Renegade renews Hasbro license for Transformers, GI Joe, and more; loses Vampire license to White Wolf

Renegade Game Studios has had a long-standing agreement, dating back to 2018, to produce tabletop games based on iconic non-Dungeons & Dragons IPs owned by Hasbro (which also owns Wizards of the Coast, publisher of D&D). These IPs include Transformers, GI Joe, Power Rangers, MASK, My Little Pony, JEM and the Holograms, and ROM the Spaceknight, along with a bunch of board games like Diplomacy and Axis & Allies.

This license has been renewed, with Marianne James (Hasbro Licensing) saying that games are being planned for "2027 and the years beyond".

Renegade already announced new 5.5E-powered versions of Transformers, GI Joe, and Power Rangers earlier this year, with the new editions of these games dropping their own Essence20 game engine in favour of the ruleselt which powers Dungeons & Dragons. At the time, Renegade indicated that sales of the E20 versions were insufficient to continue with the system. Renegade will release a BackerKit crowdfunding campaign for the new games, with Transformers and GI Joe running first and a Power Rangers BackerKit coming at a later time.

At the same time, White Wolf announced its plans to make a new edition of Vampire the Masquerade. White Wolf announced last year that they were building up their in-house development team, after several years of relying on Renegade as their primary licensed publisher. Both companies recently posted statements indicating that their relationship was ending, with V:tM moving back from Renegade to White Wolf. Renegade will be releasing two more books for White Wolf in October 2026--Courts of the Damned for Vampire: The Masquerade, and Tribes of Gaia for Werewolf: The Apocalypse.

White Wolf thanks Renegade for years of creativity, craft, and dedication to the World of Darkness. Noth companies are proud of what they built together, and grateful to the community whose passion carried the partnership every step of the way.

Renegade itself announced that it will be publishing the official TTRPG of the Anne Rice vampire books. Anne Rice's Immortal Universe Roleplaying Game launches later this month on BackerKit.

The game features a bespoke game system which includes damage tracks for physical, psychological and emotional damage, and a 'Flashback System' which allows players to revisit events in their characters' past. The game will initially feature a starter set, a hardcover rulebook, accessories like dice, bags, and journals, and 'campaign exclusive collectibles' available only during the BackerKit campaign.

 

[BenjaminPey]

I dont play it, but I know some folks that are really into it. They did not have a positive reaction to White Wolf's recent playtest for a new edition.

Vampire Fifth Edition was not published by Renegade at first (it was White Wolf, then Modiphius, then Onyx Path, and even a Paradox Interactive somewhere in the middle, I think) I wonder if that's where the line is drawn here? I would not say (at all) that Vampire 5th as a whole is hated by most. By a vocal and maybe large minority, yes (or even a short majority, I don't know, and nobody does), like every new edition of every roleplaying game ever, but 5th has its fans, and they are many. I like it, for once, and didn't have any trouble finding others that do, too.

That said, the supplements written by Renegade (that would be start with Sabbat, somewhere in 2021), I find them awful, and I do think that's the general feeling around them.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

My understanding is that most people hated 5th edition under Renegade.

The initial release of V5 was quite bad, but that was handled by White Wolf itself. There then was a blur where Onyx Path released some stuff but the edition hadn't found its footing yet. Then came Renegade, and their watch is when V5 released its best books and found its footing. It's a good game. I wish Renegade were allowed to go back and reedit the core rulebook. It's the worst rulebook I've ever had the displeasure to use. But Renegade's stuff was quite good.

 

[Leatherhead]

Holy crap, this thread is confusing as heck. People are using the same abbreviation for two different systems that were handled by three different companies.

Anyway I have two Transformer groups that have totally opposite reactions to the E20 announcement.

One group (Older average age with higher level characters) is neutral to positive about the change. They might have some misgivings about how the future market resembles the old 3.x singularity, but they do enjoy smoother math that underlines the 5.5 system and are glad that at the very least someone other than Hasbro is handling the IP for now.

The other group (younger average age, with lower level characters) Is neutral to negative about the changes, as they quite enjoy how the system isn't 5.5e.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I dont play it, but I know some folks that are really into it. They did not have a positive reaction to White Wolf's recent playtest for a new edition.

Yeah, I don't play it either, but Dimension 20 recently used it for their City Council of Darkness campaign and I thought the system seemed like a real improvement over earlier editions of Vampire, while still recognizably being VtM. It made me want to pick up the core book, at a minimum, but the looming possibility of Renegade losing the license made me hold on to my cash.

 

[TrippyHippy]

My understanding is that most people hated 5th edition under Renegade.

I didn’t actually.

