Chronicles: Medieval developer declared bankruptcy on the day it announced it was in trouble, but development will continue after a $5 million reprieve from Coffee Stain

In late October, Chronicles: Medieval developer Raw Power Games announced that it was in trouble. Funding for its ambitious, historical sandbox strategy had suddenly been pulled, and as a result the studio was at "real risk of closing". But it turns out the situation was even more dire than the announcement suggested, as Raw Power Games declared bankruptcy on the same day.

Despite this, development of Chronicles: Medieval will continue with at least some of its original creators involved, after Satisfactory developers Coffee Stain swooped in to purchase the assets and IP.

In a press release, Coffee Stain said that it submitted the winning bid in Raw Power's sale process following the company's bankruptcy, paying 36.75 million Danish Krone (around $5.42 million) for Chronicles: Medieval's intellectual property.

Rather than acquire the assets directly, however, Coffee Stain will transfer them directly to a "newly established company" that is owned 75% by Coffee Stain, and 25% by "a small group of key members of the game's original development team." Alongside paying full purchase price for Chronicles: Medieval's assets, Coffee Stain will also fund the continued development of the game.

In a statement, Coffee Stain CEO Anton Westbergh said that "Chronicles: Medieval made a strong impression at its reveal at Summer Game Fest last year. We're happy to step in and help bring it to players after the recent developments in Copenhagen." He also explained that "Things have been moving fast around this deal, and our short-term focus will be on working out how best to complete the game, together with the new company's management team."

Chronicles: Medieval is in the top 30 most wishlisted games on Steam, higher than the likes of Guild Wars 3, Atomic Heart 2, and the upcoming Mass Effect-like Exodus, so it's clear why this was an attractive proposition for Coffee Stain. What isn't clear from all this is how this affects Raw Power's existing staff. Presumably, Coffee Stain will seek to transfer as many people from Raw Power as they can, given they've been working on the game for years and therefore understand it intimately. But there's nothing in Coffee Stain's statement that confirms this.

According to its Steam page, Chronicles: Medieval is still slated for an early access release in 2027, but it isn't clear at this juncture whether the acquisition will affect this. In its press release, Coffee Stain states that "further information about the plans for the game, including the release timeline, will be communicated through the game’s own channels in due course."