CI Games secures $32M loan to finish and self-publish Lords of the Fallen II

CI Games has signed a $32 million (€28.6 million) syndicated credit facility to fund the completion and launch of Lords of the Fallen II. The company announced the deal on October 30. Lenders are Polish banks Erste Bank Polska and Bank Ochrony Środowiska.

The money covers the soulslike sequel's remaining production costs, plus a global marketing campaign and launch. It will also refinance all of the group's existing bank debt. Polish export credit agency KUKE is guaranteeing 80% of the facility, which matures in August 2027. CI Games expects to repay it mainly from sales of Lords of the Fallen II.

The game is now planned for release in the first quarter of 2027 on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The studio said it will announce an exact date in December.

CEO and president Marek Tymiński said the financing was secured without issuing new shares, so shareholders keep their full participation in the game's potential success. Tymiński is also the largest shareholder, and he has committed to keeping his entire stake for the duration of the financing.

The loan follows the end of CI Games' publishing agreement with Epic Games, under which Epic would have been the game's PC publisher and the game would have been exclusive to the Epic Games Store on PC. The termination took effect on April 14. CI Games did not disclose it for more than a month and has not given a reason for the split. The company said the move would not affect its other work with Epic, including its use of Unreal Engine.

With the Epic deal gone, CI Games is self-publishing the game. As GamesBeat notes, that means it won't need to share revenue with an outside publisher. CI Games revealed in 2023 that Lords of the Fallen, its most expensive project to date, had total costs of $66.2 million.