Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood, an upcoming action-RPG set in White Wolf’s ‘World of Darkness’ line of tabletop RPGs, has changed publishers from Focus Home Interactive to Bigben Interactive. The shift in publishers also comes with an announcement that the game will be releasing in 2020.
The original Werewolf: The Apocalypse tabletop RPG released back in 1992. Unlike Vampire: The Masquerade, which focuses on the tragedy of your character’s personal condition, Werewolf is themed around the condition of the world. The characters play as werewolves (or Garou, as they call themselves,) rage-filled warriors who fight against urban construction and the destruction it brings. Garou are born to fight The Wyrm, a supernatural entity bringing the world to an inevitable Apocalypse. Like Vampire, there are various clans of Garou with their own goals and schemes.
As for the story for planned action-RPG, which was announced almost two years ago and being developed by Cyanide Studios, a press blurb reads:
Become Cahal, a banished werewolf, forced to return to the aid of his endangered clan and master the devastating Rage within him to punish all those that would pollute, destroy, and corrupt our Mother Earth, Gaïa. On his bloody quest for redemption, Cahal will play a pivotal role in the Great War of the Garou against Pentex, a powerful corporation whose activities are upsetting the balance of nature.
Bigben Interactive is “thrilled” to have reached this agreement on the game’s development. It also makes some sense for Bigben Interactive to act as publisher for the game since they acquired Cyanide Studios earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Paradox, which purchased White Wolf few years back, is also planning on making more games based on their properties. In a gamesindustry.biz interview, where then-CEO Fredrick Wester mentioned the possibility of Crusader Kings 3, he said that Paradox wants to take “a bigger stab at RPGs” and that “There are a couple of projects that are at more than an experimental level right now”.
Paradox has been changing how White Wolf works behind the scenes. They’ve changed from making games internally to working with partners. This process has been sped up due to an international controversy over a 5th Edition Vampire: The Masquerade sourcebook that referenced the real-world imprisonment and torture of LGBTQ+ people in Chechnya, saying it was a way to divert media attention from the fact that the country is secretly run by vampires. Even a spokesperson for the country’s leader spoke up about it.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is expected to release in 2020 for PC and consoles. No gameplay or trailers for the game have been released so far.