German developer 4HEAD Studios has ceased work on its independently-developed title Beowulf, citing pressure from the new Paramount blockbuster of the same name.
4HEAD’s effort, in collaboration with animation and graphics studio 3D-IO, was first announced in early 2006 as an action-RPG title based on the ancient epic poem, intended for release on PC and next-generation consoles. However, at the time of the announcement, the studio had not yet found a publisher for the title, and the advent of the Beowulf movie left almost no interest in the non-movie version among publishers.
“With the announcement of Ubisoft’s official game based on the movie and the conceivable competitive situation, we were seeing publishers unwilling to support our game. We thus lacked the resources needed to drive our project’s development forward,” said 4HEAD Executive Producer Gustaf Stechmann.
Movie studio Paramount has already obtained the rights to the project, including trademarks, internet domains and other assets, and 4HEAD Studios has since been acquired by German publisher DTP. “Luckily, we had the older rights to the use of the name,” Stechmann continued. “The buy-out deal with Paramount was therefore the logical exit strategy.”
Beowulf: The Movie and Beowulf: The Videogame are set for release on November 16.
