White Wolf bringing Werewolf: The Apocalypse to PC

When Paradox bought World of Darkness creators/publishers White Wolf back in 2015, I immediately started thinking of the games they'd make. A Vampire: The Masquerade grand strategy game along with a sequel to RPS favourite Bloodlines perhaps? Or how about those Werewolves? Well, today White Wolf have announced a Werewolf: The Apocalypse game, but it's not coming from Paradox. It'll be published by Focus and developed by Cyanide, who are currently working on a Call of Cthulhu game. We'll learn more about both games early next month, but the few Werewolf details already available are below.

At the moment it's not clear what genre the game will fit into, and given that Cyanide have made fantasy sports sims, non-fantasy cycling sims, stealth action goblin sims and space marine shooting sims in recent years, I can't hazard a particularly educated guess. If I were pushed, I'd say it won't be a cycling sim, though that'd be quite the thing. I reckon it'll be an RPG, in that you'll play a role. The role of a rage-fuelled Werewolf warrior opposed to urban civilization and the destruction it brings. Let's look at the press release:

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.

Martin Ericsson, lead storyteller at White Wolf (and what a job title that is), had this to say:

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.

That "more relevant today than ever before" line might seem like it's about a certain event happening tomorrow, but perhaps it's a broader environmental message in the context of the other quote. Of course, all of these things are most likely linked. If there isn't a Dylan Thomas quote in the intro or at least one of the trailers, I'll eat my hat.

White Wolf licensing properties out to other publishers and developers doesn't mean the Vampire grand strategy dream is dead. Or that of the Bloodlines sequel. As mentioned, we'll know more about Werewolf - including its actual name, unless it's just going with Werewolf: The Apocalypse - on the 1st of Feb, when Focus hold their annual event, looking at all their upcoming games. I'm half expecting Vampyr to have a Malkavian or two folded into the mix.