Commandos Franchise Returns

Absent for over a decade, Pyro Studios' beloved stealth RTS franchise Commandos will be making a triumphant return with Kalypso Media, publishers of popular franchises like Tropico and Dungeons, at the helm.

While originally well-received with its first installment, Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines, receiving favorable reviews in 1998, the franchise petered out with the most recent game, Commandos: Strike Force. Strike Force, released in 2006 to mixed reviews that criticized the game from moving too far from its RTS roots and embracing a more action-heavy philosophy that was becoming more popular at the time.

While Kalypso hasn't revealed any plans to extend the franchise, they now hold rights to produce future Commando games. This also gives them distribution rights to the entire series so far, including Behind Enemy Lines and Strike Force, as well as Commandos 2: Men of Courage, and Commandos 3: Destination Berlin. Kalypso also holds distribution rights to Pyro Studios' other titles, including Imperial Glory and Praetorians.

“We have great respect for what the Pyro Studios team have accomplished and created throughout the history of the studio," said Simon Hellwig, founder and Global Managing Director of Kalypso Media Group. "Therefore, we see it as our responsibility to want to revive and further develop these beloved games for the fans around the world.

"Of course, this will include the development of a completely new games for all platforms, but also an extensive adaptation of the existing titles for contemporary technologies and platforms. We’re incredibly excited about the opportunities, and will begin speaking to potential development studios in the near future.”

Ignacio Pérez, founder of Pyro Studios, adds: “We have been looking for a suitable partner for the continuation of our products and brands for a long time. Kalypso has great expertise and experience with rebooting well-known titles, and we are delighted to have our IP in such good hands.”