Since the CCP/White Wolf merger of 2006, we have all heard rumors of World of Darkness Online (WoDO). Shortly after a series of layoffs at CCP in October of 2011, the release of the game was significantly delayed. They pushed all of their efforts to the existing MMO, EVE online. It has been 2 years since that original delay. Has World of Darkness Online been put on a more permanent hold?

According to speeches at EVE Fanfest, the past two years, that is not the case.

At the 2012 EVE Fanfest, Chris McDonough, WoDO senior producer, gave a speech discussing their ideas for World of Darkness Online.  He said that CCP had underestimated how long it would take to transform the EVE technology. Simply put, “CCP had too many priorities” he stated. Unfortunately there still is no release date. As McDonough said, “It’s ready when it’s ready”.

At this year’s EVE Fanfest (2013), McDonough discussed more about WoDO. This past year the CCP team worked to develop the movement system for WoDO. Unlike many other MMOs, WoDO will be pretty movement based. It is being developed so you feel like a vampire as you move and jump abut the city. Even combat will mirror the vampiric quickness that we have all gotten accustomed to in our fiction culture.

2012 development also included work with the social structures within the game that will encourage vampire politics. Speaking of politics, the city will be controlled by the players, which is an important concept to CCP. Development also includes CCP’s plans to work on the characters and fashion. They want to be able to capture the vanity of vampires with extensive fashion customization options.

World of Darkness Online was meant to capitalize on the extreme popularity of modern times. In the first release, you start as human and then turn vampire. Other supernatural characters may be added through later updates. It will be a player-driven game with lots of social and political elements.

There will be three ways to play the game: sandbox (like EVE), theme-park (MMO, like World of Warcraft), and coffee shop (social); all three will be interconnected. Factions and territories will be a huge factor in gameplay.

McDonough said at the 2013 EVE Fanfest that WoDO would definitely not come out this year. So much about this MMO is surrounded in mystery, but hopefully we will see it up and running in 2014.

Watch the full 2013 speech,

2012 speech,

What Happened to World of Darkness Online?