COULD THE FAMOUS ANTI-HERO RETURN?

» [PC] The vampire Umah guides Kain during Blood Omen 2 after he loses his memories.

» [PC] The dingy slums in Blood Omen 2 have a distinct Industrial Revolution feel.

» [PC] Kain appears more youthful in Blood Omen 2 when compared with his grizzled appearance in Soul Reaver, which is set later in the timeline.

» [PC] A cinematic at the start of Blood Omen 2 depicts Kain being defeated by the Sarafan Lord, the leader of an army of vampire hunters. The game begins with Kain waking up 200 years later.

Back in May 2022, the Swedish firm Embracer announced it was purchasing Crystal Dynamics and two other Western studios owned by Square Enix, in the process securing the rights to franchises including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex and Legacy Of Kain. Commenting on the deal as part of the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors said, “We see great potential, not only in sequels but also in remakes, remasters, spinoffs as well as transmedia projects across the group.”

The deal was finalised in August, and in late-September, Crystal Dynamics released an online survey that posed a number of questions about the Legacy Of Kain games, such as asking respondents whether they have heard of the series and what they enjoy about vampire games. Most interestingly, the survey asks respondents whether they would be interested in potential remasters, reboots and sequels, and whether they would want them to be singleplayer or multiplayer. We asked Crystal Dynamics whether this means the series will be returning, and their response was, “We don’t have anything to announce regarding future plans for Legacy Of Kain.” Still, at least we know the developer is thinking about the potential of resurrecting the franchise: perhaps we could see Kain et al return from the (un)dead at some point in the future.