Revitalized: Modders Granted Epic Permission to Breathe New Life into Legendary Ubisoft Game!

Highlights

Ubisoft has given permission to a group of modders to revive Dark Messiah of Might and Magic with a code-based SDK, allowing for easier modding of the game.

The modding community is actively enhancing the game by incorporating ray-tracing capabilities and creating a co-op mode. With Ubisoft's official approval, more modifications are anticipated to be introduced in the future.

By introducing the software development kit (SDK), the game's cult following could experience a resurgence, rekindling interest in Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and revitalizing its gameplay experience.

Ubisoft has granted permission to a group of modders to revive Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, an iconic first-person ARPG. Originally developed by Arkane Studios with assistance from Valve in the early-to-mid-2000s, the game will now be modded using a code-based software development kit (SDK).

Arkane had initially planned for Dark Messiah of Might and Magic to be a sequel to their debut title, Arx Fatalis, released in 2002. The project received the green light after Valve approached the developer with an offer to create a game using their upcoming Source engine. However, Arkane faced challenges in finding a publisher for Arx Fatalis 2, mainly due to the underwhelming sales of the original game.

Ultimately, only Ubisoft expressed interest in the project and agreed to publish it as a spin-off title based on their long-standing Might and Magic series. Ubisoft Annecy was also involved in handling the Xbox 360 port of the game. Despite receiving mixed reviews upon its release in 2006, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic gradually gained a devoted following.

Nearly two decades later, a team of modders, led by David Wiltos, has been granted permission to revive Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. They have gained access to a code-based SDK that will greatly simplify the process of modding the action RPG. While modding itself is legal, open-sourcing an unofficial SDK involves releasing a significant portion of the game's code, which can raise legal concerns due to copyright protections. Because of this, the release of the SDK depended on Ubisoft's approval, as explained by Wiltos on Reddit.

After two years of negotiations regarding the specific contents of the modding SDK's release, Ubisoft has given a general approval to the project. This essentially allows the developers to release anything they deem appropriate. In a recent update on Mod DB, Wiltos stated that his team will be taking advantage of this approval as quickly as possible. They have already introduced a limited toolkit that enables enthusiasts to implement ray-tracing support into Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.

The software utilizes Nvidia's RTX Remix toolkit, ensuring that any mods created will only be compatible with contemporary GeForce GPUs that support ray-tracing. The modding group, who initially focused on developing a co-op mode for Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, has now expanded their efforts to create a comprehensive modding SDK due to significant interest from the online community.

With Ubisoft's official endorsement, the forthcoming SDK is expected to significantly enhance the game's modest modding scene. The introduction of numerous Dark Messiah of Might and Magic mods has the potential to rejuvenate interest in Arkane's influential ARPG, further increasing its already dedicated fan base.

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic is available on PC and Xbox 360.

Source: David Wiltos/Mod DB, Polygon