Sixth game

"You have done well, Raziel. But there is one more trial for you to bear. You must unite that which has been set asunder... only then will the Scion of Balance be armed for his true endeavor. Only then..." ―Ariel[src]

The potential sixth Legacy of Kain game is the prospective next entry in the series. Since the release of Legacy of Kain: Defiance in 2003, the possibility of a future game has frequently been raised by fans and gaming industry journalists, but Square Enix Europe have not committed to the completion of such a project.

Initial production [ edit | edit source ]

A 2003 interview with Crystal Dynamics Test Manager Chris Bruno revealed that at least one further Legacy of Kain title was planned to follow Legacy of Kain: Defiance.[1] Although it sold between 500,000 and 1 million copies, Legacy of Kain: Defiance failed to live up to publisher Eidos Interactive's sales targets.[2] Shortly before it shipped, series writer and director Amy Hennig departed Crystal Dynamics to work for Naughty Dog, imparting her notes and control of the Legacy of Kain series to fellow team members Jennifer Fernández, Richard Lemarchand and Kyle Mannerberg.[3][4] Further interviews affirmed that future entries were planned to resolve loose threads in the storyline, with regard to the Hylden in particular.[4][5] In February 2004, Bruno revealed that another game was indeed in the works, but that nothing official had been announced yet.[6]

During 2004, Jennifer Fernández also departed Crystal Dynamics, moving on to non-gaming related work, and Richard Lemarchand left to join Amy Hennig at Naughty Dog.[7][8] No sequel was announced, and in April 2005, Crystal Dynamics announced that they had been given stewardship of the Tomb Raider franchise, and that Tomb Raider: Legend was their next product slated for release.[9] In June 2006, Chris Bruno explained that "Eidos put the LOK series on hold after Defiance and has kept it under review since. There is always a possibility of another LOK in the future, but I do not have any firm confirmation of this at this time". He encouraged fans to write and send physical letters to Crystal Dynamics' studio in support of a new game.[10]

Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy [ edit | edit source ]

In 2008, community member Divine Shadow posted a compilation of evidence on forums that Ritual Entertainment, who had collaborated with Crystal Dynamics on Legacy of Kain: Defiance, were involved in the development of a sixth Legacy of Kain game, which was unannounced and silently cancelled.[11][12][13] Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy was under production for approximately three months in 2004 before it was terminated by Eidos.[14] Its artists posted a variety of the unused assets from the project on their online portfolios - enough to indicate that the Elder Kain was planned to feature as the main playable character, and that Malek's Bastion was among the environments being developed.[15][16]

In 2012, The Lost Worlds began hosting a section devoted to the collection of all information on The Dark Prophecy, speculating through extrapolation that the Pillars of Nosgoth, the Oracle's Cave, the Chronoplast and Dark Eden may also have featured in the early part of the cancelled game.[17][18] Eidos/Square Enix Europe have never officially commented on the project, but various sources, some of whom also worked on Legacy of Kain: Defiance, have affirmed that it existed.[18][19]

Further official information and stances [ edit | edit source ]

Tomb Raider: Legend included several references to the Legacy of Kain series, including outfits bearing Kain and Raziel's clan symbols, a portrait of the human Kain in Lara's Mansion, and the unlockable Soul Reaver weapon.[9] Crystal Dynamics continued work on the Tomb Raider series, releasing Tomb Raider: Anniversary in 2007, and Tomb Raider: Underworld in 2008.[20][21] In August 2006, Elder God voice actor Tony Jay died in hospital, and in January 2008, during production on Tomb Raider: Underworld, Kyle Mannerberg died of an unexpected brain hemorrhage, aged 29, marring hopes that the series would be revisited.[22][23][24] However, in March 2008, then-Eidos CEO Bill Gardner voiced enthusiasm when asked if there was a chance Legacy of Kain might come back, saying that "Legacy of Kain and Soul Reaver are two [franchises] that I would absolutely be pushing hard for".[25]

