Crytek forms new Austin studio with former Darksiders developers

Crytek today opened a new studio in Austin, Texas, staffing it at least partially with the core Vigil Games team.

Vigil Games was shuttered last week when THQ failed to find a buyer for developers and their game series Darksiders.

Former Vigil co-founder David Adams is the CEO of the newly minted Crytek USA Corp. "I'm thrilled to be a part of the newest Crytek studio, which will boast some of the brightest development talent in the industry," Adams said. "The studio's launch represents Crytek's commitment to delivering diverse and high quality content to players everywhere."

Following the announcement, THQ president Jason Rubin tweeted, "Great news for Vigil, at least the core team. Thanks to Crytek for saving as much as they could of a fantastic team."

The Darksiders intellectual property has not yet been auctioned off, Rubin told Polygon.

Crytek's CEO, Cevat Yerli, also issued a statement about the new studio's "strategic" location.

"Crytek has always enjoyed a special relationship with gamers and business partners in North America, so establishing a permanent presence in the US was a natural step," Yerl saidi. "We are extremely excited about the work that we will be undertaking from our strategic new location in Austin, with David Adams and his team of 35 experienced developers. We believe our CryEngine technology will enable the team we assemble to create unparalleled new gaming experiences."

During the THQ auctions, Crytek also acquired the rights to Homefront for a total of $544,218. Homefront 2, which Crytek began working on in 2011, can now be self-published or released through another publisher of Crytek's choice.

Crytek is now present in Europe, Asia and North America; their headquarters are located in Germany. Crytek USA is the second recent opening by the company, which recently launched Crytek Istanbul to focus on online gaming.

Update: A Crytek representative confirmed to Polygon that the 35 employees mentioned in the press release are all former Vigil Games employees.

Update 2: During a recent interview with Gamasutra, Yerli revealed that recently recruited Vigil members will work on online games, with the new Crytek USA focusing on both online and AAA productions.

"It's going to be quite a significant investment for Crytek over the next five years," Yerli said.