Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous finds a digital publisher: Meta

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is launching September 2 for PC (with consoles at an unannounced date). Deep Silver’s Prime Matter label is handling the physical console editions, and now we know who is taking care of digital publishing: Meta.

The Cyprus-based publisher announced the deal for Owlcat’s upcoming RPG today. The studio had planned to self-publish Wrath of the Righteous before making this arrangement. This is is a notable move for Meta, which launched its publishing business in 2019. It’s the biggest brand in the company’s profile, which includes Armored Warfare (a modern tank MMO).

“[It’s] hugely important. Working with a brand like Pathfinder is incredible for us and also a big responsibility. There are only a few IPs of this importance in the setting of high fantasy,” Meta CEO Ilya Salamatov said over email. “With Pathfinder: Wrath of Righteous, we’re aiming to make the CRPG genre more attractive to wider audiences.”

Salamatov also teased that Meta is working on a PS5 and Xbox Series X/S game. “… [It] will focus on themes that for some reason were not so common in games until now. If all goes well, we aim to announce it this year,” he said.

This is one of the most high-profile games that Meta has agreed to publish, but it’s not the first big name to sign up with company. Salamatov notes that it published Biped in 2020 for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch. It’s a game from Next Studio, which Tencent owns. It’s team has previous experience with bigger names as well.

“Our team members worked on development and publishing titles like Battlefield, FIFA Online 4, The Witcher 2-3, Star Wars, Divinity, Eve Online, Total War, and many others,” he said. “So we know a thing or two about working with big game brands.”

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is a digital adaptation of the tabletop RPG campaign of the same name. It builds on the work Owlcat did with Pathfinder: Kingmaker. It uses the same engine with all the improvements that the studio made after the release of Kingmaker. And it has new classes and mechanics, such as the Cavalier (with a mount) and mythic character paths for Angels and Liches. Other improvements include a camera that rotates (something sorely missing from Kingmaker), better weather effects, and more details for NPC character models.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker (combined with Outward) has sold more than 1.2 million copies on PC and console as of 2020 for Koch Media, helping Owlcat raise $1 million in funding from GEM Capital in 2019.

Update, 7:48 a.m. Pacific on Wednesday: Owlcat clarified that the 1.2 million copies sold figure is actually the combined sales figures for Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Outward.