How a Polish indie studio made two games on the Vampire: The Masquerade license

What the talk is about

Krzysztof Zieba tells how the Polish indie studio Draw Distance made two visual novels on the Vampire: The Masquerade license: Coteries of New York and the standalone expansion Shadows of New York. The idea grew out of an unrealized pitch for a game on the Mixer streaming platform; the team then built a prototype and agreed on the project with Paradox. To meet the deadline, they cut the playable clans from seven to three and focused on storytelling rather than mechanics. He covers the difficulties: the fifth edition changed the setting, New York is hard to portray authentically, and World of Darkness was being rebuilt. He also discusses overtime before release, criticism for not being a full RPG, and working with a licensor. Useful for indie teams taking on licensed projects.