Pre-Production Begins on the Continuation of ‘The Longest Journey’ Saga

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.

What impresses me most is that Ragnar does not appear to need a Kickstarter campaign.

This is great news tho I'm not gonna hold my breath...it seems every time I get excited about something it still takes years

No kidding. They're just starting pre-production. It will probably be at least two years before we see the game.

And then, isn't it just an episode?

RPS: The word ‘chapters’ suggests episodic – or is that for another reason, because it’s part of a bigger story.

Tørnquist: More the latter. The theme of Dreamfall was faith, having faith and losing faith. Almost heavy-handedly illustrated with a character called Faith. The theme in Dreamfall Chapters is more about the chapters of life, of life being a story. That’s where the title comes in. It’s also the first chapter of something else in a way though.