In a release published on its website, Embracer announced that 4A Games and Zen Studios will remain under its ownership, and also confirmed that the former currently has two unannounced AAA titles in development. One of these is confirmed to be the next mainline instalment in the Metro franchise.

“We are satisfied with the conclusion of this transaction and very glad to see the great teams and assets of 4A Games and Zen Studios remain within Embracer,” said Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors. “They will be important building blocks in our continued journey. 4A Games has currently two AAA titles under development that we eagerly await to announce.”

Wingefors also went on to congratulate Saber Interactive on the recent successful launch of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, which surpassed 2 million players on all platforms shortly after its global release.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Matthew Karch for his contributions over the years, and at the same time congratulate the Saber team on the successful release of the iconic Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, that will make a great start in their new structure,” he said.

As for 4A Games’ next Metro title or its second unannounced AAA project, it remains to be seen when either will be announced. Earlier this year, publisher Deep Silver provided a brief update on the former, confirming that development on the game was continuing at 4A Games.

For starters, a number of studios that were operating under the Saber Interactive label will be part of Embracer Group’s divestment. That will include 3D Realms, Slipgate Ironworks, New World Interactive, Nimble Giant, Sandbox Strategies, Mad Head Games, Fractured Byte, and Digic. In total, Embracer says its divested assets include 38 ongoing game projects, as well as “certain proprietary engine technology and game tools relating to the divested companies.”

However, a number of studios that were previously operating under Saber are not being divested, and will continue to be owned by Embracer Group. This includes Tuxedo Labs (as well as the ongoing development of Teardown), Demiurge Studios, Beamdog, 34 Big Things, Tripwire Interactive, Snapshot Games, Shiver Entertainment, and Aspyr Media.

Embracer is also retaining control of ownership of 14 projects that were previously under Saber Interactive’s oversight, including two that are being worked on as joint projects with Saber itself.

These 14 projects include 4A Games’ next AAA project (which is presumably the next Metro game), a “previously announced AAA game based on a major license”, an unannounced AAA title that’s currently in the concept stage of production, a new AAA multiplayer shooter based on an IP owned by Embracer, a new AA game based on an Asmodee-owned IP, a new AA game by 34 Big Things based on an IP owned by Embracer, and the entire back catalog and all future upcoming projects by Aspyr Media, Tripwire Interactive (including Killing Floor 3), and Zen Studios.

It’s also been confirmed that Embracer and Saber’s deal includes an option for the latter to acquire Zen Studios and Metro developer 4A Games, though licensing and publishing rights for all existing and future Metro titles will be retained by Embracer Group’s PLAION.

Reports had previously indicated that development of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – Remake would continue at Saber Interactive following the deal’s completion, though that has yet to be officially confirmed.

Set against the backdrop of a steampunk London that has succumbed to an apocalyptic event called The Maddening, Circus Electrique sees players controlling a group of circus performers as they try to save the city. You choose a party of 4 members from a wide variety of distinct classes, as you take on increasingly tough foes in this turn-based tactical RPG. As showcased in the trailer, player positioning will be an important element of the combat as it unlocks certain buffs and skills for each character class.

Circus Electrique doesn’t have a release date at this point in time. The game will be releasing on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Nintendo Switch.

THQ Nordic parent company have been expanding rapidly and aggressively for a while now, and that expansion seems to be showing no signs of slowing down. The company recently announced that it has acquired a slate of new studios- 13 in total, of which 11 are game development studios, one is a PR firm, and one is a QA-focused software outsourcing company.

Polish developer Flying Wild Hog – who are currently working on Shadow Warrior 3 and have also partnered with Focus Home Interactive for an upcoming project – is one of the studios that have been acquired. Phoenix Point developer Snapshot Games, Operencia: The Stolen Sun developer Zen Studios, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated developer Purple Lamp Studios, and Quantum League developer Nimble Giant Entertainment have also joined the fold.

The other studios that Embracer have acquired are 34BigThings, Coffee Stain North, A Thinking Ape Entertainment, Mad Head Games, IUGO Mobile Entertainment, and Silent Games. Meanwhile, Embracer have also brought PR firm Sandbox Strategies and quality assurance-focused software outsourcing company Quantic Lab into the fold.

Where earlier this year Embracer Group collectively had 118 games in development, 69 of which were unannounced at the time, that number has now gone up to a whopping 135 games.

