CI Games opens new studio Hexworks to develop Lords of the Fallen 2
CI Games has announced the opening of Hexworks, a new game development studio based in Bucharest and Barcelona set to develop Lords of the Fallen 2. The studios opened their doors starting in March, and are currently planning to release the action RPG on next-gen consoles and PC.
Lords of the Fallen 2 has had a strange and rocky pre-development. Plans for its creation were first made public in 2015, then a partnership with Defiant Studios was announced in 2018 before that fell apart a year later.
The new team at Hexworks is lead by Creative Director Cezar Virtosu and Executive Producer Saul Gason, numbering about 25 people in total with staff experience in AAA games. The team has taken feedback from the original game and is aiming for Lords of the Fallen 2 to be dark fantasy RPG with combat more loyal to the challenging experience that Souls-like communities enjoy.
The following are quotes from Cezar Virtosu and Saul Gason, as well as CI Games CEO Marek Tyminski.
CI Games CEO Marek Tyminski
“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.”
Executive Producer Saul Gascon
“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
"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."