Between their Tomb Raider releases, Crystal Dynamics have frequently announced that they are working on new intellectual properties, but have yet to reveal specific details about any of them.[26][27][28] One such project, Downfall, was cancelled before its announcement.[29] After Tomb Raider: Underworld initially failed to meet sales expectations, the studio repeatedly announced its increased focus on the Tomb Raider series, and 30 of its employees were laid off.[30][31][32][33] In August 2009, Chris Bruno said that "I am not aware of any upcoming LOK announcements [...] the LOK intellectual property is very important to Crystal Dynamics/Eidos, as are all of our IPs. If there is communication with Eidos about a new LOK game or a script, I am not aware of it".[34]

Square Enix Europe took over the Eidos plc and brand, and in June 2010, Crystal Dynamics' Darrell Gallagher confirmed that "we see the fan feedback on Legacy of Kain. There’s nothing we can talk about right now, but we can tell fans we definitely hear it".[35] In December 2010, Eidos President Ian Livingstone stated that he would love for Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver to make a comeback.[36] That same month, Crystal Dynamics released a DLC pack for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, featuring Kain and Raziel as playable characters in a new product for the first time in seven years.[37][38] However, Square Enix Europe's 2011 fiscal report appeared to preclude any revival of the Legacy of Kain series proper, even under their other teams.[39]

In December 2011, Chris Bruno departed after 17 years; with the possible exception of Riley Cooper and Daniel Neuberger, it is believed that nobody employed at the current incarnation of Crystal Dynamics has worked on any of the Legacy of Kain games.[40] The studio is currently developing the second reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise, beginning with 2013's Tomb Raider; sequels have been practically confirmed.[41] In a July 2011 podcast, their Community & Communication Manager, Meagan Marie, asked Global Brand Director, Karl Stewart, when a new Legacy of Kain game would arrive. He replied:

"I can't answer that 'cause we're not working on a Legacy of Kain game. The studio is focused on its three projects, which - one is Tomb Raider as you know - and the other two are new IPs. So we're not working on a Legacy of Kain here at Crystal Dynamics, unfortunately." ―Karl Stewart[42]

Following several rumors of a reboot, Stewart again responded in November 2012, expressing similar sentiments: "Let me clear this one up right here and now. Sorry, but we are NOT working on this game."[43]

Later Production [ edit | edit source ]

Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun and Nosgoth and [ edit | edit source ]

In May 2011 Game Revolution reported that one of their users, daverabbit, contacted them to say, "so I'm part of a website where you get paid to take online surveys and today I took one that asked me what I thought about different possible names for a Legacy of Kain game. [...] The four names were Obsidian Blood, Obsidian Sun, Dead Sun, and Revenant. They also asked if the names sounded good alone or tagged with any of the Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver/Blood Omen names used previously. Surveys I've taken in the past have had the product later show up on store shelves so I figured I would share this info with you guys".[44] Nosgothic Realm user KillForGlory contacted daverabbit on the legitimacy of his comments; daverabbit offered no additional proof, but said, "I'm really not creative enough to fabricate a story about a game I played a decade ago. I am wishing it's true as much as anyone else and maybe they'll be news about it at E3".[12]

In February 2013, several sources reported that registrars working on behalf of Square-Enix had purchased a new domain, named "warfornosgoth.com", which appeared to be a reference to the setting of the series - the land of Nosgoth. Beyond the domain details, no further information was made available and Square-Enix are yet to comment on the site, which remains inaccessible at the current time.[45][46][47][48][49][50] Shortly afterward, again in February 2013, Edwin Evans-Thirlwell of the Official Xbox Magazine reported that the portfolio of Richard Buxton, a storyboard and concept artist for Passion Pictures, mentioned that he had worked on a "Legacy of Kain videogame animation pitch" in 2011, with an accompanying storyboard. Other primary sources from Buxton corroborated this, referring to a "Legacy of Kain promo" - all references to "Legacy of Kain" were removed shortly afterward. Buxton commented only that "I'm not allowed to talk about that".

