Publisher GTA Take-Two Interactive withdrew from the publishing deal with People Can Fly, two years after starting work on the studio’s next project.
Developer Outriders announced the end of cooperation within a few years statement (opens in a new tab) He said the studio “received a letter of intent from Take-Two Interactive to terminate the development and publishing agreement through mutual understanding.”
Take-Two was about to release an as yet unannounced action-adventure game based on the original IP. Codename Project Dagger, the game is still in pre-production. People Can Fly says it will now focus on tightening the combat and gameplay loops, as well as migrating from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5.
More live laments?
The affidavit does not disclose why Take-Two withdrew from the publishing deal, although it describes the decision as being on good terms. People Can Fly CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski said he saw no reason why the studio should not cooperate with Take-Two again in the future.
People Can Fly has retained the rights to the project and will continue to develop it prior to self-release of the final version. According to the statement, Take-Two was able to buy the property rights, but chose not to do so. Wojciechowski treats the publisher’s strike as merely a hiccup on the way to the full end of the project.
Project Dagger is one of seven games currently being developed by People Can Fly. The studio is also working on the game in collaboration with Square Enix, two others that will be released on its own, and several VR titles.
Most recently, he collaborated with Square Enix to release the FPS Outriders Live in 2020. We figured this was a “peculiar game” of making cookie covers that made a terrible first impression. But immerse yourself in it for hours and you’ll find “undeniable charm in the Outriders approach to the booty shooter genre.”
Even though Outriders was not well received by critics, it didn’t fare as badly as Square Enix’s last foray into live gaming, which turned out to be a disaster.