Since the day of the merger of White Wolf Studios and CCP Games (the guys behind highly-lauded Eve Online) in late 2006, the collaborative effort between these two companies was obvious to everyone: a macabre, supernatural story from the creative team at White Wolf that utilized CCP Games’ expertise in online multiplayer gaming. Surprising no one, World of Darkness Online was officially announced in September of 2010, and, for a very brief moment, online communities rejoiced.
A regrettable turn of events at CCP devastated the World of Darkness Online team, significantly reducing their numbers. The game, scheduled for release in 2012, was suddenly thrust to the bottom of the CCP’s pile. Unfortunately, this news was like dropping a grenade into the fan community, and enthusiasm dwindled. After several months with no word of development, fans across the globe seemed to forget about what could have been one of the most promising mergers in gaming history, and World of Darkness Online more or less disappeared from our radar.
Now that things are settling down over at CCP, the World of Darkness Online front still appears to be stretched thin. As recently as June of 2012, priorities seem to be pouring into DUST 514, CCP’s upcoming first-person shooter. However, with DUST 514’s release date rapidly approaching in 2013, news of World of Darkness Online is slowly starting to resurface.
Although DUST 514 will be CCP’s “big product release this year,” senior White Wolf producer Chris McDonough assures fans that “World of Darkness [Online] is still very much in active development.”
Most recently, in a (hopefully) new trend of development teasers, McDonough has released solid game news. “In Iceland getting ready to conduct a 3 week internal feature test!” he tweets. “Only a test, but it covers things like combat, disciplines, sandbox play and character advancement.” Of course, this is only a small glimpse of long-stalled game development, but it’s a glimmer of hope that fans can run with. Work is chugging along (albeit quietly) on this much-anticipated project, now scheduled for release after CCP Games’ first-person shooter, DUST 514.
