Project Dagger, a new IP in development at People Can Fly, has been hit with a setback, as it is losing its publisher, Take-Two Interactive. It’s been revealed that People Can Fly, developer of such games as Bulletstorm and Outriders, and Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of studios like Rockstar and 2K Games, are no longer collaborating to release the new title.
Word of this comes courtesy of PCF itself, who revealed that it received a letter from Take-Two Interactive stating its intention of terminating the development and publishing agreement for Project Dagger, following two years spent developing the IP. From here, the two companies will enter into negotiations to determine how Take-Two will recoup the money it spent on the project.
According to People can Fly, the deal gave Take-Two the option to buy the rights to the IP, but the company has passed on that offer, leaving PCF the sole owner of Project Dagger. As such, the developer will continue working on the project within its “self-publishing pipeline,” though it clarified that that’s not yet set in stone. Company CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski stated that it hasn’t ruled out partnering with another publisher should it present a “compelling business opportunity.”
Although the factors behind the partnership’s end haven’t been revealed, PCF states that the split was made with “mutual understanding between the parties.” Wojciechowski stated that he assumes “we will part on good terms” and even believes that a future collaboration with Take-Two on another project is still possible.
People Can Fly has been hit with a few setbacks as of late. While the release of Outriders last year led to plenty of favorable reviews, the game struggled to attract players to its looter-shooter gameplay, so much so that Outriders failed to make a profit in 2021. Despite that, though, PCF has continued to support the game, even releasing major new content for it like the Worldslayer expansion that came out in June. Similarly, PCF continues to carry on with Project Dagger even with Take-Two departing.
Not much is known about Project Dagger outside of it being a new action-adventure IP. People Can Fly stated that the title is still in pre-production, with the developer currently at work on “closing combat and game loops” and migrating the project from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5. The game is one of seven projects that PCF and its studios are working on at the moment. These include a collaboration with Square Enix called Project Gemini as well as two self-published projects codenamed Bifrost and Victoria.
Project Dagger is in development.
Source: People Can Fly