Ritual working on Sin 2?

With their Quake 3 engined third person shooter "Heavy Metal : FAKK2" now available even here in Europe, and a free multiplayer add-on for the game about to be released, the big question is what are Dallas based developers Ritual Entertainment up to next? For the moment they are still putting the finishing touches to "Blair Witch : The Elly Kedward Tale", their contribution to the Gathering of Developer's trilogy of spooky action-adventure games based on the hit movie "The Blair Witch Project". But beyond that?

Well, until recently Ritual were best known for their enjoyable but sadly flawed first person shooter "Sin". Its initial release was marred by bugs, and overshadowed by the arrival of the juggernaut that was "Half-Life" just weeks later, but despite this the game has sold well, and with a Sin anime movie about to be released there is apparently call for a sequel. In a brief interview with the Adrenaline Vault, Ritual's Tom Mustaine confirmed that the company are now working on a new project, but when asked if it would be for the Gathering, Tom replied "no, it will be for another publisher". As we understand it Activision have the publishing rights to any sequel to "Sin", so perhaps the most likely explanation is that Ritual are now working on "Sin 2", probably using the Quake 3 engine.

It's also known that Ritual are planning a console game at the moment though, which also might not fall under the Gathering label. The company's website includes an extensive "Help Wanted" section, and along with a selection of modellers, animators and artists, the company are also advertising for a console programmer, preferably one with "Playstation 2 programming experience". Could Ritual be working on an entirely new game for Sony's über-console, which is soon to be released in the US and Europe?

One thing we are certain of though is that there will be a sequel to "Heavy Metal : FAKK2" at some point. When I visited Ritual's offices in Dallas back in April, Tom Mustaine told me that they already had the basic storyline for a second FAKK2 game planned out. The final cinematic at the end of FAKK2 clearly leaves the game wide open for a sequel, which will see Julie visiting Gith's planet ship to rescue her pregnant sister and save the universe from destruction. Originally the plan was to make the second FAKK2 game before the Sin sequel, but perhaps that has changed, or perhaps more than one game is under construction at the moment in their downtown Dallas offices? Either way, we will no doubt hear more over the coming months as the first details of the new game(s) trickle out...