Gothic (upcoming video game)

Gothic is an upcoming remake of the 2001 action role-playing game of the same name. The game is in development at Alkimia Interactive.

Gothic
Developer(s)Alkimia Interactive
Publisher(s)THQ Nordic
Producer(s)Reinhard Pollice
Composer(s)Kai Rosenkranz
SeriesGothic
EngineUnreal Engine 5
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
PlayStation 5
Xbox Series X/S
Release2nd half of 2024
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Background and production

In May 2019, the Austrian computer game publisher THQ Nordic bought the German development studio Piranha Bytes, which was the author and the rights holder of the computer game Gothic. This title and ownership passed to THQ Nordic.[1]

In December 2019, the Spanish branch of THQ Nordic, THQ Barcelona, released the game demo Gothic Playable Teaser and at the same time started a public survey to get feedback from the Gothic fan community on the demo and on the idea of a remake.[2][3] The response to it was relatively high, with over 180,000 downloads of the demo[4] and over 30,000 responses,[5] which varied accordingly.[6][7] In February 2020, THQ Nordic announced the production of the remake. According to the publisher, over 90% of the players were in favor for a production of a remake.[4]

Before the start of production, in May 2020, Alkimia Interactive was founded in Barcelona specifically for the development of a Gothic remake.[8] All creative people involved were advised to have played the original title before the start of production.[9] Piranha Bytes itself had stated to THQ Nordic that its own motivation in game development was not another Gothic game, but the development of other titles such as ELEX.[8]

By their own admission, the "heart" that Alkimia Interactive is focusing on in production is the AI. An algorithm in the game decides which animation sequences are called up or follow one another, so that the movements of the player character and NPCs appear realistic. The algorithm/the AI uses 20–30-minute motion capture recordings as specifications, which have been divided into individual sequences and categorized, which is referred to as motion magic. According to Alkimia Interactive iteration has been given a lot of work-time during the production in this regard. "Controls and UI" are also "two big points" to make the game "more accessible [than the original]". According to Reinhard Pollice, the lead producer at Alkimia Interactive, the combat system in the remake is based on the original, in contrast to the playable teaser. Aside from certain graphics taken from the playable teaser, there was a "complete reboot" in game design after the community feedback on the demo called for a remake that was more close to the original than the demo itself. Accordingly, the skill system will again be "very close to the original". Lockpicking will feature a system similar to the original, but will be, according to Alkimia Interactive, presented differently. Due to increased design options and higher level of detail since 2001, the game world, which is based on the original, will be 10–30% larger overall. If some places in the original game world were not fully designed, an attempt was made to "take up such potential".[10][5] Because of this, some locations have higher magnification than others.[9] Through those few new locations the remake has got additional quests, which are based on the camp affiliation.[11] Puzzles have been revised to include "new interactions". "Plotholes" of the original would be "better explained" in the remake. In 2023, at Alkimia Interactive, circa 45 people work on the production of the remake.[5][11]

The THQ studio Gate21, based in Sarajevo, was commissioned to design armor and NPCs. In contrast to the predecessor, the armor of the NPCs will not look exactly the same, but will differ in details, so that there will be variations from each armor model.[9] In the remake, the „hero“ (player character) is able to tweak the value of his armor through modifications, which in turn has a small impact on the appearance of the armor. The food- and cooking system is also expanded in the remake.[12] In order to facilitate and speed up the work process, NPC faces are created using deep learning AI.[5]

The game is developed with the Unreal Engine for organizational reasons.[9] During development, Alkimia Interactive switched from Unreal 4 to Unreal 5.[10] When asked in August 2022 whether there will be mod support for the remake, the development studio, which itself consists of employees who had worked on mods for Gothic I and Gothic II, could not provide any information.[9]

Soundtrack, Dialogues and synchronisation

Kai Rosenkranz, who was already the composer of the eponymous original, is (as of August 2022) also responsible for the soundtrack of the remake. Rosenkranz reinterprets the original soundtrack and adds additional pieces of music.[9]

