Developer Paradox Interactive have today announced the cash purchase of White Wolf and all properties from CCP.
CCP, the Icelandic developer/publisher merged with White Wolf back in 2006 and currently manage two MMO products, Eve Online and Dust 514. The development team will not be absorbed as “White Wolf will be operated independently” according to Shams Jorjani, Paradox’s VP of Acquisitions & Portfolio Strategy.
Today’s acquisition by Paradox includes all IPs however, even the shelved World of Darkness originally being developed as an MMO by White Wolf until layoffs and internal restructuring at CCP led to its cancellation. World of Darkness was based on the Vampire: The Masquerade universe and was to “focus on player politics and social interaction”. However, its cancellation back in 2014 might not be the end of the story as Shams Jorjani tweeted a teaser this morning.
We've been huge fans of the white wolf IPs for a long time especially World of Darkness/Vampire. Gonna be great to give it some fresh blood.
— Shams Jorjani (@ShamsJorjani) October 29, 2015
In an interview with Swedish site Digital Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive also gave hope saying “Vampire is the world’s second best-selling role-playing and is special because half of all players are women.”
A short time later an official statement from Paradox was issued clarifying their motivation behind the acquisition.
“Like Paradox’s games, White Wolf’s properties have dedicated, passionate communities. While there are similarities in spirit, White Wolf’s IPs have very different themes than Paradox’s titles, and deserve their own brand and team,” said Fredrik Wester, CEO and President of Paradox Interactive. “We have great respect for White Wolf’s gaming worlds and see big opportunities for their expansion in the future under our new subsidiary.”
“Over the last 20 years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with beloved studios like DICE and Paradox on the business management side of games, and as a developer earlier in my career. I look forward to bringing my experience to bear as we pursue new ways to interact with White Wolf’s universes,” said Tobias Sjögren, CEO of White Wolf Publishing. “The White Wolf IPs are well suited for all kinds of media and we see great potential to expand them in the future.”
