EA apparently needs to give the okay in order for THQ Nordic to be able to greenlight a Kingdoms of Amalur remastering at some point.
Apparently, despite THQ Nordic getting the license for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, there’s still a few legal hiccups in the studio being able to give the game another chance. A Kingdoms of Amalur remaster will still need Electronic Arts’s permission in order to make use of the IP in the future.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a fantasy RPG that was notable for the money spent on it and the fact that it was written by acclaimed fantasy writer R. A. Salvatore. It was the sole game developed by 38 Studios, who folded shortly after the game bombed on release.
The game’s plot focuses around a war between the various kingdoms of the land of Amalur, and a race of immortal and evil elves known as the Tuatha Deohn, who are constantly being reborn as they’re killed in battle, which gives them a decisive advantage in the war. To make matters worse, it is prophesized that the Tuatha Deohn are fated to win the war.
Facing defeat and annihilation, the kingdoms manage to bring a soldier back from the dead, freeing them from the shackles of fate and allowing them to set out on a journey to destroy the Tuathan Deohn.
The game got fairly favorable reviews and multiple DLC packs, but it wasn’t enough to keep 38 Studios from shutting down and was one of the different causes that resulted in the original THQ publisher shutting down. Now that Amalur is back with a publisher, however, a Kingdoms of Amalur remaster could definitely happen, as long as EA allows THQ Nordic to do so.
Considering that THQ Nordic is already continuing games like Darksiders and Timesplitters is rumored to be getting another game, the company’s strategy of building up various games that never got the attention they should have appears to be working, especially if the games get a much better reception with nostalgia. We’ll just have to see if a Kingdoms of Amalur remaster is among them.
