Light shed on Darkness

As part of its retreat from the front lines of the console wars, Majesco Entertainment last December sold off its rights to a pair of in-development games to a mystery publisher for $8 million.

The mystery was partially solved today as 2K Games today stepped forward as the new publisher of The Darkness, and announced a release date for the project, which should arrive "next winter."

Developed by Starbreeze Studios, the team behind 2004's surprise hit, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, The Darkness is based on the Top Cow comic of the same name. The comic follows Jackie Estacado, a mob assassin who, while on a job, acquires a host of black-magic powers, known collectively as "The Darkness." Eisner Award winner Paul Jenkins penned the game's story.

While it's now known what happened to the rights to the Darkness, the other game involved in the Majesco deal, an adaptation of the forthcoming comic-based film Ghost Rider, is still spinning its wheels in limbo. Considering that Majesco announced selling the rights to both games to a single publisher, 2K Games seems a likely candidate to publish the game based on Marvel Comics' spirit of vengeance, but the company is staying mum on the subject. As a 2K rep told GameSpot, "We have only announced Darkness. Anything else is just speculation."

The Darkness is scheduled for release next winter "for next-generation console systems."