World of Darkness MMO in "active development"

World of Darkness, the vampire themed MMO from the makers of Eve Online and upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive shooter Dust 514, is still in "active development", its makers have promised.

Earlier this year CCP revealed that 60 full time staff were working on the title at the developer's Atlanta office after fans had thought the game dead following a re-organisation at the studio. That was three months ago - a period of time in which World of Darkness had gone dark.

In an open letter to the Mind's Eye Society, senior producer Chris McDonough reassured fans that the game was still alive, but he admitted it is not a priority for the company.

"As many of you know, last year was difficult for CCP, and many long-term employees and good friends lost their positions within our organisation," he said. "The company felt it had too many priorities and was trying to do too many things.

"World of Darkness is still very much in active development, but CCP as a company will be putting all of its efforts into making DUST 514 a revolutionary game and bringing it to market."

As a result, CCP will not host a Grand Masquerade event this year, McDonough revealed. Instead, it will fund a MES-produced World of Darkness LARP event in the autumn. An announcement is expected in the coming weeks.

World of Darkness features thematic takes on real-world cities such as London, Paris and New York. The sandbox mentality that drives the ongoing development of Eve Online and Dust 514 extends into the upcoming title, with a deep political system that sees one player assume control of each city as a Prince - one with the power to inflict permadeath on other characters.