In response to criticism over the insensitivity of a chapter of an upcoming supplement of their game Vampire: The Masquerade as well as the months of chatter over the apparent use of alt-right slogans and dogwhistles in their new edition, Paradox Entertainment, parent company of White Wolf, has announced a suspension of sales of the upcoming supplements and a reorganization of the subsidiary. VP of Business Integration at Paradox and now Interim Manager of White Wolf, Shams Jorjani, announced the changes on White Wolf’s website today, saying that, while the products are in the horror genre, they must recognize “real evil…in the world” and never “excuse its real perpetrators or cheapen the suffering of its real victims.”
Jorjani addresses the reorganization of White Wolf as being “integrated directly into Paradox Entertainment” and no longer developing new products internally. He finishes by asking for patience with the process and continued engagement from fans. While the apology for the chapter on Chechen vampires and their systematic torture and murder of gay humans as a food source was swift and referenced both the creative and editorial failures of this, he fails to address exactly how Paradox will address the controversy over contents of the 5th edition of Vampire: the Masquerade. While outlets like Russia Today are celebrating this as “owning” the Chechen government is upset at being portrayed as the only country on Earth fully controlled by vampires who also, in the game, founded the Islamic State. Only time will tell if V:tM can survive this latest offense against good taste. Perhaps the idea that horror should imitate the real world is missing the point of why we enjoy horror in the first place: to escape reality, not revel in it.
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