We are thrilled to announce that the first printing of 15,000 copies of Shadowrun, Fifth Edition has sold out from Catalyst Game Labs before the standard edition has hit its Street Date this month. Additionally, well over a month since the book became the best-selling PDF of all time in the more than ten years of DriveThruRPG operations, it is still in the number one slot!

“Every time I think the Shadowrun community can’t surprise me with their brilliance, they surprise me again,” said Randall N. Bills, Catalyst’s Managing Developer. “We were confident we’d sell out by end of the year, but in mere weeks?! Once again, Shadowrun players stepped up in a fantastic way, showing how much life beats within the Sixth World … and how much life yet beats in the tabletop roleplaying community as a whole!”

Catalyst Game Labs is immediately starting a second print run to minimize any chance of a retailer or player trying to purchase a copy and being told it’s “out of stock”. Additionally, we have multiple items all heading to print simultaneously with this second print run so that they can hit store shelves roughly at the same time as the second printing. These include Splintered State, the first full SR5 adventure; Equipment and Spell decks of cards that make for easier game play; and the Shadowrun, Fifth Edition GM Screen.

It’s important to note that while Catalyst Game Labs is sold out, the Street Date for Shadowrun, Fifth Edition is September 25th. This means that orders made through retail stores should be available this week. Additionally, orders through such venues as Amazon have been shipped to those companies (though when those companies will ship to customers is beyond our purview). Finally, if retailers sell through their copies they can immediately start taking preorders again (if a player is unable to preorder your copy through a local retailer, you can preorder online).

Check out shadowruntabletop.com and www.shadowrun.com in the near future to learn more about these fast-approaching additional releases and their specific street dates!

Catalyst Game Labs

Catalyst Game Labs is dedicated to producing high-quality games and fiction that mesh sophisticated game mechanics with dynamic universes, all presented in a form that allows beginning players and long-time veterans to easily jump into our games, while helping fiction readers enjoy our stories even if they don’t know the games.

Catalyst Game Labs is an imprint of InMediaRes Productions, LLC, which specializes in electronic publishing of professional fiction. This allows Catalyst to melds printed gaming material and fiction with all the benefits of electronic interfaces and online communities, creating a whole-package experience for any type of player or reader. Find Catalyst Game Labs online at www.catalystgamelabs.com.

We’ve got a new Enhanced Fiction short story called The Vladivostok Gauntlet out today, and it’s full of the goodness that makes Shadowrun unique and delicious. If you’re not reading this story, then you’re missing out on Russian mobsters, bloodthirsty killers, wolf shapeshifters, decadent nightclubs, and more. You don’t want to miss out on that, do you?

We’ve made the story available in all sorts of formats. First, you can just pick up the story itself as an Amazon single or on the Barnes and Noble store. The e-reader version doesn’t have the game stats, but that’s okay–we’ve made those stats available as a free download, right here: The Vladivostok Gauntlet Game Stats

Alternately, you could buy the whole package from either the Battleshop or DriveThru, and get everything–a Kindle version, an e-pub version, and a complete PDF with all the game stats. No matter which version you choose, you get new Shadowrun fiction for only $1.99! Here’s a full summary:

Rules for the Breaking

Yuri Yehzov has been off the streets for a long while, surviving by following a few simple rules. Don’t stick your neck out. Don’t get involved in something that is none of your business. And above all, don’t piss off the ferocious mobsters of the Vory y Zakone.

Yuri doesn’t have much left from his shadowrunning days except his cyberears, but that’s enough to get him in trouble. When he hears something he cannot ignore, one by one his rules fall by the wayside until he has cold-blooded killers, vicious shapeshifters, and a ruthless Vory leader all after him. His gear is broken, his reflexes are shot, and he’s about to face the toughest opponents he’s ever been against. The streets have one more chance to claim his life—and he has one more chance to break the rules, beat the odds, and find a way to stay alive.

The Vladivostok Gauntlet is a brand new Shadowrun short story. Read it and immerse yourself in the grit, grime, and dirty glory of the Sixth World!

