Shadow Complex Sequel Coming, Not Going Mobile

Chair Entertainment has stated that it’s a case of when, not if they release a sequel of their record-breaking XBLA hit Shadow Complex. Creative Director Donald Mustard spoke to Eurogamer about the franchise’s future, and was rather candid in revealing explicit details.

“I’ll put it this way. More Shadow Complex isn’t a question of if, it’s a question of when,” he said. “Shadow Complex is our baby and we love it dearly and, y’know, we’re working on some cool stuff [in general]. That’s all I can say.”

A lot of fans loved Shadow Complex dearly, too. The game was a massive success, snatching up awards like nobody’s business and setting the record for the most downloaded single-player title in Xbox Live Arcade history, with 200,000 copies purchased during its first week of release. Reviews were also largely favorable. GameZone gave it a 9, and the title currently has a rating of 88 on Metacritic.

A sequel could see the light of day on other platforms, but despite the success of Infinity Blade, Chair is tentative about transferring Shadow Complex’s controls to a touchscreen. “I still cannot think of a way that we’d be able to bring over the precision controls [to touchscreen devices] that Shadow Complex needs to be amazing,” Mustard said. “Shadow Complex is designed for a controller. I’m not a fan of trying to shoehorn console controls onto touch screens. They don’t feel right. You just lose so much precision.”

It’s a bold move, especially considering the massive surge of mobile gaming. Insomniac Games has created a new studio solely for the outlet, but Chair Entertainment seems intent on following the same quality over quantity approach that Insomniac Click is going for. Why send Shadow Complex to the Android and iOS platforms if they won’t be nearly as good as the Xbox version? Some companies may be willing to milk their titles and ship them off to other platforms, but others aren’t. Kudos to them.