jowood posts

After filing for bankruptcy last January, time may have run out for European game publisher JoWood. According to a report on the German language web site Boerse-Express.com, (translated by Babel Fish) JoWood has apparently not been able to bring in new investors to save the company and it looks like the publisher is going to close down.

JoWood owns a lot of major game franchises including the Gothic RPG series and the Painkiller first person shooter series. It's likely that some other publisher could buy the rights to these and other Jowood game titles. JoWood also owns Canada-based Dreamcatcher Games which it acquired in 2007. It's currently unknown if the Dreamcatcher business will also shut down alongside JoWood.

[Via Game Informer]

The first three game in publisher JoWood's Gothic fantasy RPG series were developed by Piranha Bytes. Then the fourth game in the series, Arcania: Gothic 4, was developed by Spellbound while Piranha Bytes went on to make another open world fantasy RPG series Risen.

Now a fan site's interview with Piranha Bytes' co-founder Mike Hoge has opened up the possibility that the developer will be working on the Gothic series again. According to Hoge's statement, "We get the rights to Gothic back when we have finished Risen 2. Why? Because we did only sell them to our ex-publisher for a certain amount of time ;)."

However another Piranha Bytes team member, Michael Rüve, posted up word (in German) on the World of Players message board that Hoge's statements should perhaps not be taken at face value. There's also the fact that JoWood is currently in serious financial troubles and have delayed two of its upcoming games indefinitely.

[Via Blue's News]

Troubled game publisher JoWood has put the brakes on yet another game in development. Today the company announced that the fantasy RPG-RTS expansion pack Spellforce 2: Faith In Destiny has been delayed indefinitely. The expansion pack was first announced nearly two years ago. Jowood producer Reinhard Pollice is quoted in the press release as saying that the expansion "is already in an advanced stage, but the game experience will be further enhanced in some sectors - like multiplayer stability."

Earlier this week, Jowood also delayed another expansion pack Arcania: Fall of Setarrif , due to somewhat mysterious legal issues. It was also revealed this week that the troubled publisher, which filed for bankruptcy in January, had lost the interest of a potential investor.

Publisher Jowood is still in financial dire straits after filing for bankruptcy last January. A few days ago the Austria-based web site the Austrian Independent reported that an unnamed potential investor for the company is now no longer interested. The insolvency organizer says that two more unnamed companies are still considering investing in Jowood.

Jowood, who also owns Dreamcatcher Interactive here in North America, has continued to release games even after filing for bankruptcy. However today the company announced that its RPG stand alone expansion pack Arcania: Fall of Setarrif, due for release on Friday, has been postponed until further notice.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

The planned release of the fantasy RPG stand alone expansion pack Arcania: Fall of Setarrif has now been delayed indefinitely, according to a statement from the game's publisher JoWood posted on its press web site. The expansion was supposed to have been released on Friday.

The confusion statement says that the "legal background" of the game, an expansion to 2010's Arcania: Gothic 4, "is unclear and diverse legal positions with the BVT fund that financed the main game are present." It adds a statement from JoWood's Business Development Manager Stefan Berger who says, "It's uncertain whether the game can be released onto the market in its current form".

JoWood has been dealing with financial issues of its own, filing for bankruptcy last January. It still managed to release the downloadable title Painkiller Redemption in February and this week released Gothic 3 Forsaken Gods Enhanced Edition via Steam

In 2008, publisher JoWood released Gothic 3 Forsaken Gods, a stand alone expansion pack for its fantasy RPG title. However the game from developer Trine Games was released with a number of issues and bugs that caused it to receive mostly negative reviews from critics.

Today JoWood released Gothic 3 Forsaken Gods Enhanced Edition via Steam. The original game has gotten a graphical and audio makeover from developer Mad Vulture Games. It also has a "completely revised gameplay and combat system" along with other improvements and changes. As we mentioned earlier today all of the Gothic games on Steam are currently on sale from now until Thursday. That includes this title which is now on sale for a mere $2.50.

Painkiller Redemption, first announced earlier this month, now has a release date. The fourth game in the first person shooter series will be made available for download on February 25 according to publisher JoWood. The game is due to come out the same week Bulletstorm, developed by Painkiller's original developer People Can Fly, is scheduled for release.

While People Can Fly had nothing to do with the making of Painkiller Redemption, Jowood certainly hopes something of the 2004 original game will rub off on this new single player only entry in the series. This game, which has just six maps but has over 6000 enemies, according to the press release, is priced at just $4.99 according to a pre-order listing at GamersGate.

Arcania: Fall of Setarrif, the previously announce stand alone expansion pack to 2010's fantasy RPG Arcania Gothic 4, now has a firm release date of March 25 from its publisher JoWood. Even though the game is designed to be played as a stand alone game players who have Arcania Gothic 4 can import their character from that game into Arcania Fall of Setarrif.

The game will allow players to experience playing as four of the main character's allies as they have to face a new threat, a demon who is attacking the people on the volanic island of Setarrif. Look for new monsters to fight, new weapons and items that can be used and a new 10 hour campaign.

While publisher JoWood is dealing with some financial problems it's still planning to release some games. Today JoWood announced the latest game in the Painkiller first person shooter franchise. It's called Painkiller Redemption and it's apparently a way for the company to release a stand alone game that started out as a third party mod before JoWood decided to come in and turn the mod into a commercial game.

The game is due out via download in February and features the hero of the first game Daniel Garner teaming up with the half angel-half demo Belial (the lead of the second stand alone game Painkiller Overdose) as they join forces to stop the endless battles between heaven and hell. The game will allow players to control both characters over six large maps, each with over 1000 enemies to blow up with a variety of weapons. There's no word yet on the game's price point.

The Austria-based game publisher JoWood is in a bit of a financial pickle. Today the company announced that it has filed for material insolvency after "all efforts towards restructuring of capitalization concerning outside capital as well as equity capital had to be considered as failed."

The press release is optimistic, saying that it hopes JoWood can continue with business and hopes that "negotiations with creditors and possible investors can be positively conducted and finalized within 90 days." JoWood and its North American subsidiary Dreamcatcher Interactive, released the fantasy RPG sequel Arcadia Gothic 4 last fall with plans to release an expansion pack for that game later in 2011. Another game, the RTS-RPG expansion pack Spellforce 2: Faith In Destiny, is due out later in January.