Warner snaps up F.E.A.R rights

Warner Bros. has acquired the rights to the F.E.A.R franchise, which was previously owned by Vivendi.

The deal is the first evidence of publishers ‘picking off’ unwanted franchises from Activision Blizzard – which is likely to sell more ex-Vivendi properties in the coming months.

Development control of F.E.A.R now returns to – the Warner-owned studio that was responsible for the original titles in the series.

Monolith created the first F.E.A.R for Sierra back in 2005, and began development of a sequel. However, the studio was then snapped up by Warner Bros. It retained the rights to the game’s technology – but Sierra kept ownership of the F.E.A.R name.

Warner will rename ‘spiritual’ F.E.A.R sequel Project Origin to F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin as a result of the deal.

The title is due for release in February next year.