Reality Pump Studios Takes Over Raven's Cry, Now Open World

We've heard very little about Octane Games' Raven's Cry since an October release date was announced earlier this year, but late last month TopWare Interactive managed to sneak a subtle announcement onto the game's website confirming that Two Worlds developer Reality Pump Studios has taken over development of the gritty pirate-themed RPG/adventure. And there's going to be some overhauling in store, including a shift to an open world:
Raven's Cry changes hands to Reality Pump Studios

Polish developer takes the wheel on TopWare's Dark Pirate Themed Action Adventure Game

TopWare Interactive announced at this year's gamescom in Cologne that the gritty Pirate Action Adventure "Raven's Cry" has been handed to Polish developer Reality Pump Studios. Well known for the Earth and Two Worlds series, Reality Pump brings a wealth of experience and dedication to the project, which is set for release at the end of the year.

The game has been delayed since it was first shown to the media last year, and after analysing the game's development, TopWare made the tough decision to reorganize the project. The core storyline and dark setting of the game will remain untouched, but additional features and a new open world will be implemented by the Polish team. In addition, Topware has kept a close eye on message boards and early feedback, and will be including a few interesting tweaks and features requested by pirate fans.

"Raven's Cry" is a mature third person action adventure title that takes players to the beautiful but deadly Caribbean islands in the 17th century. Besides its dark parable on revenge, Raven's Cry offers fierce, eclectic naval battles and a now free to explore open world as the main character Christopher Raven carves a bloody swath of terror on both land and sea, leaving no moral boundary uncrossed on his hunt for Captain Neville and his brutal band of pirates. An economic system includes gaining gold through looting enemy ships crippled in battle, in addition to piracy, smuggling and treasure hunting. Go straight for the jugular in the main quest, or take your time and tackle the plethora of side-quests as you earn gold to hire and maintain a crew to pilot your pirate vessel. Christopher will need every advantage he can get if he is going to get his revenge and find peace for his tortured soul.

Alexandra Constandache CEO at TopWare Interactive: "Raven's Cry has had our entire company excited from day one, and we can't wait for the finished product. Sadly, production hasn't moved forward in the way we wanted, so we had to make the tough decision to hand it over to the veterans at Reality Pump. Reality Pump has worked with us for twenty years on several games, including fan-favorite Two Worlds II. The experience the team gained while making the Two Worlds games has proven to be invaluable to their work on Raven's Cry. We are looking forward to releasing a game that is not only entertaining, but also more than the typical "hero who saves the world" tale. The positive feedback we received at this year's gamescom proved to us that we have made the right decision with this change, and to put it in Raven's Cry terms, we are excited to finally reach the port we've set sail for."