Today Polish developer Forever Entertainment published on its investor website a note announcing the signing of a deal with Square Enix.
According to the announcement, the developer (which you may know for Panzer Dragoon: Remake) will create several remakes based on an IP owned by Square Enix Japan.
The name of the IP has not been announced and it will be shared publicly once the global marketing campaign begins.
The remake will feature new graphics, but gameplay and story will remain the same as the original games.
Forever Entertainment will cover the costs of developing (and likely marketing) the remakes and will receive over 50% of the revenue generated by sales.
We also hear that acquiring licenses for classic IPs and creating new games or remakes based on them remains one important direction for Forever Entertainment’s business. The effectiveness of this tactic has been confirmed by the success of Panzer Dragoon: Remake.
If I was to speculate, the conditions of the deal possibly indicate that the IP involved in the deal isn’t a major one. If it was, Square Enix would likely want to retain full control of the remakes by simply hiring an external developer to develop them, instead of letting said developer take point on the initiative.
That being said, this is just my personal speculation, so take it with the customary grain of salt.
[Thanks for the tip: Mateusz Wiśniewski]