Fans of The Longest Journey series have been calling for a sequel for years to the second game in the series, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, and they’re finally getting that long overdue follow-up. Last week Funcom announced that The Secret World’s (TSW) Creative Director Ragnar Tørnquist founded a new game development studio with Red Thread Games. The studio will develop a sequel to 2006 action adventure title under the name of Dreamfall Chapters. As the third game in the The Longest Journey series, Dreamfall Chapters will continue the cliffhanger ending of the second game, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey.

Red Thread Games has licensed the rights to develop the sequel from Funcom as their first title. Tørnquist will head up development of Dreamfall Chapters while also maintaining his position as creative director for TSW.

Tørnquist recently spoke with Rock, Paper, Shotgun about the upcoming title and confirmed that studio has received a grant from the Norwegian Film Institute and that they will be taking their new Dreamfall Chapters project to Kickstarter in the near future.

"We will be doing a Kickstarter. Not right now, but we will be doing it in the near future, simply because although we received a grant from the Norwegian Film Institute, which was announced today, that is only for the preproduction phase. That allows us to get started on a prototype but in order to fully develop Dreamfall Chapters we’re going to need more money and we will be going to Kickstarter."

Sources: Funcom Press Release, RPS

PRE-PRODUCTION BEGINS ON NEW GAME IN ‘THE LONGEST JOURNEY’ SAGA

– ‘The Secret World’ Creative Director Ragnar Tørnquist working on next installment in the award-winning ‘The Longest Journey’ series –

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.

‘The Secret World’ is developed by Funcom and co-published by EA Partners, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA). For more information about the game please visit www.thesecretworld.com.

---

ABOUT FUNCOM - Funcom is an independent developer and publisher of online games for PC and consoles. Funcom has provided outstanding entertainment since 1993 and continues to expand its track-record of more than twenty released games. Titles include ‘The Secret World’, ‘Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures’, ‘The Longest Journey', 'Anarchy Online', ‘Fashion Week Live’ and 'Dreamfall: The Longest Journey'. For corporate information please visit www.funcom.com. For information about Funcom games visit www.anarchy-online.com, www.dreamfall.com, www.thesecretworld.com or www.ageofconan.com. Funcom is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker FUNCOM.

ABOUT RED THREAD GAMES - Red Thread Games is a new independent development studio based in Oslo, Norway. Founded and led by award-winning writer, producer and director Ragnar Tørnquist -- best known for his work on 'The Longest Journey', 'Dreamfall', 'Anarchy Online' and 'The Secret World' -- Red Thread Games will focus on telling new stories in 'The Longest Journey' universe, in addition to creating original story-driven games for PC/Mac, iOS and Android.