A flurry of sources in May 2013 further hinted at ongoing developments related to the "War for Nosgoth" reports. Initially computer processor company AMD listed several updates for its systems including several relevant to unreleased and unannounced game projects; and within these listings several mentions of both "Nosgoth" and "War for Nosgoth" were discovered in files, clearly implying that these updates were related to an as yet unannounced title bearing the Nosgoth" name.[51][52][53] Shortly afterward, the database of digital distribution site Steam began to list a game titled "Nosgoth" bearing a logo clearly reminiscent of the markings on the dais of the Pillars of Nosgoth and noting the involvement of developer Psyonix .[52][53][54] Further investigations into Psyonix uncovered the profile of composer Kevin Riepl who noted his work on "Nosgoth (VG) Square Enix/Psyonix" - like Buxton, the listing would subsequently be changed to "Unannounced Title (VG) Square Enix/Psyonix".[52][53] Other Psyonix sources have hinted at "AAA" games in development at the company, as well as uncovering possible vampire artwork.[52][53] These developments led to increased speculations of a 2013 E3 revival of the series in some form - prompting Square Enix London community manager George Kelion to take the unusual step of officially addressing the leaks and ensuing fan speculation by confirming the existence and ongoing development of Nosgoth to VG247 and Eurogamer in June 2013.[55][56]



[...] We don’t want people to get the wrong idea about Nosgoth following the AMD and Steam leaks ahead of its future official announcement. Nosgoth is not being developed by Crystal Dynamics [...] Crystal Dynamics are not working on a Legacy of Kain game.

[...] This isn’t something we’d normally do, but we wanted to just give folks a bit more context for the direction, rather than just batten down the hatches." Nosgoth exists and is in active development, but is not a traditional Legacy of Kain action-adventure game [...] Nosgoth is set in the same universe as previous LoK games, but on a different branch to the Blood Omen and Soul Reaver series. The community should not be thinking of Nosgoth in terms of a single-player experience.[...] We don’t want people to get the wrong idea about Nosgoth following the AMD and Steam leaks ahead of its future official announcement. Nosgoth is not being developed by Crystal Dynamics [...] Crystal Dynamics are not working on a Legacy of Kain game.[...] This isn’t something we’d normally do, but we wanted to just give folks a bit more context for the direction, rather than just batten down the hatches." ―George Kelion[55]

Since confirming the existence of Nosgoth, Kelion, under the alias "Monkeythumbz", has divulged several additional details on the project at the Eidos Forums in response to fan questions.[57][58][59][60][61][62][63]

Later in June 2013, Divine Shadow posted a thread at NeoGAF, covering ten cancelled Legacy of Kain games, including Kain II, Sirens, Shifter, Chakan, and Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy. The final scrapped project was an entirely new discovery: Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun.[64] Investigating a hint that game developer Climax Studios had recently worked on an Unreal Engine 3 project with Crystal Dynamics, Divine Shadow noted that some former Climax staff members' LinkedIn profiles corroborated this idea, and collected media which "could fit into the gothic Legacy of Kain style" from Climax artists' online portfolio sites. He contacted several Climax team members; though many did not respond or refused to comment, some agreed to discuss the Legacy of Kain game. Divine Shadow said, "agreements were made with the sources independently by email – they would confirm which media [he] had found on the internet was from the cancelled project – and they would also divulge information – to be paraphrased and not quoted directly." Corroborated information on the backstory, characters and setting of Dead Sun as well as many artworks and images were exhibited in the thread,[64] again prompting Kelion to respond. He confirmed that Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun had been a project in development, disputed the accuracy of some indeterminate details revealed by the Climax Studios developers, and offered another series of relevant images.[65] Kelion commented:



Obviously, it's not usual for assets from cancelled games to be released, but given that there's a lot out there already I thought you might appreciate seeing a few more images that were taken from the previously in-progress game.

As you'll be aware, we're currently working on a multiplayer game firmly set within the Legacy of Kain universe called "I can confirm that Dead Sun was a project which had been in development - but which was cancelled. I know it's disappointing to hear about these things out of context, and whilst some of the details released are accurate - some details are not. You know game projects can be cancelled for a variety of different reasons and I know it's very hard to tell from images and info alone, but in the end LoK: Dead Sun just wasn't the right game, at the right time... but you'll have to take me at my word on that, I'm afraidObviously, it's not usual for assets from cancelled games to be released, but given that there's a lot out there already I thought you might appreciate seeing a few more images that were taken from the previously in-progress game.As you'll be aware, we're currently working on a multiplayer game firmly set within the Legacy of Kain universe called Nosgoth , which we're very proud of. It's grown in size and scope since its initial conception and we'll be talking more about it in the future. While we're not working on a single-player Legacy of Kain game right now, that doesn't mean it's not something we'd look at making in the future." ―George Kelion[65]

