Dreamfall Chapters completes The Longest Journey to pre-production
Dreamfall Chapters is finally in pre-production, five years after first being announced by Funcom as a sequel to Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. The long-hoped-for Chapters is being developed by series creator Ragnar Tørnquist at new studio Red Thread Games. Tørnquist is maintaininig an "advisory role" as creative director on Funcom MMO The Secret World, with Joel Bylos stepping up as game director.
Funding and production are being handled by Red Thread, with Funcom licensing out the IP with an agreement to share revenue. Tørnquist revealed today The Norwegian Film Institute has provided $175,000 to assist Red Thread with pre-production.
In 2008, Tørnquist admitted Chapters was far from Funcom's highest priority, but hadn't been abandoned. Four years on and with The Secret World now released into the wild, Tørnquist has kept his word.
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PRE-PRODUCTION BEGINS ON NEW GAME IN'THE LONGEST JOURNEY' SAGA
– 'The Secret World' Creative Director Ragnar Tørnquist working on next installment in the award-winning 'The Longest Journey' series –
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 info@redthreadgames.com.
