World of Darkness is a series of tabletop role-playing games, originally created by Mark Rein-Hagen for White Wolf Publishing.

It began as an annual line of five games in 1991–1995, with Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Wraith: The Oblivion, and Changeling: The Dreaming, along with off-shoots based on these.

The 2004 reboot series, Chronicles of Darkness, consists of eleven game lines: Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening, Promethean: The Created, Changeling: The Lost, Hunter: The Vigil, Geist: The Sin-Eaters, Mummy: The Curse, Demon: The Descent,[3] Beast: The Primordial,[4] and Deviant: The Renegades.

[7][8] Several splatbooks – sourcebooks detailing character classes or organizations – have also been published, such as the Clanbook series, describing vampire clans, and the Kithbook line, covering types of fae.

With its lesser focus on lore and less defined world, Chronicles of Darkness also streamlines the character types, stripping the many vampire clans and werewolf tribes from the original series down to five each.

[11] Chronicles of Darkness has a larger focus on making the gameplay systems work together, enabling easier cross-over play between the games.

Designed as the first in a planned series of five annual games, Vampire: The Masquerade was released in 1991, and was followed by Werewolf: The Apocalypse (1992), Mage: The Ascension (1993), Wraith: The Oblivion (1994), and Changeling: The Dreaming (1995), all set in the same world and using the Storyteller rule system.

[3] In 2004, following dwindling sales, White Wolf Publishing ended the series with the major event Time of Judgment: a line of books that ended the overarching narratives of Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Changeling: The Dreaming, Demon: The Fallen, Hunter: The Reckoning, Kindred of the East, and Mummy: The Resurrection.

Following this, White Wolf Publishing rebooted the series with the 2004 rulebook The World of Darkness, and released new games with updated Storytelling System gameplay rules and a new setting, beginning with Vampire: The Requiem in 2004 and Werewolf: The Forsaken and Mage: The Awakening in 2005.

[19] Following the use of the real-world anti-gay purges in Chechnya as the backdrop for fictional events in Vampire: The Masquerade sourcebooks, in what Paradox Interactive's vice president of business development described as a "crude and disrespectful" way, Paradox Interactive integrated White Wolf Publishing directly into the parent company, made changes to its leadership, suspended sales and printings of the books, and halted its development and publishing of World of Darkness games.

[20] The material was removed from the books, and Vampire: The Masquerade development was moved to the licensee Modiphius Entertainment and collaborators including Onyx Path Publishing.

Along with this reorganization, Paradox Interactive announced that World of Darkness development from then on would involve sensitivity reviewers to ensure respectful portrayal of themes and topics.

[32] Although World of Darkness multimedia projects slowed down under CCP Games, production began anew after Paradox Interactive acquired the series.

[28] There are several video game adaptations of the series, based on Vampire: The Masquerade, Hunter: The Reckoning,[46] Mage: The Ascension,[47] Werewolf: The Apocalypse,[48] and Wraith: The Oblivion.

[49] Critical reception of the games has varied, ranging from average to positive,[b] with 2004's Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines standing out, being described by video game publications as a cult classic[54][55][56] and a "flawed masterpiece";[57][58][59] when Paradox Interactive acquired the series, they had considered Bloodlines the "crown jewel" of World of Darkness, and something they knew from the start that they wanted to bring back with a sequel.

[71] Onyx Path Publishing's crowdfunding campaigns for World of Darkness games and material have also been successful, particularly those for the original series, such as the anniversary editions of Werewolf: The Apocalypse and Mage: The Ascension.

[81] In his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground, RPG historian Stu Horvath noted, "For all of the innovation and great ideas on display across all of the World of Darkness lines, there were problems from the start.