| World of Darkness | |
|---|---|
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:World_of_Darkness_Online_art.png) Promotional art | |
| Developer(s) | CCP Games |
| Director(s) | Reynir Hardarson |
| Producer(s) | Chris McDonough |
| Artist(s) | Erling Sævarsson |
| Series | World of Darkness |
| Release | Canceled |
| Genre(s) | Massively multiplayer online role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
World of Darkness, also known as World of Darkness Online, was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in development by CCP Games from 2006 until its cancellation in 2014. It was based on the World of Darkness series of tabletop role-playing games by White Wolf Publishing.
Players were to have assumed the roles of humans who could be turned into vampires of one of seven vampire clans with various abilities. The gameplay was going to be nonlinear and focus on social interaction and politics, with goals reached both through combat and through players forming alliances with each other.
The development was long and troubled, with organizational and managemental issues, including staff being moved to other CCP Games projects for months at a time, significantly slowing down progress and leading to work being abandoned and redone repeatedly. The team size was also significantly decreased throughout the production, with several rounds of layoffs.
Although World of Darkness was considered one of the highest-profile games to have been canceled in the 2010s,[1] the cancellation and layoffs were not unusual for the video game industry, something The Guardian considered a scandal in itself.[2] Preview impressions of the game were generally positive, particularly of its visuals and experimental gameplay, while later impressions based on leaked screenshots were less favorable.