Big Huge Games and 38 Studios’ 2012 action-RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has developed a devoted cult following over the years, and is now widely considered to be a largely underrated game. With its developers having gone bankrupt shortly after its release, however, hopes for the property to continue being active had been dead for a long time.

In 2018, THQ Nordic purchased rights to the IP, but noted not long afterward that the publishing rights to the first game itself still rested with EA, and that as such, a release of a remaster would be complicated. It seems, however, that the two parties have reached some sort of an agreement, because a remaster for the game has been leaked via the Microsoft Store.

Called Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning, it’s being developed by Kaiko – who have previously worked on various other THQ remasters, including the Darksiders games and Red Faction: Guerrilla – and will be releasing on August 11. It promises “stunning visuals and refined gameplay” and will also include all the DLC released for the game.

Images of the remaster are also included in the game’s page on the store, which you can check out in the gallery below.

While this isn’t an official announcement, that should also be coming shortly (one would assume, at least), so stay tuned for that.

While Xbox is the face of Microsoft’s gaming initiatives today, their history in the gaming market goes back longer than that. Back in the day, Microsoft was a publisher of many beloved PC games, a few of which are considered to be among the greatest ever made. Chief among these is the Age of Empires series, the real time strategy phenomenon by the now defunct Ensemble Studios that changed the landscape of strategy games forever.

Eventually, Microsoft themselves would riff on the Age of Empires concept with Age of Mythology and Rise of Nations. All of these games have gone on to be re-released for modern PCs in the form of “Definitive Editions”. And now, it seems like they may be coming to Microsoft’s Xbox One.

As noticed by Reddit user 08spurlingD and ResetEra user Neural, both, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition and Rise of Nations: Definitive Edition were listed on the Xbox Store briefly. They have since been taken down, but you can see screenshots below.

Maybe these are announcements that will be made at the upcoming X018? I personally would love nothing more than to play these games, which defined my childhood in such large part, once more on a big screen. And maybe this means that Age of Empires 2 and Age of Mythology could come to the Xbox One soon, too…

While THQ Nordic has acquired the rights to the Kingdoms of Amalur franchise, that doesn’t mean that a re-release or a remaster of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is inbound any time soon. In a statement to Eurogamer, the publisher confirmed that EA still holds the publishing rights to that game, so anything to do with it would require their express approval before THQ Nordic could proceed.

“EA still has the publishing rights to Reckoning, about any other details about the relationship between EA and 38 Studios we can’t comment,” the statement reads. “At this stage we ‘only’ acquired the intellectual property. Given our track record, we know what the burning questions (remaster, remake, port to current-gen systems etc.) are, but we decided do not answer those specifically as we tend to put our heads together first and then do our homework, and only start to talk about anything once we feel confident and very familiar with the franchise.”

To be fair, THQ Nordic have generally done right by all the properties they have acquired- for instance, they remastered the Darksiders games for current generation systems, before finally moving on to Darksiders 3 which is due out this November for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. We could, perhaps, see a similar path adopted by them for Kingdoms of Amalur.

Then again, working with EA to wrangle out the rights might be difficult enough that THQ Nordic just decides to eschew the original, and reboot the IP entirely (although at that point, you would also have to wonder why they bothered acquiring it to begin with, when they could instead just have built a new one).

For now, all of this is speculation, and all we can do is wait and see.

2012’s Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was an ambitious action RPG, a huge game that blended ideas from multiple games belonging to multiple genres, with a full-fledged class system to sate the hunger of RPG veterans, a winding, engaging narrative, and so much more.

It had huge talents attached to it as well, including renowned writer R.A. Salvator doing the, well, writing; Ken Rolston, former lead designer on the likes of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Oblivion taking up that same role; acclaimed composer Grant Kirkhop making the game’s music; and superstar artist Todd McFarlane handling the art. It had a lot going for it, and when it launched, it, sadly enough, didn’t do as well as perhaps it should have.

The game had its fair share of issues, sure, but underneath those issues was a real gem, a fact that a devoted base of ravenous fans proudly trumpets to this day. Sadly, we never even got a sequel, since co-developer and publisher 38 Games filed for bankruptcy not long after its launch, and that set of ravenous fans was left sorely disappointed.

If you belong to that set of fans, I’ve got good news for you- THQ Nordic have announced on their official Twitter page that they have acquired the Kingdoms of Amalur IP, “among other assets” from 38 Studios. Which is just aces in my book. Kingdoms of Amalur was a diamond in the rough, but a diamond it was, and I’m absolutely stoked that it’s – in all likeliness – coming back.

And honestly, props to THQ Nordic for all that they’ve been doing. Their library of IP – which also includes the upcoming Darksiders 3, by the way – is frankly ridiculous at this point, and if they manage it well enough, they can be an absolute powerhouse in the coming years.

Last year, THQ Nordic purchased the rights to the upcoming Biomutant, while recently they also acquired the beloved TimeSplitters IP. That’s on top of stuff like Saints Row, Metro, Red Faction, Sine Mora, and so much more. Keep up the surprisingly excellent work, THQ Nordic- you have our complete attention by this point.

