The sequel to Risen will be a piratical affair named Risen 2: Dark Waters, Deep Silver has revealed. The publisher confirmed during Gamescom last year that a sequel was in development but had very little to say about it until now.

Dark Waters takes place several years after the original, after "monstrous creatures" have risen from the sea and are generally misbehaving. The hero, now an Inquisitor, hears rumours that a group of pirates might know how to get rid of them, and off you go.

Development is again handled by Piranha Bytes. Prior to Risen, the studio created Gothic and developed the first three games in the fantasy RPG series. The most recent Gothic game, ArcaniA: Gothic 4, was developed instead by Spellbound.

According to Deep Silver, Risen 2 "aims to combine the most loved classic RPG gameplay mechanics of the original Risen with a fresh theme and setting on a huge variety of themed island locales." The publisher also says that the sequel "maintains the most immersive features of the original Risen, with multiple approaches to every challenge allowing players to shape the game world based on their own decisions."

Risen 2: Dark Waters is in development for PC and consoles--plural. The original was only released on PC and Xbox 360 but presumably a PlayStation 3 release is on the cards too for the sequel. Deep Silver gave no indication of when the game's due out.