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Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe will become a TTRPG, even though Vampire: The Masquerade already exists
Renegade Game Studios, publisher of Vampire: The Masquerade, is developing a new tabletop role-playing game based on Anne Rice's Immortal Universe, drawing specifically on AMC's television adaptations of her novels. The move sets the new game up as a direct rival to Vampire: The Masquerade, a gothic horror TTRPG that itself borrowed heavily from Rice's Vampire Chronicles, including its vampiric society structures and inherited powers. Renegade is betting there is enough appetite among fans for another vampire-themed roleplaying option, even as White Wolf prepares to unveil its own new edition of Vampire: The Masquerade at Gen Con.
The Immortal Universe TTRPG will launch via a BackerKit crowdfunding campaign in the autumn, beginning with an Interview with the Vampire starter set and a New Orleans rulebook, with plans to later expand into witches and psychics. Unlike the political intrigue typical of Vampire games, it will focus on relationship-driven stories across centuries and unreliable memory, drawing comparisons to the solo TTRPG Thousand Year Old Vampire. The timing coincides with AMC's The Vampire Lestat finishing its season on 19 July and Mayfair Witches not returning until 2027, giving fans a new way to engage with Rice's world in the interim.
In short
- Renegade Game Studios is making an Immortal Universe TTRPG based on AMC's adaptations
- It will rival Vampire: The Masquerade, which Renegade also publishes
- BackerKit crowdfunding launches this autumn, starting with an Interview with the Vampire set
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The Immortal Universe game serves a distinct audience of Anne Rice devotees and AMC viewers rather than generic vampire fans already served by Vampire: The Masquerade. Its focus on relationship-driven narratives and unreliable memory across centuries represents genuinely different mechanics and storytelling from VTM's political intrigue framework. With a built-in audience from the television adaptations and a content gap before new seasons arrive, there is demonstrable demand to engage with Rice's specific world in interactive form.
The case against
The vampire TTRPG market is inherently niche, and Vampire: The Masquerade already fulfils demand for a sophisticated gothic horror game rooted in Rice-inspired vampire mythology. Launching a direct competitor risks fragmenting a limited player base between two vampire-focused games, potentially weakening both commercially. The appeal of an Anne Rice TTRPG is likely tied to temporary cultural momentum from AMC's shows; once that enthusiasm fades, the game may struggle against an established, well-resourced competitor with a loyal following.
Explained simply
Anne Rice was an American author famous for her Vampire Chronicles novels, which follow immortal beings across centuries. AMC has adapted some of these stories into television series, and a games publisher is now creating a game where players create their own vampire characters and develop stories set in Rice's fictional world.
Vampire: The Masquerade is an existing vampire game that came out decades ago and was inspired by Rice's work, adopting her concepts of vampire society and how their powers pass between generations. The same publisher is now creating the new Anne Rice game, so players interested in vampire games will soon have two official options from the same company.
The new game is designed to emphasise personal relationships and emotional narratives across centuries rather than political intrigue, based on how AMC's television versions tell these stories. This gives fans of Rice's adaptations a new way to engage with her vampire world beyond television, during gaps between seasons of the AMC shows.
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