Former Project IGI devs buy IP back from Square Enix But developer Artplant not announcing new game just yet, re-releases and remasters are off the cards

James Batchelor UK Editor Tuesday 3rd January 2017 Share this article Share

Companies in this article Artplant Eidos Square Enix

Norwegian studio Artplant has purchased a long-absent Eidos franchise from Square Enix and hopes to revive the series in future.

The firm has acquired the rights to Project IGI, a first-person shooter that was originally released in 2000 by the Britsoft publisher. A sequel was later released in 2003, with both games developed by Innerloop.

Artplant was founded in 2001 by former Innerloop employees. While the studio has said it is not yet announcing any new games, CEO Jack Wulff says the deal "marks the shift in [our] strategy from making games for publishers to producing and owning our own games". He adds that he looks forward to "creating new experiences for fans of the old game and introducing the IP to a new audience".

However, fans of the original are unlikely to see a re-release or remaster any time soon as the publishing rights still belong to Square Enix.

The Japanese publisher still holds the majority of Eidos' IP portfolio following its acquisition of the firm back in 2009. While it has seen success with reboots and revivals for the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex series, and attempted to bring classic stealth outing Thief back to shelves, much of its other Eidos properties remain retired.

A handful of the Britsoft publisher's franchises have been made available through the Square Enix Collective, an indie initiative that allows third-party developers to pitch ideas for new games or those based on selected IP. For example, a new Fear Effect game has been crowdfunded and is currently in development.