Set twelve years after Gothic 3, the fourth instalment sees the series' previous protagonist The Nameless Hero turned into a despotic King and casts players as a "seemingly unimposing shepherd from the Isle of Feshyr" with a score to settle.

"Implementing a new main character is not just a consistent continuation of the given storyline, but it also allows us to add new ideas and concepts to the game," said JoWood's Clemens Schneidhofer. "Seeing your old hero as an apparently mad King is a stimulating twist to the storyline of the Gothic saga as we see it. Players will need to be careful whom they trust... Gothic has always been known for its unpredictable story line."

Handled by Desperados developer Spellbound Entertainment, ArcaniA: Gothic 4 is now slated for release on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the third quarter of 2010 after being postponed from a planned 2009 launch.