Serious Sam 4's September 24 launch is rapidly approaching. Croteam drops its latest first-person shooter tomorrow on PC and Stadia, with plans for PlayStation and Xbox support in 2021. For the first time in years, Croteam now has the opportunity to consider what comes next. With Serious Sam 4 done, the possibility of revisiting other Croteam brands grows. And one game in particular, The Talos Principle, seems to be something both Croteam and fans want to see revisited.
Speaking with PC Gamer, Talos Principle co-writer Jonas Kyratzes reconfirmed that a sequel is in the works. "Talos 2 is definitely happening," Kyratzes explained, even going so far as to detail Croteam's progress so far. "We definitely have a plan, we have a pretty good story that I'm very happy about," is as specific as Kyratzes gets. But he notes that writing Talos Principle 2's story has been challenging since the first game wrapped up its plot so well. As such, Talos Principle 2's story is "very ambitious."
Beyond that, Kyratzes says that there's been a "very small amount of pre-production for the sequel. "We have some knowledge, some images, some plans, some whatevers," but things have been moving slowly as Croteam focused heavily on Serious Sam 4. Despite the heavy focus on Serious Sam 4, Kyratzes says Croteam has continued to have "a number of meetings over the last year," if only for the writing team.
As for why more hasn't gone into Talos Principle 2 yet, Kyratzes elaborated on Croteam's efforts with Serious Sam 4. He explains how for "the last few months of a game, everybody has steam coming out of their ears," implying that they're very focused to finish the project.
Kyratezes expects Talos Principle 2 development to move much faster with Serious Sam 4 development complete. He explains how development moves faster with Talos Principle compared to Serious Sam, saying, "The moving parts are fewer. It's very challenging in other ways, but the technical aspect of it." He blames Serious Sam's thousands of enemies and having to "deal with guns and god knows what" as why Talos Principle is easier in comparison.
The original Talos Principle was actually made after the team had started on Serious Sam 4, but decided to shift directions. Jonas Kryatzes was brought on as a writer at Croteam afterward, with more than 80% of the game's puzzles already finished. With Talos Principle 2's story already done, development is going in reverse compared to the first game. But after 6 years of heavily focusing on Serious Sam 4, Croteam's probably ready for something different.
6 years of developing the technically impressive Serious Sam 4 with its thousands of enemies on-screen and co-op functionality bodes well for a Talos Principle sequel. If Croteam was able to create the mind-bending puzzles of the original Talos Principle with such dated tech, it's certain to ramp up the creativity with a sequel. It may be years before Croteam is willing or able to share more about Talos Principle 2, but Croteam seems equipped to make it worth the wait.
The Talos Principle 2 has no current release plans.
Source: PC Gamer