Nosgoth (cancelled game)

Nosgoth is an upcoming multiplayer title in the Legacy of Kain series, to be published by Square Enix Europe. In the wake of various leaks, its existence and continued production was confirmed in June 2013. It is set to establish a new, ongoing branch to the Legacy of Kain franchise, in the same vein as the Blood Omen and Soul Reaver sub-series. As of yet, few specific details have been asserted regarding its development team, release date, or storyline.

Backstory and setting
to be added

Factions
to be added

Overview
to be added

Classes
to be added

Locations
to be added

Pre-confirmation


In February 2013, several gaming websites, including VG247, reported the discovery that publisher Square Enix's website domain managers had registered the domain "warfornosgoth.com", noting that this name referred to the Legacy of Kain series' established setting, Nosgoth. In the same month, the Official Xbox Magazine's Edwin Evans-Thirlwell posted that a Passion Pictures artist, Richard Buxton, had mentioned working on a Legacy of Kain "animation pitch" in 2011 at his LinkedIn page, and publicized "some highly Kain-ish art" from Buxton's online portfolio. In a telephone call with Evans-Thirlwell, Buxton simply replied, "I'm not allowed to talk about that", and subsequently removed the storyboard, and all references to Legacy of Kain, from his profiles.

In May 2013, it was highlighted that the phrases "War for Nosgoth" and "Nosgoth", and an associated file – "BCMPGame.exe" – had appeared in Advanced Micro Devices' Catalyst application profiles, alongside the titles of various recently-released and upcoming video games. Further, it was found that an entry for a title named Nosgoth had appeared on Valve Corporation's Steam database, attributed to "Psyonix Comp". The entry had been renamed to "Nosgoth" from an earlier codename, "Black Cloth", and featured a logo and icon which both prominently displayed a shape resembling the dais of the Pillars of Nosgoth. Additionally, the LinkedIn profile of composer Kevin Riepl contained an entry reading "Nosgoth (VG) Square Enix/Psyonix". After this was publicized, Riepl, like Buxton, edited the reference: first to read, "Sort of announced Title (?) :-| ? what? (VG) Square Enix/Psyonix", before instead declaring it an unannounced game. Some final potential evidence came in the form of an image from a Psyonix Games artist's portfolio, depicting a "vampire creature concept".

Through an exchange on Twitter, Kain voice actor Simon Templeman stated that he had not been contacted regarding any new Legacy of Kain titles, but expressed enthusiasm about a possible return to the role: "I haven't heard but he'll [sic] yeah...more soul reaving would be fun".

Eventually, on June 8, 2013, Square Enix London community manager George Kelion, concerned that the continuing leaks might generate misguided speculation, reached out to websites to confirm the existence of an upcoming game named Nosgoth. VG247 reported that he stated the following:

He issued a different statement to Eurogamer, but with similar details:

Both announcements offered the following points of information:


 * Nosgoth is in active development.
 * Nosgoth is not a traditional action-adventure game, unlike all previous Legacy of Kain titles.
 * Nosgoth is a multiplayer game, again unlike all previous Legacy of Kain titles, with no single-player components.
 * Nosgoth is not a reboot, and exists within the established Legacy of Kain continuity.
 * Crystal Dynamics, who either published or developed all previous Legacy of Kain games, are neither developing nor involved with Nosgoth, nor any other Legacy of Kain titles.
 * Nosgoth is envisaged as a new "branch" in the franchise, akin to the Blood Omen and Soul Reaver sub-series.
 * Nosgoth has not yet been properly revealed, and will be more formally announced at a later time.

Post-confirmation


Since confirming the existence of Nosgoth, Kelion, under the alias "Monkeythumbz", has divulged several additional details on the project at the Eidos Forums in response to fan questions:


 * "Making sure that we respect the series canon is something we take very seriously. I know you'll think I'd say that anyway, but we're devoted fans of the lore established in the previous games, so it's only natural we'd want to ensure Nosgoth both complements them and expands upon them. [...] I'm all up for having a discussion... but all in good time. Right now, we're all heads-down and nose to the grindstone in the preparation phase, getting all the various materials in place etc, and we want to make sure that the game feels right before speaking about it more plainly and openly. [...] As I told VG247, I'm sorry to be so cagey... we just felt it was important to tell you what Nosgoth *isn't* so as to properly manage your expectations. The time to tell you what Nosgoth *is* will be coming soon, but not just yet."
 * "On Nosgoth, I'm the game's Community Manager - which as a long-time LoK fanboy is pretty much a dream gig! I look forward to discussing my exact involvement so far in greater detail once we're ready to do so. [...] With regards to genre, all I can say right now is that you really shouldn't be thinking of Nosgoth as a game in terms of a single-player experience."
 * "The truth is I don't know about Amy's notes, although I know I personally haven't read them (even though the prospect has me salivating). Even if I did know, I'm not even sure what I'd be allowed to say, especially as Crystal Dynamics aren't involved with Nosgoth and I assume her notes would be their property. So yes, "i don't know" is the only answer I can give right now. [...] Regarding extraneous information, the answer is "yes" and "no". "Yes" in the sense that we've done our very best to absorb all knowledge about LoK's narrative as revealed in the games and elsewhere, and "no" in the sense that it's not really relevant to Nosgoth. As I said in my statement, Nosgoth is very much on a seperate [sic] branch of the LoK mythos to Soul Reaver and Blood Omen (and, by extension, Defiance). It's definitely the same familiar universe, though."
 * "Nosgoth is not a mobile game. Also, we're mostly influenced by LoK:SR1... make of that what you will."
 * "Nosgoth is not open-world."
 * "I can tell you truthfully that Nosgoth has been built as an LoK game from the ground up."
 * "Inevitably, due to the nature of this game being multiplayer, story will not be as prominent a factor in moment-to-moment gameplay as with previous LoK games, which hopefully will address your point about newcomers. Nevertheless, as fans of the series, it's our hope that what we are doing within the lore will encourage newcomers to be engaged by the series' rich backstory and convert them into LoK aficionados. [...] Additionally, by having Nosgoth exist on a different branch to SR and BO (but within the same continuity), we're going out of our way to avoid "butchering" the game and, by extension, the IP."

Official Announcement
On September 25, 2013, the official Announcement trailer for Nosgoth was released, showcasing the game as an asymmetrical third-person team-based multiplayer game.

Following the trailer, George Kelion, Community Manager answered some questions regarding the game's placement in the timeline saying that it takes place after Kain casts out Raziel into the Abyss, during a time where he is mostly absent from his empire, and shows what happened to the Razielim during that time period.

Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun
(~ To be added... ~)

Credits

 * Developer: Psyonix Games
 * Publisher: Square Enix Europe


 * Community manager: George Kelion
 * Composer (not formally confirmed): Kevin Riepl

Appearances
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