Paradox Buys White Wolf from CCP

Published: October 29, 2015 11:35 AM /

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Paradox Logo

In a move that is sure to open some eyes in both tabletop and video game circles, Paradox Interactive has bought White Wolf Publishing from CCP Games in an all-cash deal. Upon acquisition, Paradox has set up a subsidiary in White Wolf Publishing's name that owns and manages the intellectual properties that are in White Wolf's name and will be led by Paradox's former EVP of Business Development, Tobias Sjögren.

News was first shared earlier this morning on Twitter first by Shams Jorjani with this tweet:

https://twitter.com/ShamsJorjani/status/659711362185211904

Response was quick, with people asking about more details and what it would mean for White Wolf going forward. While he didn't want to answer too many questions, he was emphatic that White Wolf would operate independently:

https://twitter.com/ShamsJorjani/status/659722713079091200

While there was a lack of details in many ways, the new White Wolf website did provide a bit more information and generally meshed with what was provided. Apparently White Wolf is planning on multiple digital game titles, across a range of media and immersive live action events. However, announcements will probably be a little while off as they are planning on evaluating who they are working with and making sure they are working with the best creators for their brands.

According to the information provided, Paradox has acquired all of White Wolf's brands, and one would suppose assets. That list is rather large, from the giant World of Darkness IPs, which include hits like Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocolypse, to smaller ones that aren't using the storyteller system, such as Exalted. Interestingly, the new webpage doesn't list them all or previous works, instead being an introduction and some stuff on their plans. They make mention in their statements many of the World of Darkness titles, but don't touch on any of the other IP or of the more obscure parts of World of Darkness that get forgotten in the Vampire and Werewolf love at times. 

One thing of note is that in recent years, White Wolf has focused more on licensing out its IP, and that will make the evaluation stage all the more important. One example of a key deal that is likely to be closely examined is Onyx Path Publishing, who currently does their tabletop RPGs, including all the World of Darkness lines. It's unlikely that this will affect the New World of Darkness second edition given how that is basically set to launch with a couple books previously expected to launch by the end of this year unless they decide that the One World of Darkness that they want is the Classic World of Darkness. Even if they go forward with it, delays may occur related to the purchase, even for titles like Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition which is already in Post-Editing Development.

On the video game side, there is of course excitement about the possibility of a new Vampire: The Masquerade game, as fans have clamored for it ever since Troika's Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines back in the early 2000s.  Shams was particularly not answering any question about a Bloodlines 2 on Twitter. 

In an interview with Venture Beat on it, some more direction began to come though. In the interview, Paradox chief executive Fredrik Wester said, "We’re going to start licensing out the brand again from the beginning. We’ll start with one World of Darkness. We’ll start, basically, from day one to unite the community under one flag.”

Whether that world will be the New or Classic World of Darkness remains to be seen.


Quick Take

It became clear a while ago that CCP had no idea what to do with White Wolf once the World of Darkness MMO didn't go through, and they had been laying off staff there previously. What exactly is the future here for White Wolf we don't know, but it's probably safe to say it's brighter today than it was a few days ago with a new company that is invested in helping it get back together and settle on its feet. CCP's experience is all in MMO, while Paradox has experience in a wider range of video games and has through some of their partnerships even touched on tabletop rpgs.

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Don Parsons
| Senior Writer

A longtime lover of speculative fiction, in almost all its forms, Don joined TechRaptor in 2014 on a whim sending in an application as he was looking for… More about Don