The cult hit first-person shooterXIIIhas had an up and down journey through the years. Originally released in 2003,XIIIsold so poorly that a planned sequel was canceled quickly. However, the game built a fanbase that few expected, prompting calls forXIIIto be brought back in one form or another. It took 17 years to do so, but publisherMicroidsmanaged to make it happen. The remake, however, was a disaster. Microids hasn’t given up, however, and has now announced an overhaul update forXIIIfrom a new developer.
A statement from Microids was recently published on theXIIIremake’s Steam profile. Microids first explains that, in order to meet the quality standards players expect, it’s entrusting the game’s future development to Tower Five. Tower Five is a French team best known foraction-strategy gameLornsword Winter Chronicle. Further, Tower Five has been working on a substantial update forXIIIfor over a year and is now ready to announce its release date, September 13.
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The update will be provided to allXIIIremake owners free of charge, with Microids hoping the update will allow players to experience the game as was promised and intended. To start, the update will include a “Refined Art Style,” addressing the heavy criticism of theXIIIremake’s new art style. The originalXIII’s cell-shaded, comic book-inspired art was part of what made it so beloved, but the remake dramatically altered the visuals. No sample of the new visuals has yet been shared.
Further changes coming in the update include “Enhanced A.I,” “Reworked HUD,” and “Revamped Sound Design,” all of which should dramatically improve the technical quality of the experience from gameplay perspective. Of course, these changes should also make clear at what base level theXIIIremake struggled technically. It had substantial issues in all areas of the game.
Tower Five will also be making performance improvements toXIIIfor certain platforms. The Switch version in particular needed to be addressed, due to poor frame rate. The update should improveSwitch performanceto 30fps. The update will also enable 60fps on both PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Lastly, Tower Five plans to make an addition to the remake ofXIII. It will bebringingXIII’s back online multiplayerfor between 2 and 13 players. The originalXIIIfeatured 16-player multiplayer with several game modes, though it wasn’t what helped build the game’s cult following. Nevertheless, it’s going to be interesting to see what kind of game Tower Five has created whenXIII’s update arrives on September 13.
XIIIis available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
