Rune sequel plans outlined by Human Head

Rune developer Human Head has gone into a little more detail on its plans for a follow-up to its 2000 fantasy action title.

Speaking in an interview with Neogamr, studio co-founder Ted Halsted revealed that it's looking to modernise the original's combat system and put added emphasis on multiplayer.

"Rune will still be a third person action game with a lot of melee combat," he promised.

"The combat system is evolving, though. If Rune was third-person melee to Quake's first-person shooter in that it was more 'twitch', the next Rune will be closer to modern shooters in that it will have fast action but many more tactical options.

"I can say we expect to place a strong emphasis on multiplayer and especially on clan features. We're envisioning an action-world of warrior tribes," he added.

Halsted wouldn't offer any further detail on when a finished game might appear and on what platforms, though did reveal that the studio has come close to getting a sequel off the ground in the past.

"I can't name the companies involved, but in the early-to-mid '00s we were at contract terms with a publisher for Rune 2," he said.

"At that moment, that publisher was swallowed by another publisher. Our producer's new boss took one look and pronounced anything to do with swords and/or sorcery a 'dead and buried genre' and terminated the deal."

He gave no indication as to whether a publisher will be involved this time around but, perhaps unsurprisingly, wouldn't rule out turning to crowd-sourcing site Kickstarter to help fund the follow-up to the cult PC original.

There's still an air of uncertainty surrounding Human Head's other current project, FPS sequel Prey 2. Publisher Bethesda recently announced the game had been indefinitely delayed amid reports of a contract dispute between the two parties. Bethesda has refused to comment on whether Human Head is still working on the title.