Paradox and White Wolf Talk Potential Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Sequel
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A few days ago, PCGamesN published their interview with Paradox Interactive's CEO Fred Wester that revolved around the future of the Vampire: The Masquerade series. And now, they bring us another similar but more detailed interview, featuring quotes from Wester as well as several White Wolf executives, where they all express plenty of enthusiasm for a potential Bloodlines sequel, but stress that they'll have to find the right developers and ensure a certain level of quality before they greenlight this frequently requested project. Check it out:
“We’ve been dabbling around with RPGs, with Pillars of Eternity and a couple of other things,” Paradox CEO Fred Wester tells us. “Obviously the White Wolf catalogue opens up a lot of new doors for us. We are experimenting with a couple of the White Wolf brands right now, but we also know that we can’t create a Skyrim day-one.”
What becomes clear while talking to Wester is that Paradox no longer does anything without a long-term plan. Setting that first foot into the World of Darkness is taking time because the company wants to know where it’ll plant the next foot, and the one after that, so that it can see exactly where it’ll be standing several years into the future. Preferably with a well-established series of Vampire RPGs in its hands.
“We’ve owned White Wolf for two and a half years now and people are like, ‘Where is my Bloodlines 2?’,” Wester laughs. “It’s an obvious choice, but it needs to feel right. It needs to be the right team and visionary for the game. Once that’s set in place, nothing keeps us away from, maybe not Bloodlines 2, but something Vampire RPG.
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That’s one part of the story. But there’s a quirk to Paradox’s purchase of World of Darkness, too, which allows White Wolf an unusual degree of autonomy - and might have important implications for a Bloodlines sequel.
"We made a separate sister company to Paradox,” White Wolf CEO Tobias Sjögren tells us, “because we want to do the games that are right for the IP, and not just the games that a particular publisher could publish. Our independence from Paradox means we do deals with whichever company is the right one.”
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As for a Bloodlines 2, White Wolf is open to reviving the series.
“From our standpoint at a licence owner, it was be stupid not to use such a name because the brand recognition is so strong,” Sjögren says.
“If people can pull it off,” Ericsson adds.
“It needs to live up to the name,” Sjögren agrees. “We’re not in the business of licensing to fill a quarterly goal of minimum guarantees.”