Zen Studios’ Operencia: The Stolen Sun is coming to PS4, Nintendo Switch and other PC digital platforms like Steam and GOG. Currently available for Xbox One and on PC through the Epic Games Store, the first person dungeon crawler releases for other platforms on March 31st. Check out the latest trailer below.

Taking place in the world of Operencia, which is inspired by Central European folktales, the story sees the Sun King Napkiraly being kidnapped. It’s up to the player to save him, traversing 13 different levels, facing over 50 different enemy types and solving puzzles in the process. Along the way, you’ll have different party members like Mezey the knight, Sebastian the dragon slayer, Joska the thief and several others join the cause.

Boasting gorgeous fantasy visuals and full voice-acting, Operencia: The Stolen Sun will appeal to old-school dungeon crawler fans. You can enable permadeath, map out each location yourself and so on for a more challenging experience. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks of its release.

First person dungeon crawlers have been rather hit-or-miss lately, but Zen Studios’ Operencia: The Stolen Sun is probably the exception. The RPG is available now for Xbox One (including Xbox Game Pass) and PC via the Epic Games Store and Microsoft Store. Check out the launch trailer below.

What makes Operencia interesting is its setting. Borrowing from Central European mythology and folktales, the story sees players exploring the land after the Sun King Napkirály goes missing. The presentation is fairly compelling with hand-drawn cutscenes and 30 fully voiced roles.

With 13 levels filled to the brim with puzzles, seven party members to upgrade, numerous difficulty settings (including permadeath), and over 50 enemy types, there’s quite a lot to sink one’s teeth into. Operencia: The Stolen Sun also supports Xbox Play Anywhere, so you can play it on both Xbox One and PC even if you purchase it for a single platform. The title will hit Steam in 2020.

"Central European myths and folklore inspired almost all of the environments in some way"

Operencia’s use of unexplored mythologies in its setting are an intriguing prospect- can you elaborate a bit on what players can expect to see from it in this area?

I came into the project about midway through development, but one of the things that really intrigued me from the start was the way in which Operencia draws from Central European mythology. As an American, I’m not going to pretend I knew a lot about this going in, but that’s the fun of it – there are a lot of great folktales, legends and mythology out there that probably have never been touched upon in 40-plus years of gaming. And while I can’t tell you for sure that this is the first time they’ve all been brought together into one cohesive universe – I think it’s a pretty safe bet. If you think of what properties like Fables, Once Upon a Time, and even Shrek have done with popular folklore, it’s kind of the same idea…just with material you’ve never really seen before. We’re also incorporating larger-than-life actual historical figures from the region – most notably Attila – into the story. It’s by no means a substitute for a history book – pretty sure Attila never fought a dragon, for example – but the historical figures still fall in line with their basic personality traits.

Beyond story, Central European myths and folklore inspired almost all of the environments in some way.

How much do the maps in the game vary from each other? Are the variations from a visuals perspective, or do they vary in terms of design and mechanics as well?

We have more than ten different visual settings in Operencia and most maps highly differ from each other in their mechanics as well. Our main level design principle was to make the maps diverse and deliver as many “wow moments” as possible.

There are some dark dungeons with narrow corridors and some with huge, open spaces and the layout always defines the puzzles and the behaviour of the enemies. Let me give you some examples. Many towers have multi-level puzzles which mean the targets are linked somehow and you have to comprehend the connection between them.

Then you have to climb to the magical World Tree where you will walk on the trunk, use the branches to build new routes and even move into the tree’s interior lairs and get out on the other side.

Last but not least, some rooms of Anna’s castle are flooded so you are not allowed to spend too much time underwater in search for treasures or you are going to drown. Every level needs a different approach on how to progress.

How much is Operencia going to be focused on narrative and storytelling?

The overall vision for Operencia was to modernize the classic first-person dungeon-crawling RPG – and a huge part of that is telling an interesting story with memorable characters. As much as we all loved playing Wizardry in the ‘80s, it wasn’t exactly deep in those aspects. But Operencia, I would say, takes more inspiration from Final Fantasy games in this regard. We do have an overall storyline running through the entire game, which you find out fairly early on involves literally finding the sun, which has vanished from the sky – hence the game’s subtitle. Once again, Central European mythology comes into play, as Hungarians once believed there was an actual Sun King whom we can see in the sky during daylight. He’s very real in our universe – and he’s been kidnapped.