Former Legacy of Kain personnel [ edit | edit source ]

Several individuals who worked on the Legacy of Kain games have opined about the future of the series. Denis Dyack, the series' creator, said in 2008:

"We created the first Legacy of Kain. We came up with all the content, all the story, but in the end we moved away from that series. Crystal Dynamics tried to take it over. A lot of people liked what they did. But if you look at Legacy of Kain where it is right now -- so diluted, so dysfunctional -- as a property itself, it's pretty much gone in a completely different direction than we would have ever taken it." ―Denis Dyack[66]

In a 2009 interview, shortly after the release of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Amy Hennig offered her thoughts:

"Well anything I would say is complete speculation because I've been away from Crystal Dynamics for six years now, but I felt like I got to do what I wanted to do. Do I feel like I got cutoff midstream? No, I'm the one that left and joined Naughty Dog, and I knew in the middle of development on Defiance that I was going to leave and join Naughty Dog. So I was wrapping up my story. All I can tell you is that Eidos and Crystal Dynamics legitimately love that franchise. If anyone thinks it's sort of been thrown in the dustbin without any thought or care, that's not the case at all. I know they would love to revive it when the time is right and resources are there. I'm sure it's something they talk about; whether it'll ever happen I don't know. I think it would have to be reinvented a bit at this point. If I was magically there working on it, I would look at it that way too – you have to look at it from the perspective of the marketplace and the audience. You can't necessarily craft things for a fan audience because you'll end up with a niche product. But I think they still see the franchise as a valuable IP in their stable, and they're just waiting for the right time to do something with it. I know they're solely focused on Tomb Raider right now, and they're not a huge studio, but who knows if Eidos/Square Enix would consider outsourcing it." ―Amy Hennig[67]

In a 2011 interview, Richard Lemarchand said:

"Well, as you might know, Amy Hennig, the creative director at Naughty Dog and I worked together on the Soul Reaver series. She invited me onto the team when I was a younger game designer. We had an amazing time working on those games. I think we both learned a tremendous amount about working with making action games and storytelling games from those games. I dare say we both cut our teeth on Soul Reaver. It was an amazing series and I really love the Soul Reaver games to this day. I would love to see them come back at some point." ―Richard Lemarchand[68][69]

Series artist Daniel Cabuco said in 2009:

"It always makes me happy to see that there are great and creative fans of the LOK series. You guys all rock! Hopefully Eidos will hear you and make a new LOK game." ―Daniel Cabuco[70]

Michael Bell has said that he would love to reprise the role of Raziel, but he doesn't believe that there will be any future games, citing Amy Hennig's departure as the reason.[71] The Dark Prophecy developer Ranjeet Singhal has iterated that "of all the IP's I have worked on I have never recieved as many personal emails regarding any of them as I do with Kain. Eidos has not commited to another installment of the Legacy of kain series which I consider to be a serious mistake. There's a rather large and deicated audience to this IP".[18] Fellow The Dark Prophecy artist, Andez Gaston, has commented that "it's awesome to see how much the kain series is supported and I hope you guys will get a new one someday. If kain were to have one last game it should be epic in scale to other game legends(kratos and snake).Not a rushed product".[19]

Since the end of the 2000s, the video game media have occasionally encouraged a Legacy of Kain revival and posed evidence of the possibility of sequels, remakes, updates or a reboot under Crystal Dynamics or other studios, but - somewhat infamously among the Legacy of Kain community - no rumors have come to fruition as of yet.[72] Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, in particular, has been popularly spotlighted by many critics as their focal game of choice in the case of a remake.

In 2009, Anthony Severino of PlaystationLifeStyle.net highlighted the series as "deserving of PS3 love", Aaron Stephens of Examiner.com wished for a Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver remake, and Neo Windu of From Heroes to Icons endorsed the idea of a Blu-ray port for the games.[73][74][75] In 2010, both Rashid Sayed of GamingBolt and the staff of PSM3 similarly called for Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver to be remade in HD.[76][77] Sayed repeated his sentiment in a January 2011 article.[78] When it was discovered in April 2011 that Square Enix Europe had filed a trademark for the then-unannounced Heroes of Ruin, Spencer Yip of Siliconera conjectured that the project may have had something to do with the Legacy of Kain IP.[79]

