Overview
Mercury Steam Entertainment S.L. is a Spanish video game developer who became well known for their Lords of Shadow revival of the Castlevania series and then their Metroid titles (Metroid: Samus Returns and Metroid Dread).
The studio, before the release of the first Lords of Shadow game, was worried that there would not be enough money to pay the wages of the staff once the game shipped. Cox urged the studio to make a portable game because it would be a smaller risk while also keeping the company solvent. The project was green lit by Konami and that became Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate.
It wasn't until after Mirror of Fate was green lit that the sales figures for Lords of Shadow started coming in. Lords of Shadow went on to become the biggest selling Castlevania game to date.
After Konami saw the sales figures for Lords of Shadow they asked the Spanish developer to make another console version of the game.
The developer, while still in development with Mirror of Fate, had to decide what to do with their small studio.
Cox said. "Getting bigger is always a bit risky for a development studio, because then you could lose control. You've got sixty people you know inside and out. You know what they're capable of. And then you get in another forty people. It's a whole different ball game in terms of development. That was a bit nerve-wracking at that point."
In the end, Mercury Steam Entertainment took on new staff from other European development studios. Konami is said to be happy with the 2 and 1/2 year development cycle for the Lords of Shadow 2, even though it had to be delayed after a less than stellar E3 2012.
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