We are beyond proud to announce that THQ Nordic has acquired the "Kingdoms of Amalur" IP, among other assets, from 38 Studios.#THQNordic #KingdomsofAmalur pic.twitter.com/YSnXPm7M7e

— THQ Nordic (@THQNordic) September 6, 2018

Remember Big Huge Games? You have to. Created by Brian Reynolds, the co-creator of the excellent Civilization series, the studio had a trailblazing start, when they debuted with the paradigm setting real time strategy game, Rise of Nations. Big Huge Games’ subsequent output, however, which usually involved expansion packs for Microsoft’s strategy or sim games, such as Age of Empires III or Zoo Tycoon 2, never lived up to the potential of their first game, and by the time the studio released Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning with 38 Studios, it was folded up as part of the latter’s bankruptcy, as part of the game’s failure.

Well, now Brian Reynolds has revived the studio, and they have already announced their new game. It is called DomiNations, and it is an ‘epic’ and ‘innovative’ strategy game, that will let players virtually travel through history, from the stone age to the space age.

It is also a mobile title. For iOS and Android tablets and smartphones.

And it will be releasing in 2015.

If ever there was a case of mixed emotions, this would be it.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more, I guess.

Known for Lord of the Rings Online, Turbine has stated that Rolston is “one of the most accomplished fantasy RPG computer and video game designers of all time, with over a decade of lead designer experience on the award-winning Elder Scrolls franchise.”

This is only a small part in a concentrated effort from Turbine to “design and deploy the next generation of online gaming.” But whichever way you cut it, Rolston is back in business, as he rightfully should be.

Source: GIBiz

Curt Schilling created 38 Studios, developers of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning have officially declared bankruptcy after several reports about the same. The studio has gone ahead and officially filed for bankruptcy.

Local news group WPRI says an FBI investigation about the studio’s shady and controversial pubic funding is currently underway. 38 singed up for a deal a couple years back that enabled them for a tax-payer backed loan of $75 million.

After 38 Studios laid off several people from its team a few days back, Epic Games bought their second party Big Huge Games, known for their work on the excellent Rise of Nations RTS series and for working on KOA: Reckoning.

Looks like Amalur just didn’t generate enough revenue for them. I wonder what this means for their upcoming MMO Project Copernicus.

Stay tuned for more details, we will keep you updated.

Big Huge Games, the developers of Kingdom of Amalur, were in serious trouble after all the events that transpired recently surrounding 38 Studios, but Epic Games have come to their rescue.

“On Wednesday, the ex-BHG leadership team contacted us,” Epic president Mike Capps said. “They wanted to start a new company and keep together some of the key talent displaced by the layoff, and hoped that they could use an Epic IP as a starting point for a new game.

“We loved that they all wanted to keep working together, but it was pretty clear they’d have trouble building a demo and securing funding before their personal savings ran out.

“In one of life’s coincidences, Epic’s directors had spent the morning discussing how we’d love to build even more successful projects with our growing team, but that we’d need a dramatic infusion of top talent to do so. Which, we all knew, was impossible. So now we’re planning to start an impossible studio in Baltimore.”

It’s nice to see a big company like Epic Games reaching out to developers who lost their jobs recently. Mike Capps also mentioned that they will be revealing a lot more details on this soon.

“There’s a million things to work out. How many of the team can we hire? What will it be called? What will they be working on? We don’t know all the answers yet. Please give us some time to figure it out; we hope to have more to share soon,” he said.

“Epic’s in a situation where we can do this, and it very clearly fits with our company values, so we’re going to give it a whirl.”

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

38 Studios, and Big Huge Games unveil Teeth of Naros, the second downloadable content (DLC) pack for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

Teeth of Naros will be available starting on April 17,2012 on Xbox Live for 800 points and PlayStation Network, Origin and Steam for $9.99.

The Teeth of Naros DLC and the journey through the mysterious land will feature:

· A New City – Explore the city of Idylla, which magically floats in the sky above the Teeth of Naros featuring more than 20 side quests, multiple dungeons and a mysterious new race
· New Enemies and Dungeons – Players will take part in a crucible of faith and tribulation with new dangers and enemies as they journey through five enormous new dungeons
· New Twists of Fate and Items – Three new Twists of Fate, nine new armor sets, six new shields and 18 new unique weapons for players to choose from as they journey through this new world

Stay tuned to GB for more news and updates.

A new DLC for the action-RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, titled ‘Teeth of Naros” has been announced by EA and Big Huge Games. The full details are given below:

• A New City — Explore the city of Idylla, which magically floats in the sky above the Teeth of Naros featuring more than 20 side quests, multiple dungeons and a mysterious new race.
• New Enemies and Dungeons — Players will take part in a crucible of faith and tribulation with new dangers and enemies as they journey through five enormous new dungeons.
• New Twists of Fate and Items — Three new Twists of Fate, nine new armor sets, six new shields and 18 new unique weapons for players to choose from as they journey through this new world.

Teeth of Naros releases on Origin for PC, Xbox Live for Xbox 360 and PSN for PS3 on April 17 for $9.99. Stay tuned for more updates.