gaming-minds-studios posts

If you enjoy games that have deep historical trading features, then you most likely have already picked up Patrician IV. Now that 2010 strategy-sim game is getting an expansion pack that's due for release on March 31. Publisher Kalypso Media announced plans to release Patrician IV Rise of a Dynasty from developer Gaming Minds Studios.

There will be eight new cities added to the game to trade with and in addition to sea trading vessels players can now use land-based caravans to push their wares. The biggest new feature is the addition of a co-op trading mode for up to four players via LAN and internet. Players can leave and join multiplayer matches at any time as they help grow their vast Hanseatic trade organization and also battle on the seas.

If you have ever dreamed of being a merchant hundreds of years ago, then the Patrician series is for you. Today publisher Kalypso Media announced their plans to release Patrician IV sometime this fall. The latest game in the historical trading sim series is being developed by Gaming Minds Studios.

Your player character is a merchant who is located in the Baltic and North Sea area of Europe in the last years of the Middle Ages. Players will guide that young merchant into a powerful Hanseatic League leader by establishing new trade routes, building up small towns to great capitals, protecting your ships from pirate attacks and more. The game's web site has already launched but at the moment there's only a teaser trailer in place.

Download HD Patrician IV Teaser Trailer (31 MB)

Earlier this week we reported that a group of now former Ascaron Entertainment team members teamed up with publisher Kalypso Media to form Gaming Minds Studios. In addition to forming a new dev studio, Kalypso Media bought out a number of game properties previously owned by Ascaron.

Not listed among those games was the Sacred series of action-RPGs. Now comes word that Ascaron still holds the rights to the game franchise. In a post on the Sacred message boards, the company's community manager Anca Adelina Finta stated, "Studio 2 (subsidiary company of Ascaron) has the licence for Sacred 2 and the devs will continue working at the Addon as they did before." In its recent bankruptcy announcement Ascaron announced that both an addon as well as Sacred 3 was in development. Finta states, "In a nutshell, the Addon is not affected by anything and will come as planned."

Last April developer Ascaron Entertainment, best known for their Sacred action-RPG series, declared bankruptcy but said that operations would continue while they found a buyer. Now it appears at least part of the company has been bought out by Kalypso Media which will result in the formation of a new game developer.

In a new (German language) press release today Kalypso Media revealed that 15 former Asceron Entertainment team members have formed a new team called Gaming Minds Studios. The team is owned by Kalypso who has also purchased a number of game properties from Ascaron, including the Port Royale, Darkstar One and The Patrician series of games. Specific financial terms were not disclosed. Gaming Minds Studios is currently working on the third game in The Patrician series which will be released sometime this summer.

Not mentioned in the press release is the fate of Ascaron's Sacred series. In its bankruptcy statement, Ascaron stated that 500,000 copies of the PC version of Sacred 2 had been sold by the end of 2008. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions shipped to stores in May and Ascaron stated at the time that a Sacred 2 expansion pack as well as Sacred 2 were already in the works.