Among the first company priorities cited by Stafford were addressing the backer rewards owed by Chaosium for two successful Kickstarter projects: Horror on the Orient Express: Call of Cthulhu, which was funded at $207,804 in September 2012 but still has some rewards not shipped; and Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition, which raised $561,836 in June of 2013 but has not shipped backer rewards. Petersen’s focus will be on creating the backer rewards for 7th Edition.
"In 1975 Chaosium started out as a quirky boutique game company," the announcement said. "We were all about creativity, artistry and craftsmanship. With every game we vowed to provide you with new realms of imagination and entertainment. Over the last few years we forgot that, and lost our way."
Stafford offered his rationale for returning. "Chaosium is part of my legacy," he said. "My intent is to restore it to its rightful place in the world of gaming. Something we can all take pride in, and something that fans will look forward to."
Petersen expressed satisfaction at returning both to his creation and to working with Stafford. "I am excited to return to active participation in the Call of Cthulhu line, and I’m eagerly looking forward to working directly with Greg again," he said.
Stafford’s vehicle in recent years has been Issaries, Inc. (see "Steve Jackson Games to Distribute Issaries"). White Wolf also published Stafford’s Great Pendragon Campaign in 2006 under its Arthaus imprint (see "White Wolf Plans Gen Con Releases"). Petersen raised $1.4 million in a Kickstarter for his Cthulhu Wars board game (see "'Cthulhu Wars' Comes to Trade").
The original Call of Cthulhu RPG designed by Petersen, which made Chaosium one of the top companies in hobby gaming at the time, was published in 1981.
