Norwegian studio Funcom has revealed the partial-departure of The Secret World Designer Ragnar Tørnquist, who has founded a new independent studio Red Thread Games, and licensed the property rights for The Longest Journey (the franchise he created while at Funcom), formerly re-announcing Dreamfall Chapters:

Red Thread Games will independently fund and produce the sequel to 'Dreamfall', and has entered into a revenue sharing agreement with Funcom as part of the licensing deal. Funcom owns the intellectual property rights for 'The Longest Journey', but due to the company’s focus on and commitment to the development of online games, the decision was made to license the rights to Mr. Tørnquist and his new development studio. The close working relationship between Funcom and Mr. Tørnquist will allow him to continue on as Creative Director of Funcom’s ‘The Secret World’, in parallel with putting together a team to develop 'Dreamfall Chapters'.

“I'm very excited to finally have the opportunity to continue the 'The Longest Journey' saga,” says Ragnar Tørnquist. “Ever since we ended 'Dreamfall' on a nail-biting cliffhanger, players have been rightfully demanding a sequel, and my deal with Funcom will finally make that possible. I'm extremely grateful to Funcom for this unique and exciting opportunity, and I can't wait to dive back into the universe I helped create more than a decade ago, and continue the story players have been waiting for these past six years."

Red Thread Games will release more details about 'Dreamfall Chapters' in the coming months.

Dreamfall Chapters was originally announced by Funcom back in 2007 as an episodic continuation of the series last seen in the 2006 Xbox and PC game Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. According to an interview with RPS Tørnquist plans to launch a Kickstarter project "in the near future" to fund the new game. The interview also unearths a few bits and pieces about Red Thread's plans for The Longest Journey, and elaborates on the split from Funcom.