The Darkness 2 Won't Be Developed by Starbreeze Studios

The Darkness is getting sequel. However, Starbreeze Studios won't be developing The Darkness 2. The Darkness was released for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 on June 25, 2007. The game is based on the comic books that first appeared in 1996. You play as Jackie Estacado, a 21 year old who carries mysterious demonic powers that has been passed down his family line. Of course, his powers attract the presence of the corrupt.

The gameplay in The Darkness is also somewhat unique. Your special powers allow you to summon various demonic creatures that will help you throughout your journey. For example, you can call in small imp-like creatures to aid you in battle. Furthermore, you will run into special demonic guns in this unusual first-person shooter game.

The Darkness received solid review scores from critics. Because it was released early on for both high-definition systems, the game was able to garnered extra attention due to the lack of compelling software on the market at that time. As a result, The Darkness sold pretty well.

It was the second hit title produced by Starbreeze Studios. The development studio was founded in 1998 as O3 Games. There first three projects are The Outforce in 2000, Enclave in 2002 and Knights of the Temple in 2003.The fourth time is the charm for Starbreeze Studios with the release of The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. The PC and Xbox title brought incredible visuals, solid gameplay and Vin Diesel. Thanks to that unique combination, Starbreeze Studios made a name for themselves.

With their newfound fame, the rising development studio went on to developed The Darkness before returning to the Riddick series again in 2009 with The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena. Despite their reputation, however, The Darkness 2 won't be developed by Starbreeze Studios.

The problem lies in the fact that the development studio simply has their hands full right now. Starbreeze Studios is developing two games for publisher Electronic Arts. One is supposed to be a title based on Jason Bourne novels and films. They will be also developing a new game for the Syndicate series, which hasn't seen a new release since the mid-1990s.

Top Cow Productions, who owns the rights to The Darkness intellectual property, isn't waiting around for Starbreeze Studios. Instead, the comic book publisher is working with another yet unnamed development studio for The Darkness 2.

The Darkness was a solid title on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. It would be very interesting how the sequel will compare now that the Starbreeze Studios has moved on to other projects.