Former employees who worked on Ryse: Son of Rome have revealed that Crytek planned to build a series spanning multiple historical eras. Future installments would have taken players to feudal Japan and Viking-age Iceland.

Some games are remembered for what they were, and others for what they could have been, and Ryse: Son of Rome clearly belongs to the latter category. The title arrived alongside the Xbox One in late 2013, boasting spectacular graphics and simple yet brutal combat set in Ancient Rome. The problem was that many considered it merely a decent game, the kind of experience you enjoy in an afternoon and never play again. That is what doomed Crytek’s future plans for the IP.

Ryse: Son of Rome Was Intended to Become a Series Similar to Assassin’s Creed

Several developers have claimed that Crytek wanted to build an entire franchise, essentially turning Ryse into a kind of Assassin’s Creed that would jump from empire to empire and era to era. Multiple employees who worked at Crytek during the development of Ryse: Son of Rome confirmed to IGN that the original plan was for Ryse to become a series with installments set in different historical periods, much like the way Ubisoft has expanded its franchise, which has already sold more than 250 million copies.

Among the settings proposed by the studio was feudal Japan, with the team showing particular interest in exploring the Mongol invasion, a setting reminiscent of Ghost of Tsushima. The developers also planned a game set in Viking-age Iceland, but all of these ideas were canceled after the IP was shelved because of the poor sales of Ryse: Son of Rome. It even emerged in 2014 that neither Crytek nor Microsoft was genuinely interested in producing a sequel.

The idea of expanding Ryse beyond Rome was no secret, as there were even rumors of a medieval spin-off called Ryse: Knights of England. Many argued that the main problems with Ryse: Son of Rome were its limited gameplay variety and short length, both of which could have been addressed by a sequel set in Japan or Iceland. Ultimately, the dispute between Crytek and Microsoft over who should retain the rights to the IP, combined with the German studio’s financial difficulties, buried every future plan for the series.

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