ELEX III when?

[DuX1112]

When is it coming? They're probably working on it right? They squeezed out ELEX II so fast, surely ELEX III is just around the corner, later this year?

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

On average, it has been 2-3 years before each of their games:

...
Risen 2: Apr 2012
Risen 3: Aug 2014
ELEX: Oct 2017
ELEX II: Mar 2022

The release schedule of ELEX II has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, such as enforced lockdowns and relocating employees to home offices. Originally, they had planned with an earlier release.

Whether their release practices will stay unchanged involves reading crystal balls. In 2019 they have been bought by THQ ( https://www.thqnordic.com/article/piranha-bytes-acquired-thq-nordic ). The consequences of that are unknown.

ELEX II has not been rolled out without problems. The DX11 based release was highly playable, if not insisting on getting high quality rendering with perfect performance for all sorts of hardware. It is extremely likely that the mysterious update with DX12 support is a snapshot/backport of their continued development of their game engine in preparation of ELEX III. Just like there is some overlap of the individual development periods of their games - e.g. creating some things in advance, not limited to graphical assets that will not be used in their current project, or further modifications of their game engine that will be merged into their production version eventually.

As such, development of ELEX III likely has started before the release of ELEX II already. But if they want to do better this time and bring the ELEX series of games to a good end, I wouldn't expect a release of ELEX III before 2024.

[DuX1112]

Woah, I didn't realize ELEX I was back in 2017... My bad. But I still am curious about ELEX III. I haven't played these games and I think they're janky trash (I own ELEX I though), but they're interesting to analyze at least, they do have unique ideas sometimes. I'll probably try out ELEX I soon to see how I really feel about it.

[Golden Boy]

Originally posted by DuX1112:

When is it coming? They're probably working on it right? They squeezed out ELEX II so fast, surely ELEX III is just around the corner, later this year?

yes, the next game will be elex 3.

Originally posted by Scythifuge:

Originally posted by DuX1112:

When is it coming? They're probably working on it right? They squeezed out ELEX II so fast, surely ELEX III is just around the corner, later this year?

DO you really want it? I mean, seriously, think about this: do you REALLY want E3 after what they pulled with E2?

what did they pull?

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by DuX1112:

I haven't played these games and I think they're janky trash (I own ELEX I though),

In many game forums, I see guys that seemingly bash each game they try out. Regardless of whether they've played it so much as to unlock many achievements.

I've not played ELEX as "to analyze" it, but to get an ARPG that offers good gameplay entertainment within a seamless open world and with some choices that add replayability and meta-gaming options. There are not many games from the ARPG genre that offer a similar level of entertainment. If you disagree, I'd like to see some recommendations.

For example, I've recently played Assassin's Creed Odyssey, but wouldn't say I've been entertained more. It's a game with an inflated world and tons of generic filler content where even the search for rememberable side-quests becomes a search for the needle in a haystack.
--> https://steamcommunity.com/app/812140/discussions/0/5738190785835423719/

[Novacius]

I'm expecting Elex III in 2025, don't think they can release any earlier if it's as big as the other two, so 3 years atleast. But I hope they can release it in a better technical state this time. I'd also like them to use E2's gameplay systems as a basis and change less there and focus more on story and so on instead, which was the biggest weakness of E2 in my eyes.

Originally posted by Golden Boy:

Originally posted by Scythifuge:

DO you really want it? I mean, seriously, think about this: do you REALLY want E3 after what they pulled with E2?

what did they pull?

They're probably talking about the technical state the game was left in. After introducing DX12 with an update, which improved performance, Piranha Bytes left certain graphical issues with that version unresolved. So now you have the choice between terrible performance (DX11) or some graphical errors (DX12). I was really disappointed by this and their lack of communication.

[Novacius]

Just in: The german government is supporting what appears to be Elex 3 with over 3 million euros. The project is currently codenamed WIKI6 and is scheduled for release in early 2026. https://www.worldofelex.de/en/site/news-archive/11-news-en/860-ministry-of-economics-funds-elex-3-with-3-17-million-euros

[DuX1112]

Originally posted by Scythifuge:

Originally posted by DuX1112:

When is it coming? They're probably working on it right? They squeezed out ELEX II so fast, surely ELEX III is just around the corner, later this year?

DO you really want it? I mean, seriously, think about this: do you REALLY want E3 after what they pulled with E2?

Yes, for amusement sake, lol. Imagine all the reviews and the forum discussions! 🤣🍿

[DuX1112]

Originally posted by Novacius:

Just in: The german government is supporting what appears to be Elex 3 with over 3 million euros. The project is currently codenamed WIKI6 and is scheduled for release in early 2026. https://www.worldofelex.de/en/site/news-archive/11-news-en/860-ministry-of-economics-funds-elex-3-with-3-17-million-euros

Honestly that's not a lot of money for 3 years of development...

[Novacius]

They're not funding all of it, it's less than half of the whole budget

[Golden Boy]

Originally posted by DuX1112:

Originally posted by Novacius:

Just in: The german government is supporting what appears to be Elex 3 with over 3 million euros. The project is currently codenamed WIKI6 and is scheduled for release in early 2026. https://www.worldofelex.de/en/site/news-archive/11-news-en/860-ministry-of-economics-funds-elex-3-with-3-17-million-euros

Honestly that's not a lot of money for 3 years of development...

i dont think germany is the publisher lol

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by Novacius:

[...] scheduled for release in early 2026.

This sort of "leak" is less a detail from a strict schedule, it's more their own hard time limit, which they have had to state when applying for the funding. So that someone at the Federal Ministry can evaluate the applicants and the scale of their projects. Thus the game is to be expected until early 2026.

[Inquerion]

Originally posted by D'amarr from Darshiva:

Originally posted by Novacius:

[...] scheduled for release in early 2026.

This sort of "leak" is less a detail from a strict schedule, it's more their own hard time limit, which they have had to state when applying for the funding. So that someone at the Federal Ministry can evaluate the applicants and the scale of their projects. Thus the game is to be expected until early 2026.

Good point, Damarr!

[Inquerion]

Originally posted by Golden Boy:

Originally posted by DuX1112:

Honestly that's not a lot of money for 3 years of development...

i dont think germany is the publisher lol

1. That was funny, enjoy the reward haha

2. I'm not sure if Elex 3 will sell well. Elex 2 certainly didn't.
I think returning to Gothic/Risen or starting a new IP would be a better idea.

3. And if they will still stick to that old Genome engine, I hope that they will at least make new NPC models from scratch, these Elex 2 faces are horrible.

[DuX1112]

Originally posted by Golden Boy:

Originally posted by DuX1112:

Honestly that's not a lot of money for 3 years of development...

i dont think germany is the publisher lol

It's still too little money man. Compare that budget to AAA companies... No wonder Piranha creates jank all the time. More money = more quality people you can hire => doing a better job => better quality games

[Morbius]

I played Gothic I and Elex. I enjoyed Elex a lot more. I don't want Elex's story to end ever. However, making a new series based off of Elex is also something I'd enjoy. I honestly don't think I'll go back to any other Piranha Bytes IP if it isn't Elex -- or at least, something that's connected to Elex III and has similar gameplay. Also: Elex II is, so far, my favorite game of all time. I can't wait for Elex III to become my new favorite game when it releases.