Crytek on Homefront 2 purchase from THQ: It's 'beneficial for us to have control'

Crytek spent over half a million bucks to make sure the Homefront IP stuck around after the collapse of THQ and now has the potential to do anything with it – a position Crytek general manager of games Nick Button-Brown says will allow developer Crytek UK to finish its work for the sequel to Kaos Studios' 2011 game.

"The worst case scenario for us was that this situation meant that all that work just ended up being thrown into the bin, so we wanted to buy the IP to make sure the team can finish off the game they wish to make," Button-Brown said. He added that "it's now beneficial for us to have control over the IP's destiny," noting earlier in the VG 24/7 interview that current Homefront 2 progress is "great" and that the "last milestone was excellent."

Button-Brown also noted that such control would allow the developer to "be a little more open" about the game's development "than if we were working with a publisher," yet he would not comment on how this acquisition changes potential launch timing for Homefront 2. Previously, THQ pegged Homefront 2 for launch during the company's fiscal 2014, ranging between April 2013 and March 2014 – Button-Brown dodged the question on current launch timing, replying that Crytek "might change the release date that we haven't announced, and move this to another release date we won't announce yet either."