Immortals Fenyx Rising
Image: Ubisoft

Rumours of a sequel to 2020's Immortals Fenyx Rising have been about for a while now, but on the Games Mess Decides podcast, Giant Bomb journalist Jeff Grubb has expanded on those rumours with new information suggesting that the next game in the Immortals franchise won't be a conventional sequel as such, but more of a spin-off. It's is also claimed that it will get a "visual reboot", with the art style looking less like Breath of the Wild.

Flagged up by VGC, this podcast had Grubb quoting a Ubisoft source who claims that the upcoming game will feature a Polynesian-theme, a change in direction from the Greek myth-inspired original.

Here's a transcript of what Grubb said during the podcast discussion with Mike Minotti (with the original timestamped video below):

Ubisoft Quebec‘s sequel to Immortals Fenyx Rising is not a proper sequel. It’s more of a spin-off in the same way. The production name of the game is called Oxygen.

It’s based on Hawaiian Polynesian culture this time around. It still has a God narrator. They try to still be visually stylised but it’s less of a copy of Breath of the Wild. They talk about a 'visual reboot'.

It’s in early pre-production, seen some concept art, it’s coming maybe 2025.

The promise that the spin-off will attempt to forge its own identity and move away from the colossal shadow of Breath of the Wild is certainly promising to anyone who thought the game formerly known as Gods and Monsters cribbed a little too much of BOTW's style. In our review of the original game, this was one of our top complaints: 'The game is the off-brand cereal version of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, mixed with a large helping of Assassin's Creed and a generous dash of God of War.'

Although there is still much to learn about the Immortals: Fenyx Rising follow-up — and it seems likely it'll be a long wait until we hear more — news that the spin-off will aim to create a much-needed unique identity is certainly encouraging.

Fly on over to the comments below to let us know what you think of this news.

[source youtube.com, via videogameschronicle.com]