Rumor: Crystal Dynamics working on Soul Reaver reboot

Crystal Dynamics is reportedly eying the return of a classic PlayStation bloodsucker. Today, VG247 claimed it “has it on good authority” that the studio behind this year's Tomb Raider reboot is working on a similar resurrection for “Soul Reaver” from the Legacy of Kain vampire series.

According to the site's source, the reboot will sport a brand a new art direction and be a full reworking of the early PlayStation franchise, which began in North America in 1996 with Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. It's unknown if it will star the vampire Kain from the original, or the wraith Raziel who actually starred in 1999's Soul Reaver sequel.

As for what name the reboot will answer to, Eurogamerpoints out Square Enix, Crystal Dynamics' parent company, has been picking the community's brain on a possible title since last May. According to one survey taker at GameRevolution, possible titles and/or subtitles for the reboot include Obsidian Blood, Obsidian Sun, Dead Sun, and Revenant.

The Legacy of Kain series survived nearly seven years from when it first preyed on PlayStation owners. After Soul Reaver, Crystal Dynamics put out two more sequels starring both Kain and Raziel – Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 and Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain – before concluding the series in 2003 with Legacy of Kain: Defiance for PS2, Xbox, and PC. Now that nearly a decade has passed, do you think it's a good time for Raziel and Kain to be reborn?

Matt Bradford wrote news and features here at GamesRadar+ until 2016. Since then he's gone on to work with the Guinness World Records, acting as writer and researcher for the annual Gamer's Edition series of books, and has worked as an editor, technical writer, and voice actor. Matt is now a freelance journalist and editor, generating copy across a multitude of industries.