non-sword&sorcery stuff)

I would certainly not mind seeing them do a Steampunk setting i.e.

But really I'd just rather have them do a really good hardcore Low Fantasy RPG because quite frankly few of the mentioned studios (and most indies) do games that I actually want to play or match the kind of enjoyment that PB at their best provide for me…

So perhaps some of those studios could try other settings instead (and many do already some quite successfully I hear)

Originally Posted by Moriendor
And German customers are extremely conservative.

Yes, that's my personal impression as well. Most american-based game makers just don't realize that.

Hence the negative reactions of "Satinav's Chains" (the TDE adventure game) having Steam.

RPG and adventure Games lovers are imho the far most conservative ones among the gamers, at least here in Germany.

ME3, although an RPG as well, doesn't count because it is rather directed/targeted at a much younger and far less conservative target group of gamers - those who a) already love shooters and b) are already accustomed to DLCs and what not.

But again, this is my subjective way of seeing things.

Originally Posted by jhwisner
Pirates vs. orcs? No I'm not really being serious.

Would at least be a novelty. No-one had done it before, as far as I know.

But on the other hand - I don't know if German RPG players would like it.

Originally Posted by jhwisner
Actually I was half expecting to hear they'd be unifying the IPs -> Risen 3: Gothic. Not saying it would be a good idea, but I can hear some marketting junior vp squealing with delight over it. I'm also not suggesting this seems particularly likely, but the worlds do not seem entirely incompatible if one were to believe they were large enough.

PB themselves are kind of schizophrenic about it as well. On the one hand their CEO Michael Rüve does not tire to emphasize that they do not have plans to revive Gothic and that anyone who believes in unifying the IPs must be hitting the pipe but on the other hand the bio of Captain Gregorius Steelbeard explicitly mentions that he sailed the waters around an island called Khorinis in his earlier pirate life —> WTF?

They may just want to move on and develop something entirely separate from either - they've been doing variations on high-fantasy for quite a while and might want to do something different for a change anyways.

That would be much more likely than a return to Gothic in my opinion. Aside from the reasons I stated earlier in this thread, there are tons more reasons why it is more than unlikely PB would return to Gothic now.
Rüve is a very conservative guy. He's seen the demise of the original Phenomedia/Piranha Bytes GmbH (the new Piranha Bytes of today is only a label of Pluto 13 GmbH). He's had to fight many a battle to keep PB afloat. He's not the kind to take any unnecessary risks, i.e. unless Deep Silver dumps PB for some reason I'm sure that Rüve is very much interested in a long term relationship.

And let's not totally forget about the psychological factor. PB is very small. They have very little fluctuation within their core team. I'm willing to bet that the majority of the team would not even want to go back to Gothic since it would bring back some not so good memories. I can literally hear some of them sighing 'boss, do we really have to go back to doing that crap again?'
It would also put them under tremendous pressure from the press and the fans. The expectations would be through the roof and then some. It would be a battle against all odds with a very uncertain outcome.
It's just not going to happen. Not at this time.

Uniting Risen and Gothic wouldn't make much sense. Risen belongs to DS (without knowing if PB has certain rights for developing the new games), Gothic to PB. Why would any of them give away complete control in favour of 50% control of a unified brand?
And why should PB shrink from 2 profitable brands they can work on, one not their own, to 1 brand with 50% share?

Gothic will certainly return at some point. At the latest when PB needs some quick cash they'll do the Gothic 1 and 2 HD updates they promise they won't even think about.

At some point PB will decide to reboot the franchise. It's a huge competitive advantage over other studios that they own a decent IP. Below a certain budget it's 99% certain a new Gothic would earn them money, or at least pay the bills for a few years, which is also nice to have.

Originally Posted by Gorath
At the latest when PB needs some quick cash they'll do the Gothic 1 and 2 HD updates they promise they won't even think about.

I've got a cyber-erection just thinking about that.

That's called a "Nerdgasm", by the way.

Originally Posted by Gorath
Gothic will certainly return at some point. At the latest when PB needs some quick cash they'll do the Gothic 1 and 2 HD updates they promise they won't even think about.

If that day ever comes… I'll go buck naked and start pirouetting until I've drilled a hole in the ground!

Ahem.Yeah, anything Piranha-ey & Gothic is welcome.