Gothic 4 confirmed

JoWood has announced that a fourth chapter in the Gothic series is in development, although the company has not confirmed a development studio for the title yet.

"Promising negotiations" are underway with "various prospective development studios," the company statement reveals. JoWood confirmed that its former deal with Pluto 13 (founded by former employees of Piranha Bytes) is off, as the two companies could "not come to terms."

The latest episode in the open-ended role-playing game will also be heading to an as-yet-unconfirmed "current-gen" console, which the company believes is the "next logical step" for the series. JoWood also added that it would be taking on board comments and requests from fans regarding the next game.

The first Gothic game was developed by German company Piranha Bytes and was released in 2001. The RPG featured a nameless hero sent into a prison colony, where he had to choose between joining one of two factions, each with different quests and storylines. A second game, Gothic II, followed in 2003, and continued the story directly on from the end of the first game. Recently, Gothic 3 was released, the first in the series to be powered by the custom Genome engine, but it was widely criticised for a variety of gameplay bugs.

Gothic 4 will be the first title in the series not to be developed by Piranha Bytes/Pluto 13.