And if you’re looking for more electronic versions of Shadowrun fiction, we have a special bonus for you! Another Rainy Night, which was previously only available as a PDF, is now available in Kindle or e-Pub versions!  If you buy these stat-free versions, it’s the same price as The Vladivostok Gauntlet–$1.99! So go get your Shadowrun fiction fix!

One of the themes running through the Year of Shadowrun is that we want people to enjoy playing Shadowrun in a wide variety of ways, whether you’re playing a video game, a card game, or the role-playing game. And within the role-playing game, we know that people are playing different editions. We’d certainly be happy if people migrated to Shadowrun, Fifth Edition, but we’re also happy when we can provide options for a wide range of players.

Which brings us to today’s releases! We have three new ebooks out, spanning three different editions of Shadowrun! Let’s get to the newest edition first. In the tradition of Sprawl Wilds, we have Firing Line (Battleshop, DriveThruRPG), an adventure compilation that is dual-statted for both Fourth and Fifth editions. While Sprawl Wilds took you to strange and dangerous corners of Seattle, Firing Line offers more globe-trotting. Here’s the rundown:

Danger Zones

Shadowrunning can take you all sorts of different places and give you the chance to have all sorts of different guns pointed at you. Whether you’re exploring mysterious islands off the coast of Seattle, collecting bounties on the tightly guarded streets of Manhattan, or trying to survive the chaos and conflict in Bogotá, you’re likely to find yourself in trouble and in the line of fire. Because that’s where you’re paid to be.

Firing Line collects four Shadowrun Missions developed especially for the large summer gaming conventions, making them available for the first time to the gaming public. The adventures have all the statistics and game information needed for both Shadowrun, Fourth Edition and Shadowrun, Fifth Edition, meaning that a wide range of shadowrunners will have everything they need to dive into the adventures and get themselves in some high-paying trouble!

Next on the list is a new release for Shadowrun, Fourth Edition–continuing in the tradition of Parazoology, Parabotany, and Parageology, it’s Parazoology 2 (Battleshop, DriveThruRPG)! From Awakened spiders to giant toxic amoebas, Parazoology 2 has a host of critters to throw into your game and adventure hooks to get your players running! Here’s more info:

Natural Born Killers

Some shadowrunners long to escape the dirt and danger of the Sixth World’s sprawls for the supposed peace and tranquility of nature. Thing is, the ones that actually try it generally find themselves quickly scurrying back to the city once they discover what’s waiting for them out there in the wild. From the sharp-toothed, lightning-fast ammit to the sneaky, venomous greater dancing white lady, nature in the Sixth World is full of ways to kill the unsuspecting and incautious.

Parazoology 2 is here to make sure shadowrunners are prepared for the dangers that lie in wait. With full details on dozens of Sixth World critters as well as firsthand accounts of encounters with mysterious creatures in their natural habitats, Parazoology 2 is a critical book for runners making their way into the wilds—even if that means the dark alleys just down the road.

Parazoology 2 is for use with Shadowrun, Twentieth Anniversary Edition.

And finally, we have a re-issue now available in PDF format. It’s Rigger 3 Revised (Battleshop, DriveThruRPG)! Last seen coming out toward the end of Shadowrun, Third Edition’s run (natch), Rigger 3 is your definitive guide to rigging, full of vehicles, drones, and all sorts of goodies:

Planes, Drones and Automobiles

Living is rigging, omae. Like burning rubber down the highway at 150 klicks and hour with only your brain to guide you. What about making a drone an extension of yourself, or undermining the security of a whole building, manipulating every camera, motion detector or security door. But the biggest kick is blowing up a car full of goons without even jacking out — weapons of destruction at your mental command … now that’s road rage, my friend.

Rigger 3 Revised expands upon the basic rigging and drone rules provided in Shadowrun, Third Edition and offers advanced rules for robots, ships, security riggers and electronic warfare. Rigger 3 Revised also offers expanded vehicle listings and rules for vehicle design, construction and modification. This revised edition has been corrected and updated and includes a complete set of vehicle illustrations.

So there you have it! So much Shadowrun goodness that you have no excuse to not hit the streets of the Sixth World! Get out there, get running, and have fun!