CD Projekt have bought the studio behind The Flame In The Flood

Cyberpunk and Witcher crew CD Projekt have acquired The Molasses Flood, the American studio behind post-apocalyptic raft ride The Flame In The Flood and base-building game Drake Hollow. Huh! The studio will be making a game set in one of CD Projekt’s world, which warrants a second: huh! It’s all secret for now.

“So what does this mean?” The Molasses Flood studio director Forrest Dowling says in their announcement. “We get to build a completely new game in the universe of an existing CD Projekt IP, we get to hire a lot more folks, and we get to keep making games based on the same principals that have always guided us: making games with heart built on rich gameplay systems.”

CDP say The Molasses Flood won’t be merged with existing teams and will keep their current identity while they make… whatever it is? Considering CDP specifically note that the studio are “known for survival and base-building games”, it wouldn’t be a stretch to suspect they’re doing something like that. In Cyberpunk or The Witcher? Ah, no point in guessing at this point.

“We’re always on the lookout for teams who make games with heart,” CD Projekt president Adam Kiciński said in their own announcement. “The Molasses Flood share our passion for video game development, they’re experienced, quality-oriented, and have great technological insight. I’m convinced they will bring a lot of talent and determination to the Group.”

The Molasses Flood formed in 2014, one of several indie studios which rose from the collapsing Irrational Games. With a team including BioShock Infinite’s art director, lead level designer, senior technical animator, and senior AI engineer, they turned to Kickstarter to help fund their first game, 2016’s The Flame In The Flood. It’s a lovely-looking post-apocalyptic survival game about a raft journey down a river, though Pip’s The Flame In The Flood review said, “It’s comfy and I can play for hours, but it’s just not that deep.” They followed that up this year with Drake Hollow, a sorta baddie-bashing base-builder. Now, they’re part of CD Projekt? I say a third time: huh!

The consolidation of the games industry continues.