This thread is an overview of all the information we could currently get about Gothic 4: Arcania. Some information is due to change in time. So don't take them all as facts.
The Name
Arcania - This name suggests something magical, arcane. We now know that we will have a magic barrier in Gothic 4 as we had in Gothic 1. After JoWooD and Piranha Bytes split on the 22 of May 2007, the search for a new developer started and this search ended on the 23 of August when Spellbound was announced as the new developer for the next Gothic game. Piranha Bytes is the developer of Gothic 1, 2 and 3. JoWooD is the publisher of the Gothic series.
The Team
Spellbound has its headquarters in Kehl am Rhein, a city close to the french border, which is located in Baden-Württemberg, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine.
Spellbound has always had a history of being a French-German developer. With the French city of Strasbourg being right across the river Rhein opposite to Kehl, the company could always employ people from both countries with both their individual and cultural backgrounds. It is that cultural diversity which the company believes has always proven to be advantageous for game development.
The company employs 24 firm coworkers, comming from Germany, France, South Africa and Russia, as well as approximately 30 freelancers [a freelancer or freelance worker is a person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any one employer].
Some coworkers of Spellbound, under Jochen Hamma, the project leader, worked at Attic Entertainment Software and were in the project called Northlandtriolgy (Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny, Realms of Arkania: Star Trail and Realms of Arkania: Shadows over Riva), a series of computer role-playing games based upon the popular German pen & paper role-playing game Das Schwarze Auge (The Dark Eye).
The Game
Engine:
* It is believe the Trinigy Vision Engine will be used in the development of Gothic 4: Genesis. The Vision Engine is one of the industry's most advanced technologies for professional game development and has proven its versatility and reliability in more than 60 commercial game productions all over the world. Link to screenshots of games who used this engine.
* *Update:The engine was compared to the Crysis engine by PC Games magazine in a first impressions review of Gothic 4.
Story:
* The graphics of the game and the music are expected to come close to the ones Gothic 3 had and be up to date and competitive on the market when released.
* Characters, story and dialogues will be Gothic 2 oriented.
* Jochen Hamma says that dividing the story into chapters might be the best solution, for example for changing graphical elements in the gameworld. Use of chapters again is therefore most likely.*Update: Recent information regading chapters is as follow: "Chapters? I wouldn't call it chapters, really. There will be a plot and a story and the player of the game will go through that story. If you would like to call every plot point or major quest a "chapter", yes, then there will be chapters."
* Gothic 4: Arcania will not be a prequel [a sequel to a film, play, or piece of fiction whose events precede those portrayed in the original work] to Gothic 1.
Game world:
* Rough characters, a play world in the european setting and as fans expect, a world to give you the feeling of Gothic!
* *Update: "We studied all existing Gothic games in great detail and made a list of all the features and stuff. And the list is long. Very long. And we respect all the work that was done by PB during these games and we respect the gothic universe and will not change it in a way that would make it impossible to do a Gothic 5 - whoever will do that. Gothic 4 - Arcania will not alter this universe in any stupid way, but will stay true to the core of the series. New stuff will be seen, of course, I think you expect that, but the main story, characters and so on will be like you know them since years." Statement made by EDL, Community Manager, from
RolePlaying Elements:
* Certain aspects of the game's roles mechanics, for example the skill system, are going to look much alike Gothic 3 ones, which are supposed to be considerably improved.
* Exploration and discovery are two of the most important basic principles of the Gothic series, these elements will get proper attention with Gothic 4: Arcania.
* The game will be visually convincing, it will have a dark atmosphere and feeling, the landscape and music will be in connection with an interesting narrative style and the character development will be typical for a RPG, which will recompence the player on its discovery journey.
Interface:
* As for the interface, especially for combat, it will not be exactly as in Gothic 1, 2 or 3. However, for the fans we will make an interface that feels like it, one who has played for example Gothic 3 should easily find out how the new interface works, according to Jochen Hamma.
Combat system:
* Here Spellbound plans large changes. The combat system of Gothic 4: Arcania should promote more self initiative and be more dynamic.
Community
Both developer Spellbound and publisher JoWood plan active community support over the entire development of the game. Thus there are plans to offer regular question times as well as to have a generally increased forum activity. The feedback collected will have a substantial influence on the development of the game. Beyond that, selected community members will be invited in certain periods to try the game in order to collect direct criticism and improvement suggestions. Jochen Hamma, the project leader, spoke about such a meeting in the middle of 2008.
Release Date
There is no official release date for Gothic 4: Arcania,*Update: but "I can say as much that 2010 is much more realistic." It is however certainly that the game will appear first on PC, later in addition, on consoles. When it comes to consoles we already have the appropriate tools for Xbox360 and PS3.
they look awesome! :D 
