Legacy of Kain - Development

Development

During and after the completion of Dark Legions, Silicon Knights spent several months working on the design of Blood Omen without a particular platform in mind. Major inspirations behind the project included The Wheel of Time, Necroscope and Shakespeare's plays, while the concept of the Pillars of Nosgoth was derived from cover art for The Pillars of the Earth. Crystal Dynamics agreed to publish the game in 1993, and although there was indecision as to whether it should be produced for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer or the Sega Saturn, both parties settled on the PlayStation once Sony announced its impending launch. The game took over three years to develop, undergoing a substantial expansion mid-process which required Silicon Knights to increase its workforce—Crystal Dynamics sent several staff to assist them, including Amy Hennig and Seth Carus. Following "Herculean efforts", Blood Omen was released in late 1996. After its success, Silicon Knights contemplated creating a sequel in what they described as the Blood Omen series, but their relationship with Crystal Dynamics dissolved in 1997. Crystal Dynamics began developing Soul Reaver internally, and were acquired by Eidos Interactive during its production.

In 1998, Silicon Knights filed a suit against Crystal Dynamics for rights to the Legacy of Kain IP, requesting an injunction to prevent Crystal Dynamics from marketing the sequel. The two studios settled their legal dispute privately, and Crystal Dynamics and Eidos retained rights to the Legacy of Kain franchise, provided that Soul Reaver acknowledge Silicon Knights as the series' original creator. Paradise Lost was the original inspiration behind the concept, and sources such as Rabbinic lore, vampire mythology, Eastern myth and mysticism were also key influences. Visual cues were borrowed from films such as The City of Lost Children and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Soul Reaver was highly anticipated despite several delays, and was promoted on the covers of over ten game industry magazines, but schedule pressures forced Crystal Dynamics to cut content from the ending sequence. They intended to integrate the removed material into the sequel. Soul Reaver 2 was inspired by time travel fiction and Kurt Rudolph's research into Gnosticism. It was slated to include more of Blood Omen's role-playing game aspects and a wider breadth of acquirable abilities, though the team was handicapped by the release of the PlayStation 2.

The Soul Reaver 2 project was produced for the PlayStation for a short time, but, after creating a proof-of-concept demo, the developers were given approval to scrap their work and switch to the newer console. With "remarkable dedication, and sickening hours", the game was developed in 17 months; as with Soul Reaver, several features were cut in order to meet the release deadline. Blood Omen 2 was concurrently developed by an independent Crystal Dynamics team with creative autonomy, extrapolating from the 19th century steampunk aesthetic of Soul Reaver to settle on a Victorian feel. Its crew was wary of relying too strongly on the original Blood Omen as an influence, and expanded on the franchise's backstory in hopes of starting a new series. However, inconsistencies raised by its plot left the Soul Reaver 2 team to reconcile the storyline in the next game. Defiance represented "a whole new approach" to the franchise, with more focus on drama, an overhauled combat system, and scripted, cinematic camera angles. After fan speculation that it would become the last Legacy of Kain title, Crystal Dynamics unofficially confirmed on their forums that another game was being worked on, though no announcement followed, and, in 2005, their next project was revealed to be Tomb Raider: Legend. Later, it emerged that a sixth game, Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy, had been in development at Ritual Entertainment in 2004 before being canceled.