Crytek USA, Vigil devs aim to get the band back together with new studio

David Adams, formerly of Darksiders series development studio Vigil Games, has formed a new studio: Gunfire Games. It is a studio comprised of seven team members from Crytek USA, which itself was formed entirely from ex-Vigil staff in the wake of the THQ closure and auction. In other words, in the span of 18 months, Adams has gone from Vigil employee to Crytek employee to founder of his own studio.

Adams told Polygon that the decision to leave Crytek was due in part to financial issues which recently hit the company - issues that Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli says were not as bad as you may think - but also due to the fact that people were abandoning Crytek's ship, many of whom Adams wanted to keep working with. "It really was the team," Adams said. "When you make a game, one of the most important elements of that is the people you work with. You could get 12 of the best developers in the world and put them into a room and they may not make a good game."

Adams also said that he "jumped" at joining Crytek, which in hindsight may not have been the best decision. "Having gone through this a second time, the first time we jumped on the first deal that sounded good; this time, we feel a little more confident in our abilities," said Gunfire studio director Matt Guzenda. "We walked away from them, not the other way around."

Adams and Guzenda told Polygon they're working to bring more of the original Vigil team together, and are knocking around ideas for what they want to do next, which Adams expressed could include more Darksiders games, should IP owner Nordic Games give their support. In the meantime, Crytek USA has been relieved of their development on Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age.