Image: Arkane & Ubisoft

The future of Arkane (one of the best studios to ever do it) may be in doubt (as reported by PC Gamer), and the nearly complete Blade game they're making might never see the light of day. Despite current-day corporate chaos, fans still adore everything the studio has done, including the charming-yet-wobbly Dark Messiah of Might & Magic. Long teased and rumored, an unofficial, community-made (but officially Ubisoft and Arkane-blessed) remaster has now surfaced on its own Steam page. Supposedly due out later this year, there's a solid outline of what's coming, and it's a lot.

For those who haven't played it, Dark Messiah began as an in-house project for Arkane - a follow-up to the excellent Ultima Underworld-ish Arx Fatalis - but after partnering with publisher Ubisoft, it was reworked into a spinoff from the Heroes of Might & Magic series. The cost was a corny script, but the funding and support from a major publisher allowed Arkane to really carve out a space for themselves. A space that they then used to produce classic immersive sims like Dishonored, Prey (2017), and Deathloop, defining the genre for years to come, teaching a generation of players the joys of watching NPC guards fall down stairs.

Due for release under the banner of community collective wiltOS Technologies, the project was originally teased as just an RTX remix update for the game, but clearly the project has grown far, far more ambitious, and done with official blessing. With the store page debuting on Steam on the game's 20th anniversary, and running on a much more modern version of the Source engine, the Community Edition honestly sounds like the kind of thing that Nightdive Studios would produce.

It promises to combine the PC and Xbox versions of the game (Dark Messiah: Elements), bringing previously console-exclusive levels into the fold, restoring cut content, and fully integrating the game's surprisingly great multiplayer into the package, as well as re-lighting the game and generally improving the graphics tech. There's also full Steam Workshop mod support planned (with Half-Life 2 Antlions running wild in one of the store page GIFs), a native New Game+ mode, bonus challenge levels, and an endless horde survival mode bolted on top too.

There's also the Challenge Runes system (similar to Halo's skulls) letting you create custom difficulty modes, plus new features and content added to the core gameplay. Slide down slopes and stairs, cast new spells, fight with new weapons, and transform into more forms. The culmination of twenty years of community projects to support and enhance the game. And of course, it'll be free for anyone who owns the game. Hopefully it's just the beginning too - with mod support, all new worlds could be next on the cards.

Speaking of owning the game, Dark Messiah only costs £4.29/$5 at full price, and often goes down as low as £1. It's a bit wonky, and you might need a community fix-pack to make it play nice with modern machines. Or you can wait a bit longer and get the Community Edition, which looks fantastic. We can't wait.