I thought 5E was a better designed ruleset for playing precisely the type of thematic story that the original Vampire: The Masquerade 1e had intended and had written about in the text. The Hunger system (with Hunger Dice added to dice pools) was excellent, Predatory types gave real guidance over actually playing a vampire rather than just a superhero with fangs, and the alternation between diceless play and traditional dice mechanics was seamless and elegant. I personally thought the resetting of the backstory (downplaying the Sabbat, introducing the New Inquisition, the Thin Bloods, making the main conflict between the Camarilla and Anarchs) strengthened the setting.

However, what wasn’t handled well was some of the fanbase reaction - where there was still strong affection and sales for the 20th Anniversary Edition. The ensuing edition war was especially ugly with some misjudged editing in core texts leading to international controversy and deep resentment from some quarters. The core rules should have been better organised and it felt like a rushed release. It probably should have presented more Clans to play from the get go and the graphic design was quite different to what came before. As somebody pointed out, however, these errors came mostly from Paradox Entertainment’s own White Wolf crew which became dissolved, eventually. The game was bounced to Modiphius and then Renegade games where it still sold well for both companies I think. They struggled to get a complete range of supporting games (Werewolf, Mage, etc) out quickly enough though, and I also thought Hunter: The Reckoning 5E was a weak game, in all.

The best and most complete version of the core rules was actually done by By Night Studios who did the Live Action version of the rules (Paper-Rock-Scissors). That actually includes all the Clans and setting details. I did have a look at the ‘first draft’ of the 6th - it was not appealing at all to me.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I would bet Renegade could enjoy some Hasbro forgotten franchises to try give them a new opportunity.

I am not very surprised Renegade to lose the licence WoD and I am not going to miss 5e after buying my little collection of 20 Anniversary with the complete compilation of crunch.

I love my books of "Mage: of Ascension" but now I only wanted to know more about the faction of the Disparates.

Do you think WotC to keep interest into a d20 version of WoD/CoD?

 

[TrippyHippy]

I would bet Renegade could enjoy some Hasbro forgotten franchises to try give them a new opportunity.

I am not very surprised Renegade to lose the licence WoD and I am not going to miss 5e after buying my little collection of 20 Anniversary with the complete compilation of crunch.

I love my books of "Mage: of Ascension" but now I only wanted to know more about the faction of the Disparates.

Do you think WotC to keep interest into a d20 version of WoD/CoD?

I doubt that the other licensed settings, even well known ones like GI Joe or Transformers, will make anything like the sales figures Renegade had with Vampire. They will make more of their money from other types of games, I imagine.

You do demonstrate my point about the evident issue V5 had with edition warring though - I think was is a mistake to try to release a new edition while an older edition is selling and in wide circulation. However, I would point out that Onyx Path had already announced plans of making a 5th edition of Vampire before Paradox stepped in. It was always going to happen, regardless of which company had the license.

I also stand by my view that V5 was actually a better designed, more focussed game - endorsed by the original WoD creator who was part of the design crew - than V20. V20 just felt like a catalogue to me. However, I do understand the ‘completeness’ fans must have felt if they had collected all of the 20th Anniversary editions (Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, Wraith and Changeling) along with all the supplements. It was actually the most complete the whole WoD line had ever been.

I am not interested in the potential V6 as presented in the playtest, largely because they appear to be wanting to make a game that appeals more to the D20/D&D crowd - driven by combat encounters rather than personal and political conflict. However, the latest statements by White Wolf on the matter, after getting presumably a lot of negative playtest feedback, is that they are going back to the drawing board anyway.

 

[BenjaminPey]

I thought 5E was a better designed ruleset for playing precisely the type of thematic story that the original Vampire: The Masquerade 1e had intended and had written about in the text. The Hunger system (with Hunger Dice added to dice pools) was excellent, Predatory types gave real guidance over actually playing a vampire rather than just a superhero with fangs, and the alternation between diceless play and traditional dice mechanics was seamless and elegant. I personally thought the resetting of the backstory (downplaying the Sabbat, introducing the New Inquisition, the Thin Bloods, making the main conflict between the Camarilla and Anarchs) strengthened the setting.

I totally agree, and will add to all that that adding small tidbits of lore on an opt-in basis through their "loresheet" system was quite clever. But, yeah, the editing was a mess (and still is, because no revised rulebook), and the departure probably too strong for a lot of people.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

Putting this here too since i am not sure where the conversation actually is or maybe we merge threads...
.....


Is this a thing?

I thought White Wolf was wholly owned by Paradox... so what exactly is breaking up here? Marketing departments? Its still paradox...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Putting this here too since i am not sure where the conversation actually is or maybe we merge threads...

The thread I started when this was first announced gained no traction. The conversation is here.

Is this a thing?

I thought White Wolf was wholly owned by Paradox... so what exactly is breaking up here? Marketing departments? Its still paradox...

White Wolf licensed the game lines to Renegade. That contract ends at the end of the year and White Wolf will be keeping the games in-house.