In May 2011, Daniel Bischoff of Game Revolution reported that daverabbit, a reader of the site, had written: "so I'm part of a website where you get paid to take online surveys and today I took one that asked me what I thought about different possible names for a Legacy of Kain game. [...] The four names were Obsidian Blood, Obsidian Sun, Dead Sun, and Revenant. They also asked if the names sounded good alone or tagged with any of the Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver/Blood Omen names used previously. Surveys I've taken in the past have had the product later show up on store shelves so I figured I would share this info with you guys".[44] Despite Crystal Dynamics' subsequent assertion in July that they were not working on the series, some journalists continued to support a revival.[42] Herman S. Lilleng of The Gaming Vault called for "a new Soul Reaver", and Sarcastic Gamer's PacManPolarBear wished for more games like Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain.[80][81] Game Informer's editors wished the series was brought back in their replay of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Matt Clemens of ComputerAndVideoGames.com argued for a sequel, James Hawkins of JoystickDivision encouraged a Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain remake, and Jesse Miller of PixlBit showcased Legacy of Kain as a "missing in action" series.[82][83][84][85]

In November 2011, Brian Crecente of Kotaku reported that Silicon Knights had laid off half of its staff, and was refocusing on "one of its most requested titles for the next generation".[86] Several journalists, including Tamoor Hussain of ComputerAndVideoGames.com and Phillip Price of Just Push Start, erroneously speculated that the Legacy of Kain series was among the possible contenders, even though this is considered an impossibility since Square Enix Europe continues to hold the Legacy of Kain IP.[87][88][89] Amidst this, Strategy Informer's RaveofRavendale listed Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver as a favored Dreamcast game to appear on XBLA and PSN.[90] Blackbible of GamerFitNation issued a video appeal to Amy Hennig to conclude her work on the series; Hennig responded that she is "grateful to all of her fans", but that "she's with Naughty Dog now" and "she's happy", and that Crystal Dynamics "owns the rights and it's up to them if they want to proceed with the LOK series".[91][92]

In March 2012, Patrick Garratt of VG247 posted that he "has it on good authority that Crystal Dynamics is currently working on a full reboot of vampire series Legacy of Kain". Specifically citing a "Soul Reaver" revival, he continued that "details are anorexic, but our source has claimed the game is a full reworking of the vampire action classic, and includes a new art direction. We have been previously told the project was aiming for a reveal this year – possibly at E3 – but new information has warned this may not be accurate. It’s unclear where the new game will lie in the IP, and whether or not Raziel or Kain will lead".[93] The story quickly spread to a vast variety of publications, including Metro.co.uk, IGN and GameSpot, but received no public comment from Crystal Dynamics or Square Enix Europe.[94][95][96] Several journalists followed up with their hopes for the series if the rumor proved true: the staff of PSM3 advocated a Soul Reaver remake, Scott Nichols of GamesRadar listed ten things he wished to see in a reboot, and Brendan of blog Power Cords emphasised that a revival project should remain "in some part faithful to the source material".[97][98][99] Subsequently, Crystal Dynamics' Karl Stewart reiterated previous assertions that they were not working on such a title.[43]

Although no Legacy of Kain-related news emerged at E3 2012, several commentators have continued to remark on the rumor and the series. Brandon Myers of SuperfriendsUniverse.com mentioned that "I want a conclusion to the existing series before they go rebooting the world", and insisted that future games retain Simon Templeman as the voice of Kain.[100] Matt Sainsbury of DigitallyDownloaded.net opined that Soul Reaver 2 should be released as a PS2 classic.[101] Mikel Reparaz of GamesRadar included the Legacy of Kain series among a list of 15 HD collections he wanted to see.[102]

Potential content [ edit | edit source ]

If a future game were to take place within the established Legacy of Kain continuity, several loose plot threads from previous games would be open to exploration. Excluding fan speculation, the following list is a compilation of minor and major story elements which Legacy of Kain: Defiance's developers indicated that sequels would resolve:

In the case of a potential reboot, it is impossible to know which aspects of the Legacy of Kain series would be retained and which would be open to change. Addressing 2012's rumors stipulating a reboot centralized around Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, some journalists have speculated that even the characters of Kain and Raziel might be sidelined or discarded entirely, in favor of a new protagonist.[94][95][96]