Grim Dawn

Grim Dawn is an upcoming action role-playing game developed by Crate Entertainment. Crate Entertainment announced on July 27, 2009 that they had licensed the Titan Quest engine from Iron Lore and announced Grim Dawn's development on January 21, 2010. Initially, few details regarding the were revealed, with Crate Entertainment simply stating that Grim Dawn is set in a thematically-dark fictional world loosely based on the Victorian era. Subsequently through Crate's official forums, more information about the game has slowly been revealed.

Gameplay
Like other prominent action role-playing games, the majority of the gameplay in Grim Dawn will center around fast paced combat and the collection of loot - armor, potions, weapons, and money. Crate confirmed in an interview that Grim Dawn will feature a crafting system similar to that used in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its popular mod Defense of the Ancients. Grim Dawn will also build upon existing systems present in Titan Quest, such as improved physics, location specific damage effects, dismemberment, and a completely redesigned quest system. In redesigning the quest system, Crate confirmed that Grim Dawn will feature factions.

Development
Grim Dawn's development is notable for Crate Entertainment's open appeal to their fans for financial support. In a posting on the game's official website, the developers announced that after a period of increased email activity from fans wishing to donate to Crate to support the project, Crate added a pre-order page to the game's official website to allow fans to contribute to the project in an official manner. Fifteen days later in another posting on the game's official website, Crate stated that they had received financial support from gaming website Gamebanshee and one of the authors of the gaming related webcomic Penny Arcade. Despite this overwhelming support for their fans and various websites, Crate manager Arthur Bruno stated in an interview with The Escapist that pre-orders made for only a very small percentage of Grim Dawn's total budget. In a later interview with gaming website Big Download, Bruno again confirmed that donations and pre-orders alone were not enough to completely fund the project. Additionally, Bruno revealed that Crate intended to provide new gameplay content for Grim Dawn in the way of expansions every six to ten months.