JoWooD revokes Gothic 4 date News

Update: JoWooD has explained to Eurogamer that Arcania: A Gothic Tale (Gothic 4) has yet to be given a date, and revoked the "late 2009" line a spokesperson from the publisher had recently given us.

JoWooD also wouldn't confirm whether we'd see the RPG next year at all.

However, we will still be treated to Gothic 3 expansion Forsaken Gods soon - UK retailers will sell the game from 5th December.

Forsaken Gods is supposed to bridge the gap between the third and fourth games in the series, but otherwise we know relatively little about it.

The developer, incidentally, will be Indian studio Trine, which has made some low profile PC games we've never heard of.

We've also yet to hear much about Arcania: A Gothic Tale, other than that Spellbound - and not series creator Piranha Bytes - will be the developer.

This will also be the first time the series will appear on consoles (TBC but likely 360, PS3) as well as on PC.

Despite the changes, the fantasy tone and setting of the world will remain - with the story set around ten years after events in Gothic 3.

Among the more interesting bits promised so far are a magically controlled day-night cycle, and the ability to hop on and ride all sorts of beasties.

The Gothic series has a passionate following, particularly in Germany, and has routinely produced alluring open worlds bulging with plenty of ferocious action. The problem, however, has been stability - with Gothic 3 marked down for the prevalence of bugs and glitches.

Head over to our Gothic 3 review to find out more. You can probably pick the game up on the cheap these days too.