Dialogues will be new dubbed[5] and additional, new written dialogues, will be added.[10] As in the original, the choice of a dialogue-option can determine the course and outcome of a conversation.[13] The game will be voiced in German and English, and due to its large fanbases in Poland and Russia, in Polish and Russian, too.[14] When dubbing the German edition, Alkimia Interactive wants to include voice actors who were involved in the original, whenever possible.[5]

Marketing and release

A first trailer was released in August 2022.[15] Artworks of the remake have been published on Steam at regular intervals since January 2023 at the latest.[16][17] In February 2023, Alkimia Interactive claimed the development was "in the middle of production and therefore perfectly on schedule", but did not want to commit to a release date.[5] In March 2023, the studio cited the year 2024 as a "realistic release timeline."[11] In the same month, publisher THQ Nordic said it "did not want to name a final release period".[18] In June 2023, THQ Nordic announced that Gothic Remake will have a very limited PC physical edition.[19] A second trailer was published in August 2023.[20] In the same month it was announced that the game will be released in the second half of 2024.[10]

References
  1. "Piranha Bytes acquired by THQ Nordic". THQ Nordic GmbH. 22 May 2019. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  2. Halley, Dimitry (13 December 2019), "Gothic Remake: Alle Infos zur spielbaren Demo", GameStar, retrieved 6 March 2023
  3. "Gothic: Remake quasi angekündigt, spielbarer Prototyp veröffentlicht". pcgames.de (in German). 13 December 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  4. ""Gothic"-Remake kommt tatsächlich für PC, PS5 und Xbox Series X". derstandard.de (in Austrian German). 19 February 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  5. Schubert, William (19 February 2023). "Gothic Remake: Wie ist der aktuelle Entwicklungsstand? Ein Interview mit Reinhard Pollice". global.techradar.com (in German). Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  6. ""Der letzte Scheiß!" – Gothic Playable Teaser". gamersglobal.de (in German). 4 April 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  7. Schulz, Elena (16 December 2019), "Gothic Remake: Das sagen die Spieler auf Steam zum Playable Teaser", GameStar, retrieved 6 March 2023
  8. "World of Gothic – Gothic – Reinhard Pollice". worldofgothic.de. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  9. "Mit Kai Rosenkranz zum alten Glanz: So konnte uns das Gothic Remake auf der Gamescom doch verzaubern". pcgameshardware.de (in German). 30 August 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  10. veröffentlicht, William Schubert (31 August 2023). "Preview: Das Gothic Remake wird genau das, was ich haben will". TechRadar (in German). Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  11. "Khorinis liegt in Barcelona: Ein Besuch bei den Machern des "Gothic"-Remakes". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  12. "Gothic Remake: Ich habe Gameplay gesehen und es sieht gut aus". PC GAMES (in German). 7 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  13. "Gothic Remake: Die Neuauflage des Klassikers wird richtig gut!". Gameswelt (in German). 4 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  14. "Gothic 1 Remake bei Steam". store.steampowered.com (in German). 6 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  15. "Gothic Remake: Trailer nimmt uns mit auf einen stimmungsvollen Ausflug in die alte Mine". gamestar.de (in German). 1 August 2022. Primärquelle/Originalvideo auf Youtube. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  16. "Gothic Remake: Entwickler geben weiteres Update und zeigen die neuen Riesenratten". pcgameshardware.de (in German). 28 January 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  17. "Gothic Remake: Neues Entwickler-Update zeigt wunderschöne, aber tödliche Monster". pcgameshardware.de (in German). 27 February 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  18. Bathge, Peter (22 March 2023). "Gothic Remake: Das Release-Datum liegt noch in weiter Ferne". GameStar (in German). Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  19. "THQ Nordic's boxed PC games are facing a strictly limited future | THQ Nordic GmbH". thqnordic.com. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  20. "Gothic Remake vs. Original: Trailer vom alten Lager plus PCGH-Bildvergleich – Das hat sich verändert!". PC Games Hardware (in German). 11 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
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