Ziggurat Interactive has purchased the sexy vampire BloodRayne video game franchise and other properties from Majesco in a bid to bring some retro PC titles back from the dead.
Ziggurat is working with Terminal Reality, the original developer of the BloodRayne series, to improve some existing titles on the PC and to explore new games in the BloodRayne universe. The original is a third-person horror action series that Majesco Entertainment published in 2002. Rayne is a brutal half-vampire woman traveling the world to foil Nazi plans, battle supernatural threats, and uncover more about of her past. It combined Nazi killing with a highly sexualized female vampire — a formula in the good old days for a popular game. Ziggurat is the latest game company to test the evergreen appeal of sexy vampires, which persists in pop culture alongside zombies as our favorite frights.
The Denver, Colorado-based Ziggurat Interactive was recently formed by entrepreneur Wade Rosen as a publisher of multiplatform retro and modern games. Ziggurat also purchased Advent Rising, Raze’s Hell, and Flip’s Twisted World, which now join Ziggurat’s catalog of more than 200 properties.
Ziggurat Interactive said it will update the PC versions of the BloodRayne games for better compatibility and other improvements. Ziggurat is also developing plans to further explore and expand BloodRayne’s universe.
Ziggurat Interactive was launched in late 2019 with the goal of preserving and expanding the legacy of video games.
In response to questions from GamesBeat, Ziggurat said the core mission of our company is to “expand the rich legacy of gaming and BloodRayne has a legion of avid supporters that are all anticipating the possibilities for the future of the franchise. The outpouring of fan support since we made the announcement yesterday has been incredible and we take that responsibility seriously.”
Ziggurat also said, “When BloodRayne was released it was a transformative work for the industry showcasing a strong female. We see the potential to make those classics more accessible for modern audiences, while also creating something new that incorporates the advancements that games have made over the past fifteen years.”
As for a launch window, the company said it is working with the original developer Terminal Reality to update the first two BloodRayne games, with the hope those updated versions will be out by the end of the year.
“After that, we’ll have additional announcements on the future of BloodRayne,” Ziggurat said.
[Updated 1:17 p.m. Pacific 6/17/20 with answers from Ziggurat].