Starbreeze had a rocky 2018: it was forced to restructure following the sales flop of Overkill’s The Walking Dead, and began selling off previously-acquired publishing rights, starting with System Shock 3. This week, it announced it has sold the rights to 10 Crowns, the historical 4X strategy game made by Civilization 4 veterans, back to developer Mohawk Games. It bought the rights just over a year ago.

In a press release, the publisher said it had partly financed the development of the game since February of last year, and that it "expects to be fully reimbursed" for these costs. "The title owner Mohawk Games and Starbreeze have now reached an agreement whereby Starbreeze returns the publishing rights for the game to Mohawk and will be able to recoup the development costs at a premium," it said.

Mohawk Games, which previously made Offworld Trading Company, has not yet announced a release date for 10 Crowns, a strategy game in which you'll create the "greatest dynasty in world history". The developer is currently accepting applications for private alpha testing.

The studio is led by Soren Johnson, lead designer of Civilization 4, and Dorian Newcomb, art director of Civilization 5.

Thanks, Gamasutra.