Free League Publishing To Make The Walking Dead TTRPG

Free League Publishing revealed this week they would be publishing a brand-new tabletop RPG based on The Walking Dead. The official name of the game will be called The Walking Dead Universe, where, as you might have guessed, your characters will be thrown into an unforgiving post-apocalyptic sandbox setting where they will have to bond quickly and learn how to survive and thrive in a world filled with the undead. This is not a game where you just happen to run into famous characters from the series and roll with them, or have them at your disposal. You’ll have to survive as a group of original characters created by the players in a setting created by the GM. The game will launch sometime in the Fall of 2023.

“A co-production between AMC Networks and the award-winning tabletop publisher, which is working closely with key forces behind the franchise, including Chief Content Officer of The Walking Dead Universe, Scott M. Gimple, and Head of AMC Networks Publishing Mike Zagari, the ongoing RPG series will introduce new story elements while drawing inspiration from the current series and upcoming spin-offs. The game is directed by Free League co-founders Tomas Härenstam (Alien RPG, Blade Runner RPG) and Nils Karlén, with Nils Hintze (Tales from the Loop RPG, Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying) as lead writer, Gustaf Ekelund (Twilight: 2000 RPG) and Martin Grip (Alien RPG, Blade Runner RPG) as lead artists, and Genuine Entertainment’s Joe LeFavi (Alien RPG, Blade Runner RPG, Dune, The Dragon Prince) as producer and brand manager on the game series. No matter what, expect the stress and stakes to be high. Boasting a new spin on Free League Publishing’s award-winning Year Zero engine, players must not only hone their physical skills but deeply explore what makes them tick – confronting how the hardships of this world naturally impact what they’re capable of, in the best and worst of times.”

“The Walking Dead has always been about characters – and audiences, by extension – facing impossible life and death choices,” says Gimple. “Now, fans can face these choices head on, putting themselves in the world of The Walking Dead – at any time in the timeline, encountering familiar faces and places and brand-new ones and, within our apocalypse, making the biggest choice: Who are you going to be? We’ve seen a lot of stories in The Walking Dead Universe, now it’s time to see yours.”

“Just like the show, this game is not about killing walkers,” asserts LeFavi. “It’s not about losing health points and fighting to stay alive. It’s about losing your humanity and fighting to find and protect what’s worth living, killing, and dying for.”