Werewolf: The Apocalypse Interview
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Did you know that development on Cyanide's Werewolf: The Apocalypse began on the same day it was announced? Yeah, that's news to me, too. But we learn that nugget of information along with many other intricacies about the action RPG and the experiences it will offer in this new interview with White Wolf's Martin Ericsson on VG247. An excerpt, as usual:
There have been a few attempts to create games based on Werewolf: The Apocalypse before, most noticeably MMO Heart of Gaia from Dreamforge, but the company went bust. “I worked on the MMO during the age of MMO death,” laughs Ericsson. “We watched in horror as Knights of the Old Republic collapsed, and others, so that was basically it for that project. Nobody would support content-heavy MMOs at that time.” It’s fair to say the World of Darkness RPGs reached their peak in the 1990s with spin-offs and what we’d now call transmedia if we were all overpaid marketing consultants. But since then, apart from a reprinting of the classic rules, it’s only nostalgia that’s kept it alive.
But with money and support from Paradox and Focus, Ericsson thinks the time is right to bring it back. Fantasy, sci-fi and superhero brands are everyday now rather than pushed into late night schedules with peanut budgets. “We hope that with the mainstream adopting geek methodology we still have a few tricks up our sleeve,” says Ericsson. “Primarily, we’re not afraid to talk about real shit in Werewolf: The Apocalypse and Vampire The Masquerade. Our vampires have always been embedded in politics and big business and class struggle. And our werewolves are nature’s vengeance. They are what happens if you fuck with the ecosystem.”
This is Ericsson at his most animated, when discussing the state of politics in 2017 and how it can be reflected through games. Essentially the game will focus on werewolf tribes. The Red Talons want to mercilessly cull humans in return for years of persecution. The Glasswalkers believe it’s time to work with humanity and technology to progress to a better future. The nation is split and tribes are coming to blows.
“What have been the consequences of the war on terror, the war on reality, how do all these thing play into the World of Darkness? That’s what I spend a lot of my time working on. The tagline of Werewolf: The Apocalypse is When Will You Rage? I can’t really think of a better time than right now to ask that question. This game allows you that fantasy of turning into a three meter tall creature of vengeance that can actually do shit about the world. But also but also ask the sobering question; what is the price of change through violence?”