And like Final Fantasy games ever since the Super NES era, the path to finding him involves encountering a whole party’s worth of diverse characters – a ragtag bunch that somehow has come together to become the land of Operencia’s only hope. It’s my sincere hope that you walk away from Operencia remembering characters like Jóska, Kela, and Sebastian in a similar regard to the likes of Cloud, Tidus, and Locke.

"With Operencia, much of our team grew up playing classic RPGs of this style, and there really aren’t a whole lot of them out there anymore – so we’re literally making a game we want to play, while also kind of filling a void. There’s no doubt in my mind that most old-school RPG players will enjoy this."

Can you go into some detail about how the combat system works in the game?

At the very beginning of the development process we tried to implement a classic real time combat system but after two months we switched to turn based. Running in circles, trying to dodge incoming attacks and closing the doors to keep the enemies out was not what we wanted to achieve in terms of complexity and tactics. The battlefield is now fully separated from the map because we did not want anything from the environment to interfere with the turn-based system.

The battlefield is divided into three lines and each skill and spell has different strength in every of these. The combat really needs a tactical thinking as each character has nine skills and a potion to choose from and there are so many aspects that affect which to choose. An AOE skill with a high hit ratio but low damage or a ranged skill which may have a stun effect on that wizard in the back line. Should you use a buff on the party or try to neutralize that taunting enemy in the front line? You can even use powerful party combo skills if you choose your previous skills wisely and use synergistic abilities.

Operencia seems like it’s geared towards players who have fond memories of classic dungeon crawlers, but how important has it been to make sure that it suits modern tastes as well? How hard has it been to get that balance right?

With Operencia, much of our team grew up playing classic RPGs of this style, and there really aren’t a whole lot of them out there anymore – so we’re literally making a game we want to play, while also kind of filling a void. There’s no doubt in my mind that most old-school RPG players will enjoy this. But you’re right – it’s very important that we’re appealing to modern players as well, and that’s always been top of mind. We believe the core mechanics – first-person exploration, interesting puzzles, character customization, etc. – will appeal to old-school players. At the same time, newer players will appreciate all that through welcoming features like a much more modern and user-friendly system of menus, beautiful graphics powered by Unreal Engine 4, and of course the story with memorable characters that are also fully voiced. This is the biggest single production Zen has ever created – so we definitely want to make sure it’s accessible to as many people as possible.

The first person dungeon crawling genre obviously has a long and storied history- were there any standout games in particular that served as inspirations during the development of Operencia?

Everyone on the team has their own favorites, but some of the most commonly mentioned titles are Wizardry, The Bard’s Tale, Eye of the Beholder, and Lands of Lore. As I mentioned, there’s a lot of Final Fantasy influence for story, but even some of the turn-based mechanics are rooted there as well. And I would even say that puzzles are such a big part of things, you could point to classics like Myst and Riven for some inspiration there. It all comes together into a pretty awesome cohesive experience.

Can you talk to us a bit about how progression mechanics work in the game?

Puzzle solving and exploration are essential parts of the game so winning a battle is not the only way to gain XP and equipments. We reward many activities like finding a secret area, digging up a treasure chest, brewing a new potion, using the special artefacts in optional sections. Players are even encouraged to fully reveal every single tile on each map for a small bonus.

As the player progresses more characters will be unlocked with significantly different characteristic and playing style. With their new skills and equipments party management will be quite a fun as there are so many interesting different setups. If the player puts some effort into potion crafting the battles will be more diverse.

Will the game will feature Xbox One X specific enhancements? What can players expect if they are playing the game on Xbox One X? Is 4K/60fps on the cards?

At the moment we are running in 4k/30fps on Xbox One X.

"We cannot talk much about what’s happening with next gen platforms as these details are very confidential. However, it is always a very exciting time in the industry when speculation and hype build for new devices and technology."

How is the game running on the original Xbox One, frame rate and resolution wise?

1080p/30fps on the original Xbox one

Next gen is coming sooner or later. From a development perspective, what is your biggest expectation from PS5 and Xbox Scarlett?

We cannot talk much about what’s happening with next gen platforms as these details are very confidential. However, it is always a very exciting time in the industry when speculation and hype build for new devices and technology. Everyone at Zen also enjoys these moments – these are some of the most enjoyable days in the industry!

What do you think about Sony’s lack of effort towards cross-play?

