Eidos: Kane & Lynch "will not disappear"

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 2 December, 2010

"Amazing" characters have "brand equity".

Violent action duo Kane and Lynch will return despite the mixed reception to their previous outing and lay-offs at Danish developer IO Interactive.

That's according to Eidos life president Ian Livingstone, and he should know: he sits on Square Enix's green light committee that decides which games are made and which are scrapped.

"We haven't made any announcements about Kane & Lynch going forward, but we all know that Kane and Lynch are two amazing characters who have a lot of brand equity," Livingstone told Eurogamer in a new interview published today. "People like those guys, so they're not going to disappear."

Eurogamer's Lane & Lynch 2 review turned up a 4/10, but others have gone higher.

Despite mixed reviews, Kane & Lynch 2 did the business for publisher Square Enix. It went straight in at number one in the all-formats UK chart.

"Kane & Lynch 2 clearly had a Marmite effect on people," Livingstone added.

"You either loved it or hated it. Some people liked the juddering camera, home video style. Others absolutely hated it. Some loved the characters. Some didn't like the characters.

"But it's artistic, thrill-a-minute instant action stuff. I thought it was a great game, but I can understand people might not have liked it."

Livingstone's comments echo those of IO general manager Niels Jørgensen, who said in October that low review scores were "fine", and that Kane & Lynch 2 was "a bit different, if not to everyone's taste".

Even if another Kane & Lynch gets the green light, fans may be in for a long wait before it emerges; IO is heavily-rumoured to be hard at work on Hitman 5 as we speak.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (30) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • abdo #1 1 year ago

    I wish they would though.

  • CaptainQuint #2 1 year ago

    I swear if EG keep running stories on this wholly undeserving franchise I'll... I'll...
    Edited by CaptainQuint at 02/12/10 @ 11:39

  • StolenGlory #3 1 year ago

    "Eidos: Kane & Lynch "will not disappear".

    Ah fuck.

    Oh and spouting business vernacular about 'Brand equity' and such like does fuck all to assure me of a positive future for the franchise.

    At all.

  • Tanners #4 1 year ago

    It's sad when awesome games like Freedom Fighters can disapear and absolute rubbish like this won't.

  • Ultrasoundwave #5 1 year ago

    Im one of the 6 people who thought K&L 2 was actually a decent game. Its not going to win any awards, but its a perfect rental or £20 purchase.

  • Ashcroft #6 1 year ago

    The games are OK. Not awful, not good. But when the LE of your game is less than half price a week after release, maybe it's time to just admit no one cares about your generic tough guy idiot characters.

  • Jonathan_Fakenham #7 1 year ago

    Sure they won't disappear now, when there's a movie on the way and everything. But I bet if the third, game-of-the-movie-of-the-game title is not drastically improved, they definitely will.

  • waynenot #8 1 year ago

    Did these games sell well? That will probably be what determines if they go away - not a silly soundbite by the Willy Lomans at Eidos.

  • Haloboy #9 1 year ago

    I'm one of the rare few who really enjoyed K&L2. And I honestly do not understand all the hate aimed towards it. Sure it's main campaign is somewhat short but there's a decent enough online and offline package there if you give it a chance. I'm glad to hear the IP won't disappear as I loved the first, thought the second was great and look foward to K&L round three.

  • Skurmedel #10 1 year ago

    Haloboy!, same here, I liked the sequel. Hardly something to write home about but totally okay.

  • LetsGo #11 1 year ago

    The game got kayned and lynched by reviewers.

  • muscleblade #12 1 year ago

    "Eurogamer's Lane & Lynch 2 review turned up a 4/10, but others have gone higher. "

    I think EG got it right this time.

  • Haloboy #13 1 year ago

    No they didn't. Should have got at least a 7.

  • metroid455 #14 1 year ago

    square enix for everyone's sake do not allow this shallow, boneheaded turd of a franchise to continue PLEASE!!!!

  • MiniAmin #15 1 year ago

    What the fuck is fucking wrong with you muthafucking detractors? Shit I couldn't give a rats ass about your fucking perceptions you bastards! Kane and Lynch are the best fucking goddamn characters in damn videogames you assholes!

    Ahem.

  • thedgam #16 1 year ago

    http://www.nooooooooooooooo.com/

  • StolenGlory #17 1 year ago

    MiniAmin forgot his meds! :)

  • MiniAmin #18 1 year ago

    @StolenGlory

    How dare you! No I did not forget my meds (I think). I was being sarcastic and mocking the silly and effusive manner in which Kane and Lynch swear. That's all they ever do.

  • Gearskin #19 1 year ago

    I liked Dog Days quite a bit.

  • muscleblade #20 1 year ago

    Did anyone else complete the game on Extreme difficulty? I did and it was a pin in the &%€.

