Eurogamer has quotes from Piranha Bytes co-founder Michael Hoge on the Gothic series, and the moves by now-bankrupt publisher JoWooD that caused them to walk away from the RPG franchise for a bit. "The problem was - to cut a long story short - there were a couple of differences in opinion between the publisher and us," says Hoge. "And the whole thing collapsed when the publisher forced us to release Gothic 3 while it was not ready." He admits they did not deliver the game when it was expected, but blames JoWooD's "stock market orientation" on the decision to ship the game in an unpolished state. Regardless of the resolution of JoWooD's insolvency (which it seems likely is resulting in their closure), Hoge notes that the rights to Gothic have reverted to Piranha Bytes, though Risen brand manager Daniel Oberlerchner remains coy about whether their new Risen IP and the Gothic series will be merged. "That's a dangerous question," he says. "That's a big secret!" Eurogamer also offers an interview where the pair explain why Risen 2 will be better than the original Risen.