It seems that People Can Fly was working on a sequel to Outriders, which has now been cancelled. The studio announced last month that it had sadly cancelled two projects being worked on, but at the time, it didn’t state what these projects were. It has been confirmed by TheThumbWars that one of these games was Outriders 2.
Back in June, People Can Fly said that both Project Bifrost and Project Gemini were unfortunately cancelled at the studio following budget cuts and issues related to various publishers. In a statement, CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski said it was a difficult decision but due to a “certain” publisher not presenting the studio with a content rider, publishing agreement, and cash flow plan, the studio felt like this showed a lack of prospects.
The statement says that the publisher was not showing the willingness to continue or terminate Project Gemini, and there was a clear lack of communication from the partner. While the statement didn’t say exactly which publisher it was, it isn’t hard to guess that Square Enix was behind all of this.
The publisher was responsible for marketing and publishing the original Outriders game, which, according to Square Enix, didn’t perform to its expectations. The publisher has also gained a reputation for having impossible-to-meet expectations in recent years. This comes after its financial reports have all been slammed for poor sales across Final Fantasy and other IPs.
Square Enix even went as far as to flog off studios that it purchased, such as Crystal Dynamics. The sale resulted in Square Enix selling the group for a fraction of what it paid for it.
Granted, People Can Fly has been struggling. The team had a mass wave of layoffs in December last year that saw more than 120 people leave the studio. This has all led to multiple cancelled projects and further downsizing. The layoffs were a result of “external market pressures,” according to the studio.
People Can Fly is currently working on Gears of War: E-Day and other projects for both Sony and Xbox.
Source: TheThumbWars
