White Wolf Publishing CEO Interview

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has a very interesting interview with new White Wolf Publishing CEO Tobias Sjögren, which focuses on the company’s new strategy now that it’s been acquired by Paradox Interactive. Understandably, it’s too early for Sjögren to comment on specific plans, but we still get a good idea of the strategy he’ll be pursuing and the range of products we can expect in the future. Interestingly, we also learn that the company is open to working with other publishers and not just Paradox in the future:

RPS: As I understand it, White Wolf is a ‘˜daughter company’ to Paradox rather than a fully incorporated part of your Paradox holdings. Does that mean you will be free to work with other publishers with your guidance?

Sjögren: Yes! The logics behind that is simple. Like most publishers out there Paradox is specialised and does certain types of games better than anyone else.

But if there is a publisher that is a better fit than Paradox for a product that White Wolf would like to license, we are definitely set to do the deal with that publisher. White Wolf is here to do what is best for Exalted and World of Darkness and the fans who love these properties.

Sjögren has apparently already received several calls from potential publisher since the news of the acquisition and his appointment as CEO and is very interested in licensing the properties for videogame adaptations, though he also promises not to leave the tabletop world behind:

RPS: I’ve seen concerns that White Wolf is a tabletop company with videogame spin-offs, and that being in the hands of a videogame developer and publisher may tip the balance toward digital releases. Is that something you’ve considered?

Sjögren: It has been very important for Paradox to make White Wolf Publishing a separate company with its own agenda and goals. We are taking a broad transmedia approach to the World of Darkness and the other properties. Tabletop, live-action and card games are a vital part of White Wolf’s heritage and will remain so. But the IP is way too powerful to be limited to the relatively small market of physical gaming. There is a lot of room to create more video games based on these properties. Just look at how popular Bloodlines still is with a community that still patch and play the game eleven years after it was released!

I’ve been working at Paradox for two years before becoming the CEO of White Wolf and I have witnessed the huge passion for tabletop games here. Don’t forget that one of Paradox most popular games Europa Universalis was a tabletop game before it became a PC game and that the entire company has it’s root in Äventyrsspel and Target games, creators of Mutant, Kult and Drakar och Demoner (the Swedish answer to Dungeons and Dragons). In the 80’s and 90’s they were basically the TSR of Sweden.

However, if you were hoping for news on a possible Bloodlines sequel or a new Vampire RPG, the answer for now is just “no comment”.