Dead By Daylight creators Behaviour Interactive have announced they are acquiring Red Hook, creators of Darkest Dungeon. This is the same Behaviour Interactive company that recently laid off a group of people canceled the game and closed down Midwinter Entertainment after acquiring a slew of developers over the past two years (others include SockMonkey, Codeglue, and Fly Studio). Darkest Dungeon is a horror game similar to DBD, so I guess the acquisition is in line with that perspective. Still, my quick assessment is “oh my.”
Red Hook will remain a “fully independent studio” under the Behavior banner, according to a definition of “independent” that has yet to be fully disclosed. “Darkest Dungeon has long been a series we’ve admired, enjoyed (and maybe even lost a little sleep over) as fans, and the opportunity to welcome Red Hook as a fully independent studio under the Behavior banner is nothing short of thrilling,” it reads. social media statement“We can’t wait to support Red Hook as they continue to do what they do best: challenge your sanity.”
In a separate statement, Behaviour CEO and cofounder Rémi Racine characterized the move as, essentially, a corporate exercise in adopting a recent child, because your festering, stay-at-home, gawky son needs a recent playmate, bless him. “Earlier this year, we set an ambitious goal for our future as a publisher—to make Behaviour synonymous with horror, and to surround Dead by Daylight with a library of similarly exceptional horror games,” he wrote. “Our acquisition of Red Hook is another decisive step toward that goal, with more to come.”
“The setting”, huh? I’d keep you away, Red Hook. If Dead By Daylight is known for anything, it’s cannibalizing characters from other horror games. They said the Alien can’t be tamed, Red Hook. I’ll give it two months before the Entity kidnaps Wayne June and turns him into DLC.
Red Hook themselves seem elated with the arrangement, as you might expect. In the same press release, co-founder Chris Bourassa described Behavior as “kindred spirits” because “both studios are Canadian, independent, and committed to fantasy horror games.”
“The benefit of Where we differ Red Hook is scale, which opens the door to new possibilities,” Bourassa added. “Behaviour’s support will help us realize our vision for the future of Red Hook and fully focus on transforming Darkest Dungeon into an absolute giant of the dark fantasy genre.”
Again, I don’t understand how this “independence” works in practice here – what will Behavior do, other than provide funding for development? They’ve confirmed that at least all 29 members of the existing Red Hook team have been retained.
Acquisitions aside, Red Hook is currently working on an expansion for Darkest Dungeon 2 that will encompass the entire kingdom and turn it into a turn-based board game.