Zen is excited to see movement towards cross-play across platforms. We totally support this and would love to see a day where all players can participate in the same communities together, regardless of platform choice. Our pinball community would also really love for this to happen!

Do you think cross-platform play will be one of the defining features of next-gen consoles?

I do not think it is a ‘defining’ feature for next-gen consoles, but I do think it is necessary for long term success for games aiming to operate as services. In Zen’s case, having the ability to full connect the Pinball FX3 community would be hugely rewording and allow us to drive better in-game events and experiences. We fully support 100% cross platform play!

The lineup of games joining Xbox Game Pass over the next couple of weeks is an excellent one that is bound to get a lot of people excited. Microsoft have announced that the heavy hitting lineup includes Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Marvel vs Capcom Infinite, Vampyr, The Walking Dead: Michonne, What Remains of Edith Finch, and Operencia: The Stolen Sun.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is an excellent RPG and a great follow up to Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Though the 2016 title received some criticism for a lacklustre ending, the game is, by and large, a memorable and crisply developed experience. Meanwhile, What Remains of Edith Finch is perhaps one of the best adventure games around at the moment, telling a moving story through very effective means.

Dontnod Entertainment’s Vampyr is the studio’s first crack at a narrative-focused, choice-driven RPG, and though it’s a little rough around the edges, it’s still a fascinating game that does manage to overcome its flaws. Marvel vs Capcom Infinite isn’t the best game in the series by any means, but it’s still a solid fighter- especially if you’re getting it for the low, low price of free.

Operencia: The Stolen Sun, meanwhile, is Zen Studios’ upcoming dungeon crawling turn based RPG, which is due out for release on the Xbox One on March 29- it’ll be joining the Game Pass catalog as well, on the day of its release itself. There’s also The Walking Dead: Michonne, a by and large forgettable and largely disappointing interlude entry in Telltale’s otherwise solid episodic graphic adventure series. Though it has its issues, people invested in the series will still find some amount of enjoyment in it.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and What Remains of Edith Finch both join the Game Pass catalog tomorrow, on March 21, followed by The Walking Dead: Michonne and Vampyr on March 28. Marvel vs Capcom Infinite arrives on April 1st.

The PS4 Pro and the Xbox One Scorpio having better hardware than the PS4 and Xbox One means that PC gaming could now benefit, too. Since multiplatform developers largely target consoles first, and scale up for PC from there, having two more powerful consoles leads to the possibility that developers will be able to leverage the flexibility and power of PCs better and more effectively.

This is also a stance shared by Zen Studios, who are currently working on Infinite Minigolf.  Speaking to GamingBolt, Desiree Frost of Zen Studios told us, when asked the question of Xbox Scorpio impacting PC gaming with its 12GB of memory, that there could be positive ramifications for all platforms involved. 

“Being multiplatform means we need to take new hardware releases very seriously,” Desiree said. “Zen releases games which continue to be serviced well after release and there will be no exception here. Improvements to hardware always challenge developers, usually in good ways! Increases in memory is a good thing, and usually other competing performance platforms catch up quickly so I am sure we will see PC go the same route.  “

Desiree also confirmed that the PS4 Pro version of the game will have a resolution bump over the standard version. “On PS4 Pro we are rendering 1440p@60fps.” And what about the base PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game, then? “Both the PS4 and Xbox One versions are running at 1080p@60fps.”

So everyone should have a visually satisfying experience with this game, no matter what platform they plan on. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for our full interview with Desiree Frost, coming soon in the next few days.

Over this weekend, I made the argument that the Nintendo Switch being weaker than the Xbox One and PS4 really shouldn’t matter as much in terms of third party support– the reason that the Wii and Wii U lost third party support wasn’t because they were weak as much as because they were too different to develop games for, which combined with the weakness made many developers flat out give up. As long as the Switch uses industry standard development environments and tools, it should retain third party support.

We already know that the Switch does just that- after all, it is using development tools designed by none other than Nvidia. And now, in an interview with GamesTM (via Nintendo Everything), Zen Studios VP of Publishing Mel Kir has shared the same sentiment.

“Most developers have had experience working with Nvidia’s tech at some point. Their tools and tech are really easy to integrate, so yes, I think this makes the Switch platform much easier if not better to develop for than Wii U,” he said.

Hopefully, this ends up holding true- the Switch looks to be an extremely promising system, and if Nintendo handles it right, it could end up going down as the quintessential system from them. Let’s just hope the third parties stay on board with them, too.