In late 2015, Paradox Interactive acquired the World of Darkness IP, but nothing has come of that on the video game front other than a couple of highly forgettable interactive fiction games. That might be about to change. Since late last month, Paradox have been running an elaborate ARG involving a mysterious Twitter account and a fictional dating website called Tender, which you can read about here. It's all rather tedious to be honest, but the long and short of it is that what we've seen in the ARG strongly suggests that they're about to reveal a Vampire: The Masquerade game. Actually, you need look no further than the fact that Tender is an actual thing in the Vampire: The Masquerade setting.

It's been theorized that the developer is Seattle-based studio Hardsuit Labs, who recently announced the imminent shutdown of their venerable F2P shooter Blacklight: Retribution and have been working on an "unannounced project" since at least 2017. Job ads and resumes indicate that their game is using Unreal Engine 4 and involves "established IP lore" and "an emphasis on acting performance". Paradox acquired a 33% stake in Hardsuit in early 2018, and the studio employs Martin Ka'ai Cluney, a former Obsidian designer who worked on the cancelled Aliens RPG. But what really makes Hardsuit's involvement seem likely is that several images of what appear to be various locations in Seattle have been revealed over the course of the ARG. Go with what you know!

During a Twitch event yesterday, another image was uncovered revealing that "Tender" plan to make an announcement on March 21st in San Francisco. That's right, the same time and place as the annual Game Developers Conference. I don't like posting news about teases and conjecture, but it now seems undeniable that something significant is coming next month. Hopefully whatever it is will be as fancy as this ARG.