The much-maligned remake of XIII is now being, well, remade by a completely different developer after it was released to scathing reviews in 2020.
Announced on the game’s Steam page, publisher Microids revealed that XIII’s remake will essentially be released again thanks to a major update that arrives on September 13.
The hefty update from French studio Tower Five will redefine the art style (which was criticised for abandoning the original, comic book look), enhance the A.I., rework the HUD, revamp the sound design, and add multiplayer for up to 13 players.
XIII will be released on Nintendo Switch the same day (which will run at 30fps) and Microids’ update also mentions PS5 and Xbox Series versions (which will run at 60fps).
“To achieve the quality standards and offer an optimal gaming experience, Microids decided to entrust the development of XIII Remake to the French studio Tower Five,” the post said. “Hard at work for more than a year on a major update, this update will be released on September 13th.
“On that date, owners of the game will receive a free update and enjoy the game as intended. The development studio reworked the entire game from the Art Direction to the AI and added numerous technical improvements.”
Those who bought XIII on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One when it was released in November 2020 will therefore receive the update at no extra cost. The game was criticised heavily for myriad technical issues amongst other things and currently has an “overwhelmingly negative” review on Steam.
Original developer PlayMagic, who will not contribute to the remake’s remake, apologised at the time alongside Microids, saying “players expectations have not been met by the launch version and we hear loud and clear the legitimate criticism and disappointment.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
