Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York presents the conflict between two vampiric factions: the traditionalist Camarilla and the fiercely independent Anarchs among the iconic landmarks and night lights of The Big Apple.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York aims to translate the complex and fascinating world of vampires, their nightly struggles for power and attempts to hold on to their humanity, to a format previously unexplored by the brand - an atmospheric narrative experience. Think interactive story meets choices-that-matter; dark, atmospheric, emotional narration meets Telltale-like way of creating morally challenging dilemmas, answers to which are entirely up to the players, allowing them to reach one of a variety of possible endings.

You act as a newly-fledged vampire in New York. You have to learn what it means to be one of the Kindred in a huge, vibrant, contemporary metropolis. On your way you’ll meet different NPCs – other vampires, thin-bloods, ghouls, humans... and more. You will perform tasks that will put test your humanity and take part in a complex and often brutal struggle for power between the Camarilla and the Anarchs. You’ll build your Coterie and learn your undead companions’ deepest secrets… or see them abandon you. You’ll feast on the living and will ask yourself about the very nature of humanity and will feel the constant lure of the Beast inside you. You will make choices for the character, including which storylines to pursue and how to approach the different situations presented. You will take part in a narrative experience with branching dialogue choices, memorable characters - all among iconic locales of the Big Apple. You’ll be able to use Disciplines to charm, sneak, intimidate or kill and your choices will determine your path.

Story Outline and Main Plot Details

You are a newly-fledged vampire in New York. You must learn what it means to be one of the Kindred in a huge, vibrant, contemporary metropolis. On your way you’ll meet different NPCs – other vampires, thin-bloods, ghouls, humans... and more. You will perform tasks that will put your humanity to the test and take part in a complex and often brutal struggle for power between the Camarilla and the Anarchs. You’ll build your Coterie and learn your undead companions’ deepest secrets…or see them abandon you. You’ll feast on the living and ask yourself about the very nature of humanity as you feel the constant lure of the Beast inside you. You will make choices for your character, including which storylines to pursue and how to approach the different situations presented. You will be presented with branching dialogue choices, memorable characters - all among iconic locales of New York City. You’ll be able to use Disciplines appropriate to your clan to charm, sneak, intimidate or kill, and your choices will determine your path.

You are embraced into the world of the  Kindred by a Sire who swiftly abandons you to your fate. Taken under the wing of an older, scheming vampire, you must learn the ins and outs of your current condition while a nefarious plot unravels around you - and you are unwittingly at the center of it.
As you learn about this bloody society and its role in the modern nights, you meet others like you - young, inexperienced vampires eager to prove themselves - who are regardless more rooted in the Cainite history of New York City than you are. They serve as your guides, windows into the different Clans of Kindred, and, perhaps, some night, friends. What starts as an alliance of convenience might blossom into a true camaraderie… or devolve into bitter antagonism.

Although you start off as part of the authoritarian vampire sect called the Camarilla, you soon learn that other factions exist - chief among them, the independent Anarchs. Your paths will inevitably cross theirs, but whether you choose to shun them, or try to learn more about what they represent, will be your decision.

Machanics - Hunger, Humanity And Masquerade

While the game is primarily text-driven and story oriented, several mechanics reflect the dark truths of being one of the Kindred. Beside Disciplines that can help with quests there are three such statistics are tracked by the game. All of these are modified by the player’s choices in the game, and their gain or loss is indicated in the fiction in a subtle, but clear way.

Hunger is used to indicate the constant need for blood that vampires must deal with nightly. Characters have the opportunity to hunt for blood during quests. Ignoring this need leads to warnings in the game’s fiction, and if disregarded for too long, to consequences that include succumbing to the Beast - a primal dark passenger all Vampires must try to keep at bay. This outburst is never pretty, and while it might satiate the protagonist for a while, it will almost certainly lead to a loss of Humanity, a decrease of their Masquerade rating… or both!

Humanity is a measure of how moral and rooted in humanistic principles the character is. This rating is used by the game to modify the results of choices in quests, offer additional story choices, or even lock certain choices out.

Finally, the Masquerade rating tracks how well the character blends in with mortal society. Staying inconspicuous and hidden from prying eyes is even more important for vampires than ever, due to the existence of the so-called Second Inquisition, a clandestine hunt for vampires concealed within global government agencies. Secrecy and not flaunting your supernatural powers in the sight of mortals is of utmost importance.

Coteries of New York is set in a fully licensed universe of Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition! However, even if you know nothing about the setting, don't fret! The game is designed to meet the expectations of both Vampire: The Masquerade veterans, and new players, who never had an opportunity to delve into the World of Darkness.

The game does justice to the mature themes of the World of Darkness, and takes advantage of the excellent atmosphere of the source material. It also creates new stories, which, thanks to the full creative license, will be incorporated as official lore of Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition.

You’ll be able to choose your character from three different vampires, representing three iconic Camarilla Clans (we’ll unveil them at a later date). Every character has access to a different set of Disciplines (unique supernatural skills that are characteristic to that Clan) and different narration. Your initial choice also influences your Coterie members’ approach to you, dialogue lines, possible side quests etc. Hence, it takes hours to experience every piece of content we prepared. You’ll go through the main quest, side quests and loyalty quests (aimed to build closer relations between the protagonist and members of your Coterie). BUT one playthrough is definitely not enough to see every piece of content we’ve prepared.

Key Features:

• Choose your character from one of several distinct Clans
• Every playable character offers unique powers (Disciplines), different ethical approaches to certain issues, and dialogue lines
• Character-oriented quests allow you to create your own coterie and shape your relations by reinforcing NPC loyalties
• Highly replayable - choices made in the game are reflected by the game's changing fiction
• Various endings depending on your actions - which conclusion will you reach?
• Suitable for both Vampire: The Masquerade veterans, and fans of mature narrative-driven games who are newcomers to the setting

As for post-launch support, you can definitely expect new, standalone stories, enriching the lore, telling different bloody stories from the history of vampiric New York and adding new twists to interpersonal plots.

Coteries of New York will be available simultaneously on PC (Windows, MAC OS, Linux) and Nintendo Switch in Q4 2019, and support any different languages, including English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese. Other platforms, like PS4 and Xbox One, are not out of the question, but we're taking a "wait and see" approach.

You’ll be able to play the PC version both with mouse and keyboard, as well as with a controller. Full list of supported controllers will be revealed closer to launch.