The History of Vin Diesel’s Surprisingly Excellent Riddick Games

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When Pitch Black released in the year 2000, moviegoers were treated to a flawed, yet entertaining slice of science fiction. Its plot – which saw a crew of interstellar travelers band together to survive a hostile planet – was formulaic, but its setting and cast captured the imagination. And no other character on its cast did so better than Richard B. Riddick. An enigmatic antihero portrayed by Vin Diesel, Riddick’s mixture of smarts and physical abilities proved decently popular, and all but guaranteed that audiences would be seeing him once more on the silver screen.

Few could have predicted that on the eve of his next cinematic appearance, a little-known Swedish game developer called Starbreeze would release a expertly-crafted video game starring the anti-hero – and that it would prove more popular than the movie it released alongside. This game was Escape from Butcher Bay, a stealth-centric action title that followed Riddick’s numerous attempts to escape from a maximum security prison using whatever means necessary.

While circumstances surrounding its release prevented Butcher Bay from being as massive of a success as Starbreeze wanted it to be, its critical acclaim put the studio on the map – and before long, a follow-up called Assault on Dark Athena made its way to market. The latter featured a higher emphasis on action over stealth, and ended up being less well received. But its reception did little to sully its predecessor’s legacy – or prevent the people who made it from eventually going on to do bigger, better things.

This is the videogame history of the Chronicles of Riddick.

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