THQ announces developer in charge of Homefront 2

The original Homefront (released earlier this year) saw a huge variance in critical reception, and even though it wasn’t terribly well received by some, it certainly made up the figures, selling 2.6 million copies as of May this year.

Previously THQ had stated their intent on a sequel, but since the original developer (KAOS Studios) were closed recently, the future seemed uncertain for the series.

Well fear not dystopian future fans, Homefront 2 has a respected developer at the helm.

In a press release from THQ today, Crytek, specifically the UK team (responsible for the Multiplayer aspects of Crysis 2, previously ‘Free Radical’) have been crowned as being responsible for the new project. Before being bought by Crytek, ‘Free Radical’ were known for both the Timesplitters series and more recently the PS3 exclusive Haze.

While this certainly shelves rumours of Timesplitters 4 (at least for the time being), having a studio of this calibre will definitely help improve upon the original Homefronts’ gameplay.

Danny Bilson (EVP Core Games) states –

“Selecting Crytek to take Homefront forward underscores our strategy of working with the industry’s best talent, Homefront’s unique setting and storyline captivated gamers the world over. With Crytek’s industry leading technology and legendary experience in the FPS genre, we’re supremely confident that the next Homefront will deliver that AAA-quality experience that players demand.

Cevat Yerli, Founder CEO and President of Crytek also adds –

We see Homefront as a really strong universe that has a lot of potential and that has been expertly created and marketed by THQ. We believe that bringing our level of quality, creativity and production values to the next Homefront title creates an opportunity for both THQ and Crytek to deliver a truly blockbuster game. It’s really important to us that THQ has the faith in giving us a lot of creative freedom over one of its most important properties to allow us to bring the Homefront world to life in a new and innovative way.

Aiming for a release sometime in THQ’s fiscal year 2014, the sequel will be hitting both console and PC platforms (no specifics mentioned)