Paradox may be teasing a new Vampire: The Masquerade game with a dating app ARG

There's a new dating app that appears to take the term 'thirsty' quite literally. It's called Tender, a "soulmate algorithm", and seeing as how its powered by Paradox Interactive (you can even sign in with an existing Paradox account) it's probably not really trying to set you up on a date. Considering the rather bloody nature of the app's announcement video, the fact that it asks your blood type before inviting you to match with sick people near you, and that Paradox owns White Wolf Publishing (which filed an interesting trademark just last year), this smells a lot like an ARG for a new Vampire: The Masquerade game. Maybe.

It's been a long while since Vampire: The Masquerade—Bloodlines arrived in 2004, which we consider one of the greatest RPGs of all time, and fans are still hungry for another game. Paradox Interactive bought White Wolf 'and all properties' from CCP back in 2015, and a tweet from Paradox's VP of Acquisition & Portfolio Strategy at the time suggested giving it 'fresh blood'. So, yeah, this could be definitely be the beginnings of an announcement for a new RPG in the Vampire series.

The Tender app asks you to describe yourself (angry, sad, hysterical, numb) and gives you a choice of images that best describe you (blood splatters, maggots, an evil clown), and asks your interests, which include choices like video games, fashion, traveling, sports, dogs, murderers, witchcraft, thanatology, and so on. There are also a few 'quests' available to level up your profile, and it sounds like there will be more to come.

PC Gamer also received emails suggesting secret codes are being embedded into certain videos, partially-redacted memos from the fictional CEO of Tender have been leaked, and an investigative website is distributing clues about Tender as well. I'm not much of a sleuth, but maybe you'll be able to crack the case.

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.