Funcom, publisher of the dramatic point-and-click adventures The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, has announced today that they will be partnering with the series creator, Ragnar Tørnquist, and his newly formed Red Thread Games studio to begin pre-production of the highly anticipated episodic sequel, entitled Dreamfall Chapters.
Fans will recall that Dreamfall left players on a cliffhanger, and have been waiting for this news since Dreamfall Chapters was first announced in March 2007, when the Norwegian Film Fund awarded Funcom a grant which would partially finance research and initial development of Dreamfall Chapters.
Since the game has just now eneterd pre-production, it might be a while before we hear more, but Red Thread Games has promised to deliver more information in the coming months.
PRESS RELEASE:
Durham, USA – November 1st, 2012 – Funcom is excited to announce that ‘Dreamfall Chapters’, the long-awaited sequel to the award-winning adventure title ‘Dreamfall: The Longest Journey’, has gone into pre-production at Red Thread Games, a new studio founded by Ragnar Tørnquist, creator of ‘The Longest Journey’ saga.
Red Thread Games has licensed the rights to ‘The Longest Journey’ universe from Funcom, and Mr. Tørnquist will spearhead development of ‘Dreamfall Chapters’, while continuing in an advisory role as Creative Director on Funcom’s recently launched modern-day massively multiplayer online game ‘The Secret World’.
Last month Joel Bylos stepped into the position as Game Director on the myths, legends and conspiracy themed online game, allowing Mr. Tørnquist to devote more of his time to ‘Dreamfall Chapters’, which recently entered pre-production.
Red Thread Games will independently fund and produce the sequel to ‘Dreamfall’, and has entered into a revenue sharing agreement with Funcom as part of the licensing deal. Funcom owns the intellectual property rights for ‘The Longest Journey’, but due to the company’s focus on and commitment to the development of online games, the decision was made to license the rights to Mr. Tørnquist and his new development studio. The close working relationship between Funcom and Mr. Tørnquist will allow him to continue on as Creative Director of Funcom’s ‘The Secret World’, in parallel with putting together a team to develop ‘Dreamfall Chapters’.
“I’m very excited to finally have the opportunity to continue the ‘The Longest Journey’ saga,” says Ragnar Tørnquist. “Ever since we ended ‘Dreamfall’ on a nail-biting cliffhanger, players have been rightfully demanding a sequel, and my deal with Funcom will finally make that possible. I’m extremely grateful to Funcom for this unique and exciting opportunity, and I can’t wait to dive back into the universe I helped create more than a decade ago, and continue the story players have been waiting for these past six years.”
Red Thread Games will release more details about ‘Dreamfall Chapters’ in the coming months.
‘The Secret World’ is developed by Funcom and co-published by EA Partners, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA). For more information about the game please visit www.thesecretworld.com. Media assets can be found at ftp.funcom.com/press.
‘Dreamfall Chapters’ will be developed by Red Thread Games, under license from Funcom. For more information about the game, please contact Red Thread Games at [email protected].
—
ABOUT FUNCOM – Funcom is an independent developer and publisher of online games for PC and consoles. Funcom has provided outstanding entertainment since 1993 and continues to expand its track-record of more than twenty released games. Titles include ‘The Secret World’, ‘Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures’, ‘The Longest Journey’, ‘Anarchy Online’, ‘Fashion Week Live’ and ‘Dreamfall: The Longest Journey’. For corporate information please visit www.funcom.com. For information about Funcom games visit www.anarchy-online.com, www.dreamfall.com, www.thesecretworld.com or www.ageofconan.com. Funcom is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker FUNCOM.
ABOUT RED THREAD GAMES – Red Thread Games is a new independent development studio based in Oslo, Norway. Founded and led by award-winning writer, producer and director Ragnar Tørnquist — best known for his work on ‘The Longest Journey’, ‘Dreamfall’, ‘Anarchy Online’ and ‘The Secret World’ — Red Thread Games will focus on telling new stories in ‘The Longest Journey’ universe, in addition to creating original story-driven games for PC/Mac, iOS and Android.
