In the wake of Crytek’s closure of 5 studios, leads have begun to sprout up with new studios to fill the holes. Their passion and dedication to the development of games unhindered by the abrupt departure of Crytek. The developer Crytek choose to “refocus on its core strengths” and minimized to just two studios. Of the five that fell, the Bulgaria-based Sofia studio , “Crytek Black Sea”, has launched a new, independent studio dubbed “Black Sea Games”.

Hello World,
Black Sea Games, an independent game studio was just launched with one mission… to entertain you!

— Black Sea Games (@BlackSeaGames) November 11, 2016

Vesselin Handjiev, head of Black Sea Games, originally founded the studio in 2001 under the name “Black Sea Studios”. The studio produced two games prior to Crytek; RTS Knights of Honor in 2004, and Tactical RPG WorldShift in 2008. Vesselin had this to say about the studio and their goals on Black Sea Games website:

Black Sea Games Ltd. is an independent game development company based in Sofia, Bulgaria, founded in November 2016. Our mission is to create hard-core games that will entertain you over and over again. We believe the best gaming experiences are coming from challenging the players with meaningful choices, while giving them the freedom to create (and share) their own in-game stories. Whether it is a “sandbox” or an “open world”, these are just words. We would know we did our job right,  when you feel like: “Ah,… just one more hour”.

Black Sea Games states it has something cooking, and are even looking for developers to join their team, though the company isn’t ready to reveal anything to the world just yet. They have a mission statement, a previous track record, and a whole lot of passion. Enough to get people talking, and being noticed is important for small startups.

Prior to Crytek dumping their studios, Crytek Black Sea was working on Arena of Fate, a MOBA of the free-to-play variety that was announced in 2014 and whose beta testing came to an end in early November. Arena of Fate now lies in limbo as we wait to see if the game will ever be finished, or if it has been discarded with the studios. Whatever the case, the new studio, free of Crytek’s control, is now free to pursue the kind of games that fit their unique vision and will put Black Sea Games back on the map!

Yes, a month and a half ago I left Crytek and Arena of Fate. I miss the guys and the fans, but sometimes, you MUST follow your heart!

— Frujin (@Frujin) November 3, 2016

Vesselin Handjiev left Crytek in mid September, announcing this to fans just before Black Sea Games was announced on twitter. The announcement of his departure and the launch of the studio predated Crytek’s studio dump by a month.  The official reveal of the studio was made on December 23rd and seems to have been lost in the noise of so many holiday add-ons and teasers. However, Black Sea Studios looks to be growing and may be making waves in the near future. For now, we’ll be keeping an eye on this dark horse to find out what’s to come next!

What do you think about the Crytek studio dump? Do you think Black Sea Games will be a success, or is it too early to tell? Sound off in the comments below!