People Can Fly Selected to Make "Project Maverick" for Microsoft

[T0@st]

Polish development studio, People Can Fly, announced yesterday that it has signed a production and publishing agreement with Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios. The teased future title goes under the moniker "Project Maverick," and the company press release reveals a "total production budget for the Game" of $30-50 million. The terms agreed upon include: "The development of the Game by the Company will be performed under the work for hire model, based on the intellectual property rights owned by the Publisher and will be entirely financed by the Publisher when advancing by the Company of the development works under the milestones." Industry insiders reckon there is a good chance that People Can Fly are set to work on Microsoft's Gears IP. The Coalition, an Xbox first party studio (located in Vancouver, Canada) is said to be working on the next mainline Gears title, but a diversified lineup could include more side projects. Splash Damage's Gears Tactics was a previous example of this—a turn-based title that arrived on PC in April 2020, followed by Xbox console versions later that year.

The team has prior experience of developing older Gears of War series entries on Unreal Engine 3—the PC port of the original 2007 game and 2013's spin-off GoW: Judgement (an Xbox 360 exclusive). People Can Fly has had a difficult time lately with the release and support of its online-only cooperative action role-player "Outriders" (with Square Enix), and a terminated Take-Two Interactive publishing deal. Company investor information has recently revealed that Outriders (2021) has not yet become a profitable property for the independent studio: "The Group received no royalties from the publisher (Square Enix) for the period to March 31st 2023, which means that as at the reporting date net proceeds from the sale of Outriders were insufficient to recover the costs and expenses incurred by the publisher to develop, distribute and promote the title." People Can Fly confirms elsewhere in the investment document that Gearbox Publishing holds an exclusive license for Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition (a 2019 remaster of the original 2011 base game).



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[natr0n]

PCF is a great studio; Painkiller prime example.

 

[ZeppMan217]

PCF is a great studio; Painkiller prime example.

That PCF hasn't existed in decades.

 

[Camm]

Phil wears a Hexen shirt during the last showcase, and they just sign a contract with PCF, I don't think thats a coincidence.

 

[natr0n]

That PCF hasn't existed in decades.

well aware

 

[ZeppMan217]

Their last game was some garbage MP GaaS shooter a la Destiny. It's 2 years old and already dead.

 

[Vayra86]

Outriders... oh man that was hilariously bad. I've never had the pleasure of playing something oozing so much B-movie plot and dialogue. And then the gameplay. Linear maps with area upon area of mobs. You have completed this stage, walk twenty steps to the next set of handily set up concrete and crates and repeat.

 

[Carlyle2020hs]

Outriders... oh man that was hilariously bad. I've never had the pleasure of playing something oozing so much B-movie plot and dialogue. And then the gameplay. Linear maps with area upon area of mobs. You have completed this stage, walk twenty steps to the next set of handily set up concrete and crates and repeat.

Dude you let me remember owning that game. I have removed it from my game library for good since after one playthrough i had enough of the game mechanics and did not even wait for a DLC.
So linear. So much bullet sponginess.

Good luck in the future !

 

[Slizzo]

Phil wears a Hexen shirt during the last showcase, and they just sign a contract with PCF, I don't think thats a coincidence.

That's a Raven Software game though, and the MS acquisition of Activision still has not been resolved...