White Wolf's small press publishing affiliate, Arthaus Inc. has acquired the rights to publish extensions of the Ravenloft campaign setting using the new D20 Dungeons & Dragons Rules published by Wizards of the Coast.  White Wolf is the acknowledged leader in horror-based rpgs thanks to their popular Vampire the Masquerade and Werewolf games.  Jim Butler, who manages the various D&D worlds for Wizards of the Coast, commented, 'We're very excited to have the masters of the horror genre of RPGs taking up the banner of Ravenloft.  We're confident that the future of Ravenloft is in good hands.'

 

White Wolf is promising to publish four books a year for Ravenloft fanciers.  Their first release, the Ravenloft Core Rulebook, will offer new fans easy access to the Ravenloft world while providing plenty of surprises and an entirely revamped setting for hardcore Ravenloft fans.  The Ravenloft campaign world will use the D20 rules and be fully compatible with the latest edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game.  The Core Rulebook is slated for a summer release, with supplements following quarterly thereafter.

 

'This ain't your momma's Ravenloft,' enthused Mike Tinney, White Wolf's Director of Licensing.  'Ravenloft is a great world to work with and we're excited to be able to bring this setting roaring into 3rd Edition D&D.  For White Wolf this is a chance to do what they do best, horror gaming, on what remains the biggest role-playing platform of all, Dungeons & Dragons.  For WOTC, which has done a good job of updating and revising the basic D&D rules, this transfer allows them to take advantage of talents outside their company, while ceding only a small portion of the D&D universe.  Like Nintendo or Sony they are in essence licensing other companies to create games for their proprietary platform, a strategy that has worked very well in the world of electronic games.  WOTC also has a full plate of collectible card games to launch this year with licensed sports games for Major League Baseball, the NFL, and the NBA as well as a licensed Harry Potter game, which is debuting late in the year.