Frozenbyte is breathing new life into the fairytale Trine series and has officially announced Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince for 2019. After the future of the franchise was cast into doubt over increasing costs, Frozenbyte is finally moving ahead with a new game.
The side-scrolling platformer first hit Windows PC back in 2009 before being ported to the likes of the PlayStation Network and receiving a 2014 remake called Trine: The Enchanted Edition. Away from the original game, Trine also spawned two sequels in 2011 and 2015. Despite the popularity of the series, Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power was criticized for being too short.
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The Trine Twitter teased that an official announcement is "coming soon," meaning fans will have to wait a little longer to find out what the title will involve. According to a press release (via Eurogamer), Trine 4 will continue Frozenbyte's legacy and be published by Modus Games. “Trine 4 is going to be the best in the series,” said Frozenbyte's CEO, Lauri Hyvärinen. “We have rekindled our love for the franchise, heard and seen the fan feedback, and our hearts are set on exceeding those expectations. Trine is back!”
While the announcement of Trine 4 would've been completely unexpected, 30 games were leaked earlier this month by an EU Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency funding document. Apart from the name being a cryptic tease of a darker entry, Frozenbyte is keeping quiet on the fourth game. With a colorful backdrop and three loveable characters at the core, Trine 4 will presumably bring back Zoya the Thief, Amadeus the Wizard, and Pontius the Knight.
Trine 3 was the first game in the series to use 3D technology, but it is unclear whether Frozenbyte will stick with the same mechanics or return to original 2D style. Gamers will know that Trine 3 didn't turn out how Frozenbyte had wanted and the developers even released an apology video. Aside from Trine 3's length, fans were angered by the game's cliffhanger ending. At the time, Frozenbyte said it would've cost an extra $15 million to make Trine 3 longer and the company wasn't sure if it would continue the franchise.
Frozenbyte has a lot of work on its hands to restore faith in Trine, but here's hoping that developers have learned from the mistakes of Trine 3. There is clearly still enough of a fanbase to warrant a fourth game and enough time has passed to raise the funding Trine 4 needs. Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince is expected to hit Windows PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One at some point in 2019.