  • dirtysteve #21 1 year ago

    'WE know it's shit, but it sold well, and that's the bottom line, what the fuck do you expect? that we'll throw away a money making opportunity?'

    Also, why was this culled from the front page interview with Livingstone? Seems a bit lazy.

  • muters #22 1 year ago

    For all the stick it gets, I do quite like the K&L series. It's refreshing (in its own strange way) to have a crime-based game where everyone really does feel like a criminal, with Kane & Lynch being only a mere notch more redeemable than the rest of the underworld. Though if they're going to return, I hope they appear in a more interesting game than Dog Days. It had great style I thought, but the samey cover-shooting got old long before the end, and it didn't have any of the first game's variety in settings. And just about the most bafflingly abrupt ending I've ever seen.

    Surely they must have some ideas set aside for future games if they want to keep the series going, I mean it's hardly a beloved IP that can gaurantee sales on the name alone. Or is it?
    Edited by muters at 02/12/10 @ 14:05

  • StolenGlory #23 1 year ago

    "I mean it's hardly a beloved IP that can gaurantee sales on the name alone. Or is it?".

    I dunno, just ask the chavs.

    The rest of us should know better to be honest.

  • muters #24 1 year ago

    I must have missed that line in that Harry Hill song, about wanting a baby, a mobile phone and a copy of Kane & Lynch.

  • Kami #25 1 year ago

    They'll keep shoving these guys in our faces until we tell them to piss off... quite a lot of us have stated it already, we have not been charmed - flawed and maybe slightly mental characters need something to endear them, otherwise you're essentially playing an asshole doing asshole things for the sake of all that is assholery. Kane and Lynch aren't likable, their recent game (thank the stars for rentals!) was... well. Poorly made. So what you got was two massive cocks doing stupid things for the sake of a rather dumb plot in a game that would have made a week in the jungle with Gillian McKieth actually seem like a pleasant alternative...

    Sometimes you just gotta know when to cut your losses and run the hell away, some franchises need to be put to bed and others need to be woken from their slumber. There is only so much good faith people can have in a franchise, and I think a lot would agree Kane and Lynch... well, we weren't endeared the first time and we were more turned off the second. I don't think we'll see third time lucky...

    So, how about... umm... Legacy of Kain, maybe? New one? You know, since you Eidos chaps reminded us by shoehorning Raziel and Kain into Lara:GOL? A game franchise, it seems, people seem to want? Would be nice... can put Kane and Lynch on hold... indefinitely would be a massively good start...

  • UncleLou #26 1 year ago

    First game was very good, at least the PC version was. Not played the second, but the demo was fine. Great, distinctive art-style as well. No idea why people who don't like a game always feel the need to point out how they hope there's not another one, noone is forcing you to buy them.

  • Kami #27 1 year ago

    I don't mind them trying to get the series rolling - hey, Ubisoft did it with Assassins Creed, after all. AC1 was a bit, "Well, yeah, it's nice but doesn't play well". Second was "Okay, this is MUCH more like it!" and Brotherhood was just plain "Okay, all is forgiven Ubisoft. All is forgiven."

    I just don't see these two characters doing it. A game about two antiheroes is a great idea, but there are fundamental rules to stick to. The more you make them "evil", the more the game and story around them need to compensate for it. The more you make them flawed, the bigger the justification needed to the end to actually give a toss about them at all. We're talking pretty silly office-chart-graphy stuff here. But it does sort of work in practice.

    They're as entitled to throw money at it as anyone, but it isn't always good to stick your fingers in your ears and pretend nothing is being said. I like games. I have to say, Eidos aren't that bad. But this... is a franchise I just can't get behind. It's all cock and no trousers - it's visually impressive, but you kind of wish it wasn't on display because every time you look at it, all you can think of is "Boy, that's going to hurt..."

  • mruottin #28 1 year ago

    I'm also one of the six people who quite liked both Kane&Lynch games.

    I consider them to be two (very rough cut) diamonds and will support them and IO till the bitter end.

    In the era where pretty much every developer does John Woo, Michael Bay, Paul W.S. Anderson or Len Wiseman type of games... Only IO does decent Michael Mann and I salute them for that.
    Edited by mruottin at 02/12/10 @ 17:31

  • Haloboy #29 1 year ago

    @mruottin

    Well said that man. Like it or not K&L is here to stay and agree or not it's one of the rare IP's that delivers something truly different. I'll support it all the way.

  • haubitzer #30 1 year ago

    Got the second game on the Steam Sale for 7.50 and it sure feels like the perfect price. A bizarre, artsy burst of shooting with an amazing art style. Some times during play when everything comes together you really glimpse an amazing, dynamic shooter in there. I really hope that IO gets to have another go at iterating on what they built with K&L2, because if they manage to make it always play at its best, it's going to be one of the most distinctive co-op franchises around.
    Edited by haubitzer at 03/12/10 @ 00:22