Neverwinter returns to the PC in 2011 @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on August 23, 2010

News: Atari announces the third Neverwinter Nights game.

Atari has announced that they will be returning to the world of Neverwinter Nights in Fall 2011 with the simply named Neverwinter. In development for the PC at Cryptic Studios, Neverwinter will be part of a cross-media event encompassing the PC game, a new tabletop roleplaying game and a trilogy of novels written by R.A. Salvatore.

The storyline of Neverwinter will take place after its cataclysmic destruction that occured in the 4th Edition of the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset:

Once a bustling location, Neverwinter has faced a great many disasters in the past hundred years. Rule of the city remains unclear following the unfortunate demise of the last Lord of Neverwinter and factions still battle for dominance after the all-consuming Spellplague took a high toll on the population. Even Neverwinter's dead are beginning to rise from their graves and march upon the city they once called home.

"We're beyond thrilled to develop a brand new version of Neverwinter. It's been years since the original became a gaming icon and we're honored to work with such a great franchise," said Jack Emmert, COO of Cryptic Studios. "We've been working closely with Wizards of the Coast and R.A. Salvatore to create an authentic D&D adventure filled with compelling fiction and exciting gameplay."

Neverwinter will offer five-player co-op gaming as players will choose their character from five "classic" D&D classes. As is to be expected with the Neverwinter series, Cryptic is also hard at work on a quest creation system that they have tentatively dubbed "Forge."

If Fall 2011 seems like too long of a wait, the first part of R.A. Salvatore's novel trilogy, Neverwinter: Gauntlgrym, will be published on October 5. It will be a prequel to the game that will introduce the settings, characters and monsters to anyone who picks it up.

We'll have more soon.