The saga of Lords of the Fallen 2's development has just received a new chapter. You might recall that the sequel of Deck 13's 'Soulsborne' game has been in the works for a very long time. In fact, it was originally announced in 2014 for a release in 2017.

　　However, three years ago we began learning of development troubles from Lords of the Fallen producer Tomasz Gop. In June 2018, publisher CI Games announced that Lords of the Fallen 2 would now be developed by Defiant Studios, only to remove the project from their hands less than a year later. A few months ago we got a brief update from CI Games, but now the publisher has announced yet another game studio as the official developer.

　　Called Hexworks, it's a brand new studio based in both Barcelona and Bucharest and comprised of around 25 veteran staff with triple-A game development experience. Executive Producer Saul Gascon said:

　　As a dedicated gamer myself, I can feel when developers are passionate about the games they make. And this is what our studio is all about: Creating games we love to play ourselves. We've gathered a kickass team of senior developers with a deep fascination for mature fantasy games. The path has been intense, especially with the global lockdown situation, but working shoulder-to- shoulder with Marek and Cezar, we've gathered a great team mostly from our networks.

　　I can't wait to share more information on the studio, and show what we are working on!

　　Creative Director Cezar Virtosu added:

　　For many months now, the three of us worked defining and scoping the project, to find the right DNA that would grant us a competitive edge and still remain in the realm of feasibility. It is challenging to develop combat-focused games remotely, but this is offset by the ease of contacting and working with massive Soulsborne fans scattered around the world. It is an intoxicating mix of indie production and fanwork, since we are not a big production block and we all come from the genre's trenches, thus, regardless of nationality, we are speaking the same game language. We are enthusiastic about our mission and we are aiming to deliver a creatively charged gameplay experience within the genre's framework.

　　Lastly, CI Games CEO Marek Tyminski revealed that Lords of the Fallen 2 just received €5.7 million in funding from investors last week.

　　I am very pleased with the strong interest from the investors. This is a very good news for CI Games as a developer with studios in several locations in Europe.

　　It’s been a long time since we started talking about Lords of the Fallen 2 and trying

　　different ideas. I am very excited for us to be able to announce the new studio that has

　　been already at work for the last half of the year and made significant progress. Initially we decided to keep that quiet as we didn’t want to bring that to public eyes before we would build the core team and before we would all agree on the details of the first project and move forward with our vision. So, this is the time to officially say we are here and we’re here to stay.

　　The press release adds that Lords of the Fallen 2, in development for next-gen consoles and PC, will 'shift from the original's power fantasy to a dark fantasy' and 'be much more loyal to the challenging combat experience' expected by the Soulsborne community.

　　With game development basically restarted once again, it's fair to assume it'll be years before we get to play the game. Until then, stay tuned.