The SnowRunner SEQUEL speculation saga (BLOODRUNNER what?!)

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Next stop, SnowRunner sequel speculation town as we delve into some trademark naming stuff that may indicate what the next game will be.

Note: This is the script from the video. Press play above to watch it in all of its glory!

Hello and welcome to A Tribe Called SnowRunner sequel speculation. I noticed on the SnowRunner Reddit and somebody commented on a recent video about a trademark filing. So I decided to do a little digging.

Now obviously this is just speculation and does not confirm anything in particular. At least, not yet or maybe never. However, it was interesting to investigate and maybe you fine people will find it of interest too. If so, like and subscribe. Maybe even touch that bell. So to speak.

The story begins with the mystery clue left at my door. A mention of a new trademark filing of the game “BloodRunner”, which sounds somewhere between a blood donor driving game, cargo deliveries in war-torn countries or when someone does too much cardio.

On Reddit, we see a screengrab of this alleged trademark filing and, having searched for it on UK, EU and US trademark websites I can confirm it is not fake news. The US filing of BloodRunner did indeed take place on the 9^th of May 2022.

SnowRunner sequel: BloodRunner what?

So, BloodRunner, confirmed as the SnowRunner sequel? Erm, no. Let’s cool our jets, hold our horses and all other expressions to the same effect. Because when you search for that particular trademark you see that it was also filed on the 28^th of May. 2019.

In both instances, the applicant was Saber Interactive and another company pops up if you look for other ‘runner’ names. E3D Media Inc. This is part of the parent company Embracer Group, which began the acquisition of Saber Interactive on the 19^th of February 2020.

For US$525 million, if you were curious. You could buy a lot of Scout 800s for that.

So what, Mr Ben, is this BloodRunner thing about and does the SnowRunner sequel trail go cold? Well, one theory is that Saber Interactive uses codenames for projects – and one of those projects was Evil Dead: The Game. Developed and published by, yes, you have guessed it, Saber Interactive.

Using a codename does make sense as it hides the real name of the game so pesky journalists, idiot YouTubers and other interested parties such as competitors are none-the-wiser.

Assuming, of course, this is possible in trademark law in different countries – real lawyers, feel free to correct me. Given that I could not find Evil Dead: The Game or even Evil Dead on the UK trademark website, maybe it is a thing. Or my limited search was not thorough enough.

Anyway, Evil Dead: The Game was released on the 13^th of May 2022 so it does predate the second most recent BloodRunner trademark filing by nearly a week. Why would you trademark it twice and why bother again when, as far as I know in US law, trademarks last a decade? Longer with renewals.

Does that once again lend credence to BloodRunner being more than just a codename? Are we going to be delivering much-needed supplies in dangerous parts of the world? Perhaps, but let us look at another angle.

Given all the horrible things going on in the world, particularly where Saber Interactive was founded (it has since moved to Florida), I am not sure any game developer would want to make a game that gets quite so close to the bone. It would be hard for it not to be considered in bad taste.

What about other trademarks?

And, of course, there are other trademarks filed by Saber Interactive that would make more sense. JungleRunner being one in the US, but not the UK, that was filed on the 15^th of May 2020.

SandRunner, meanwhile, exists in the UK and was filed on the 20^th of September 2019. Maybe this is merely to give Saber Interactive options for new games, maybe it represents the upcoming Dakar Desert Rally game I talked about in another video.

Now, of course, searching by name is difficult as it requires my ageing, useless brain to come up with different ‘runner’ permutations. So I searched by owner: Saber Interactive. And here we see some other names: StreetRunner, RainRunner, SlotoTerra and FarmRunner.

Interestingly, for me anyway, Chernobyl was another trademark filing. However, like the place it was abandoned. Specifically, at the end of 2020.

SlotoTerra is a casino game on mobile – so that is a dead-end for SnowRunner sequel talk. StreetRunner, meanwhile, was filed in August 2019 so maybe that road goes nowhere too. FarmRunner came a year-ish later.

Now if you’re still awake or a succour for pain (or perhaps both), FarmRunner was contested by a company called Oovee Limited, which is highly likely to be connected to Oovee Games. Does that ring a bell? Well, it was the studio behind Spintires and is, as far as I can tell, the sole owner.

So, maybe Saber Interactive wanted to release a FarmRunner game and the Spintires maker rejected it. Maybe it is simply a typical trademark protection thing. Who knows. I just thought it was worth mentioning, especially as there was or maybe still is some beef between the two studios.

857 words later and we are still no closer to whether there will be a SnowRunner sequel, then, let alone what it would be called. In the business we call that a failure.

So, is that the end of the story?

Except I did notice the time between SnowRunner being registered as a trademark on the 26^th of October 2018 and its release date on the 28^th of April 2020 – a gap of one year and six or so months.

With that same time gap, JungleRunner, the newest trademark filing except for BloodRunner, would take us to November 2021. Now, we never heard anything about a new Saber Interactive game, but then that thing called the pandemic did take place and still is in some countries. Plus other things.

Therefore maybe, just maybe, it will be dense rainforest where we get to tip our cargo all over the ground. Or maybe the fact there was nothing too compelling to look at means that the Year 3 pass is more likely. I guess we shall soon see because Phase 8 arrives in the summer of 2022.

And that is it for this video, feel free to give it and/or me some love. If you were playing a game where you had to down your drink every time I mentioned the word ‘trademark’, ‘filing’, ‘runner’ or ‘maybe’, now is the time to call the hospital. Take care, bye.