piranha-bytes posts

This video sits down with the Piranha Bytes team, developers of the upcoming role-playing game Risen, and recounts the game's conception and history. Before starting on Risen, the studio worked on the Gothic series, and the team felt it was time to bring role playing to the next level. The developers all speak in German, but there are English subtitles. Risen is expected to release this fall.

Download HD The Making of Risen Video (437 MB)
Check out all Risen downloads

With the fantasy RPG Risen now set for release for the PC on October 2, you may be asking yourself, "Self, is there a way I can get a special pricing dealie on that game developed by Piranha Bytes and published by Deep Silver?" Well first, we suggest you see a doctor because talking to oneself could be a sign of mental illness.

After that, to answer the question you have asked yourself, we can tell you, "As a matter of fact there is such a deal." Gamestop is now selling the game on its Gamestop.com site for just $39.99, a $10 savings from its normal price. This is apparently just for online orders only so don't go to your local Gamestop store expecting the same deal. And really, see a doctor for that condition. You will thank yourself later.

We have known that Risen is supposed to be released on October 2 for some time now but now it looks like it's truly official as publisher Deep Silver has now announced that the fantasy RPG has gone gold for the PC. Sorry Xbox 360 owners; you folks will have to wait until next year to get your Risen taste.

This is the all new game from developer Piranha Bytes who previously created the first three games in the Gothic RPG series. The last game in the series, however, had some serious bug issues upon release. We just hope the "gone gold" announcement today means the game is truly complete and we won't have to deal with a massive patch to fix stuff they should have completed by now.

Piranha Bytes' upcoming fantasy RPG Risen may have been banned in Australia this week (for now) but that means the folks down under won't be able to hear two of the actors in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy doing voice work in the game. Publisher Deep Silver announced that Gollum himself, Andy Serkis, will be lending his voice to the role of The Inquisitor to the game. He's joined by John Rhys Davies, who played the heroic dwarf Gimli in the movies. Davies will play Don Esteban in the game.

In addition, Lena Hendley, best known for her roles in the movie 300 and as Sarah Connor in the recently canceled TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will voice the role of Patty in Risen. A number of other veteran British actors also have voice over roles in the game including Burn Gorman, who previously played Own Harper in the BBC TV series Torchwood.

Gamers who live in Australia have yet another reason to feel shafted by their goverment today. The country's ratings board, which still does not have a rating for games above the age of 15 years old, have just banned another title from being sold inside its borders.

Kotaku Australia reports that the upcoming fantasy RPG Risen from developer Piranha Bytes, has been banned for sale because of "sexual activity and drug use related to incentives or rewards" according to the distributor in that country. It's currently unknown if there will be an appeal or if the game will be edited and resubmitted to the ratings board for approval.

This trailer reveals the first in-game footage from MechWarrior, the game that promises to reboot the entire MechWarrior series. It looks like the first step toward a full reboot is the use of plenty of explosive ordinance.

Download HD MechWarrior Gameplay Trailer (156 MB)

It's somewhat rare for a game to get a solid release date several months in advance these days but that's what's happing to the upcoming fantasy RPG Risen. Today the game's publisher Deep Silver announced that the game from developer Piranha Bytes will ship to stores worldwide on October 2.

The press release announcing the release date proudly states, "The contents of Risen are already complete, and all dialogs have been recorded." They also state that three separate quality assurance teams are working to complete Risen. Let's hope that three teams is enough to squash all the issues in Risen and avoid what happened with Piranah Bytes' last game Gothic 3 where the game shipped with lots of bugs.

Last summer the veil was lifted on Risen, a new fantasy RPG project from developer Piranha Bytes (the creators of the first three Gothic games). This week the game's publisher Deep Silver sent out a huge batch of screenshots from the game showing off more of what we can expect from the title.

As we have reported previously, Risen itself takes place in a "fictional medieval background on a huge volcanic island." Supposedly the game will take place in an open world setting with no load time and will have an "innovative and intuitive user control interface will support both casual and hardcore gamer." So far there's no word on when Risen will rise and be released to stores.

Last year's release of the fantasy RPG title Gothic 3 was pretty much a disaster. The final version shipped with a ton of bugs that made the game unplayable for many. Publisher JoWood dumped the game's developer Piranha Bytes as a result.

Now it appears that the just released expansion pack to the game, Gothic 3: Forgotten Gods, was also shipped with a number of issues that even a couple of patches have yet to solve. The game's official message board has posted up a statement from JoWood executive producer Michael Kairat who basically apologies about the game's release. The expansion was developed by India based Trine Game Studios. Yet another patch is expected to be released soon that hopefully will fix some of the problems.

The statement also says that JoWood plans not to have the same thing happen again for the next full game in the series, Arcania: A Gothic Tale, that's being developed by Spellbound. JoWood plans to have a beta release of the game before it's scheduled ship date of late 2009.


[Via Voodoo Extreme]

Last week publisher Deep Silver launched a teaser site for "Project RPB", the code name for the next fantasy RPG project from developer Piranha Bytes. Today that teaser site has revealed the actual title of the game: Risen. The site now has yet another countdown clock which will expire in two weeks. It's expected that more info will be revealed at that time.

As we reported last week, the the developer already has an extensive FAQ on the game on their site which states the game takes place in a "fictional medieval background on a huge volcanic island. in a new press release, Risen's basic premise is as follows: "the game's protagonist is shipwrecked after a storm and finds himself on a mysterious island. An active volcano dominates the scene. Ancient temple ruins have recently risen from the ground, and bizarre creatures infest the island." Again more info on Risen will be revealed later in August.