Monolith, WB Reacquires F.E.A.R. Name For Project Origin

Developer Monolith Productions and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment purchased the F.E.A.R. name from Activision Blizzard, who acquired the license and license-holder Sierra Entertainment in Activision and Vivendi Games' recent merger. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Monolith, the studio behind F.E.A.R., has worked on a sequel to the first-person shooter over the last two years under the community-selected title Project Origin. The developer was purchased by WBIE in 2004, and, though Monolith kept the rights to F.E.A.R.'s technology, publisher Sierra Entertainment retained ownership of the name. This enabled Sierra to release expansions to the original title, F.E.A.R. Extraction Point and F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate, with developer TimeGate Studios. With the F.E.A.R. name back in its hands, Monolith has retitled its intended sequel F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. The game will ship on February 10, 2009 in North America and February 13, 2009 in Europe for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. "The name addition builds upon the strong game recognition, which we will extend as we move forward reinventing the F.E.A.R. brand," Says WBIE's Production and Development SVP Samantha Ryan. "F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin will continue the legacy of the original F.E.A.R. game with story and combat while adding new twists, gameplay and graphics to expand the players’ experience."