White Wolf partners with Focus Home Interactive for a video game adaptation of the World of Darkness Storyteller game, Werewolf: The Apocalypse.
Quote:
White Wolf is pleased to announce its partnership with Paris-based video game publisher Focus Home Interactive for a licensed PC and console game set in the World of Darkness.
The partnership between Focus Home Interactive and White Wolf Publishing concerns the adaptation of a video game based on the acclaimed Werewolf: The Apocalypse. The game will be developed by the game development studio Cyanide (Styx: Master of Shadows, Blood Bowl, Call of Cthulhu…). In the game you will become a Garou, a rage-fuelled Werewolf warrior opposed to urban civilization and the destruction it brings. The Garou are born to fight the corruption of The Wyrm, a powerful supernatural force leading us towards an inevitable Apocalypse.
“The world is dying. When will you Rage? The core question of Werewolf: The Apocalypse is more relevant today than ever before and the cooperation with Focus and Cyanide will finally give gamers the opportunity to revel in the raw power and primal spirituality of the Garou. What is the price of saving the world with fang and claw? Find out for yourself as we explore the darkest corners of a dying planet.”, says Martin Ericsson, Lead Story Teller of White Wolf.
“We are pleased to partner with White Wolf to bring Werewolf: The Apocalypse to life in a video game for consoles and PC. We are excited to work on the World of Darkness universe, as this is formidable playground to tell the players a great story. We are also happy to partner with Cyanide Studio in this adventure – they are behind the original wish to adapt this universe, and we are faithful in their ability to create a game that will please both fans of World of Darkness and newcomers”, says Cédric Lagarrigue, President of Focus Home Interactive
“The World of Darkness universe has always attracted creatives with a strong passion for telling dark and immersive stories. So to work closely with the great talent at Focus Home and Cyanide exploring the Werewolves of this universe is an absolutely fantastic experience for us at White Wolf and we are more than excited to see this great IP realised in a video game”, says Tobias Sjögren, CEO of White Wolf.
More information about this adaptation will come at this year’s Focus Home Interactive event, “le What’s Next de Focus”, taking place in Paris on February 1st and 2nd.
I swear every time I see this uninspired "The Official Video Game" slogan I feel like throwing up.
I didn't expect anything great when they announced it but now I expect even less.
It's not like Obsidian is owning White Wolfe. It's Paradox decision.
Obsidian employs two of the three leads from Vampire Bloodlines (Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky). Not to mention they have an established relationship with Paradox. They are a natural fit for a WoD RPG.
Cyanide is just making a game based on the role playing game Werewolf The Apocalypse. Obsidian already said that Tim and Leonard work on a secret project.
WoD is a huge license. I wouldn't be surprised if Obsidian were doing something with a different part of it (their secret project). Not a big fan of Cyanide, but I've gotta admit their new Call of Cthulhu game looks rather good, so... who knows. Maybe they've got a knack for this sort of thing
“It’s primarily an action RPG,” reveals Ericsson. “This is the most action heavy of all the World of Darkness games. It makes sense that it’s a visceral, brutal, close-combat-centric game.
“What’s on the table in terms of balance discussions is the difference between wisdom and anger, gnosis and rage. These are the stats of the game. The werewolves are shamanistic people. They speak to the spirits of nature, that’s how they get their powers, by negotiating with the spirits. They work like we did when we lived alongside nature. On the flipside you have rage, pure anger. But can you keep it under control or will you pop the head off your best human friend? I don’t see that as a light side/dark side, paragon/renegade mechanic, because it has much deeper gameplay progressions. If there is one core system we want, it’s that.”
And that’s really it at this point. An ambitious collection of ideas; werewolves and vampires as political heroes and villains, a way of making a nostalgic pen and paper RPG relevant again. How many years that will take, and how it will reflect a world which seems to be thundering towards its own political apocalypse, is all bubbling away in Ericsson’s head at this point.
Werewolves in WoD are too powerful to fit into a Souls-like game. In fact, they're powerful enough that balancing the game while also making you feel like one is going to be a huge challenge on its own. Also, too strategic, too slow-paced combat just doesn't work when you're a furry ball of rage So I don't see fast paced action as something bad in this particular case, unless they make it a focus, turning it into a hack&slash of sorts. The setting, world/game design, story - these are much, much more important than combat, though. I'd really like o have something in the vein of Bloodlines, but that's probably wishful thinking.
Last edited by Aquma on Thu, 9th Feb 2017 13:27; edited 1 time in total
I was listening to this one, in which it gets mentioned that the idea is to avoid the isometric camera and have something more involved and closer to the action like a third person perspective (or perhaps even first, it's undecided).
So maybe @Horny, Aquma, DCB there's hope. It's what I hope too, but there are many ifs for the obvious reasons, also including writing, depth and whatnot. Cyanide pls
Yeah I was always expecting it to be 3rd person, I just mentioned Diablo in the sense of base mechanics of fighting through endless waves of trash mobs with the odd boss, not so much the aesthetics.
But regardless of whether it is 1st person/3rd person/iso/whatever, I still don't hold much hope. In the interview Ericsson had with RPS he mentioned Activision asking CCP why Bloodlines continues to sell so well to this day. From his various ramblings about how he sees this Werewolf game rolling out, he strikes me as just as fucking clueless as Kotick and friends.
Indeed you're right, I got that sensation, too. More focused on underlining the badassery(tm) of Werewolves, their anger and superpowers rather than focusing on what whoever loves Bloodlines expects: a complex world, characters, strong writing, C&C and different approaches.
It would be a shame, but definitely not unlikely that the game could follow a...simplistic path that will please no one. Perhaps consisting entirely in impersonating the 'Here's Johnny' Godzillawolf from that certain Bloodlines level on a larger Jumanji scale.
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It's what I hope too, but there are many 
