Alkimia Interactive discusses the status of the Gothic remake, a possible release date and gameplay details for Gamescom 2022.

THQ Nordic came to this year’s Gamescom with a whole fleet of developers, including Barcelona-based Alkimia Interactive, which is currently working on the Gothic remake. Local media took the opportunity to speak to representatives from the studio, who revealed a lot about the current state of the project, which went into active development last year, in addition to confirming that it was too early to commit to a specific release window, let alone a release date.

Gothic, released in 2001, is widely regarded as one of the most iconic turn-of-the-century CRPGs. THQ Nordic has gauged the public’s interest in the Gothic remake with a playable teaser, which was released via Steam in late 2019. The publisher officially greenlit the project two-and-a-half years ago, and Alkimia has been gradually expanding its team since then.

German game publisher Rocket Beans spoke to Alkimia representatives at Gamescom earlier this week. One of the central topics discussed was the combat system for the Gothic remake. While the 2019 playable teaser received heavy criticism for its generic, Dark Souls-style combat, the studio has now assured fans that the remake’s combat mechanics will be much closer to the original game, which had players seeking out expert trainers for each weapon class and spending learning points to unlock faster animations and new combos. The colour palette will also be more faithful to the original game, as seen in the gruesome new gameplay footage from the Gothic remake shared at the THQ Nordic Digital Showcase earlier this month.

The recipe-based alchemy and cooking mechanics have been confirmed to return, with the developers aiming to deliver a slightly more complex system that can produce more powerful potions and dishes. The overall layout of the world remains unchanged, although some areas of the map have been scaled up, while a few new locations are coming. Planned dialogue changes will be similarly additive in nature, so all the lines from the epoch-making game will still be part of the package. As for who will be performing them, the Spanish developer said that they have done their best to recruit as many of the original cast as possible. However, a number of unspecified roles have had to be recast due to deaths, retirements or career changes. The once revolutionary AI system of the original Gothic will remain as unchanged as the engine change will allow, according to the developers.

Finally, the studio confirmed during its Gamescom appearance that it has not yet committed to even an internal release window. So it is unlikely that the Gothic remake will be released before 2024 at the earliest.

Gothic is currently in development and is expected to be released for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.