Project IGI veterans nab rights to ye olde tactical FPS

The rights to open-ended tactical fly-o-drive-a-walk-y shooter Project IGI are now in the Norwegian hands of Artplant, a studio founded by former members of IGI devs Innerloop. Artplant have, in recent years, made games from Battlestar Galactica Online to horse 'em up Riding Club Championships and now they sound ready to Go In again. Because the IGI stands for I'm Going In, yeah? They're Going In. Again. At some point, anyway - they've yet to formally announce a specific game.

Artplant CEO Jack Wulff told GamesIndustry.biz that he's keen to be "creating new experiences for fans of the old game and introducing the IP to a new audience". GI say it won't be a rerelease or remaster as those rights are still with Square Enix.

Artplant have nabbed the IGI rights off Square Enix, who picked them up through Eidos. Squeenix have started pucking old franchises from beneath their buttocks in their gamenest and holding them up in the morning light for all to see. This has mostly been an attempt to get folks to crowdfund new sequels to old games they own. They've invited pitches for games including Anachronox and Gex, and some folks actually managed to Kickstart a new Fear Effect. No word yet on whether IGI will be crowdfunded but I wouldn't be surprised. Artplant currently have a Kickstarter up to add cross-country horsing about to their equine 'em up.

Oh, and what is IGI? Here are some of Graham's thoughts on IGI from his times playing the demo over and over:

"To be clear, IGI had its problems even upon release and I wouldn't recommend anyone return to it today, but it was the closest you could get to Metal Gear Solid V in 2000 – closer than the original Metal Gear Solid. It was a realistic-ish military shooter in which you infiltrated and attacked enclosed, fortified bases, shuffling between patrol routes or crawling through buildings or sniping down upon your hapless foes from a distant ledge. To my young mind, it played like a first-person Commandos and felt part of the same revolution of first-person simulation that included the first Hitman."

I wonder how this small studio will manage with something so ambitious. Well, I mean, I guess about the same as the first time - wonkily but endearingly?