‘Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2’ Hasn’t Been Canceled Yet—But It Has Been Delayed… Again
Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 defies the odds, if not expectations. It’s still on track to release! Eventually.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, based off of White Wolf’s tabletop roleplaying game of predators and princes in the shadows of modern society, Vampire: The Masquerade, manages to endure as a cult hit. It was one of those legendary games that was kind of a buggy mess when it released, but the kernel of what was there was so good that it outshone the issues.
And over the years, the game has been patched and polished by developers and fans alike. And there’s a reason it keeps on keeping on. At it’s core, it’s a good game and a fascinating dive into the World of Darkness. It was a love letter to the tabletop rpg, and gave many fans a window into the world they’d only seen in smoky sourcebooks.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 on the other hand has got the jump on the first game by being a mess from development onward. The original lead writer and creative director were fired. The game has changed studios twice and has been delayed countless times, to the point people thought it was sure to be cancelled. And yet. Despite the odds, the game still is slotted for release. But don’t worry, that news was accompanied by the fact that it’s been delayed again.
Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 – Delayed Again, This Time to 2025
According to a statement from Paradox Interactive’s deputy CEO Mattias Lilja and The Chinese Room (the current developer) creative director Alex Skidmore, the game’s “release window has been updated to the first half of 2025”. Pushing it back from a late 2024 release.
Though the reasoning behind the delay does seem to carry good news with it, with Lilja and Skidmore emphasizing Paradox’ “commitment to high-quality games” and a desire to “expand the game’s story.”
Earlier this year, Paradox reaffirmed our commitment to delivering high-quality games to our players, and the launch update is a proactive decision derived from this commitment. Though the game is in a good enough place that we could have maintained our planned release window, Paradox and The Chinese Room collaboratively decided to prioritize polish.
[The extra development time] will be used to create a quality assurance buffer, giving more time between testing and launch, ensuring we release the game when it’s ready. The extra time gives us an opportunity to adjust certain areas, such as Fabien, and incorporate other community feedback.
We will also use the time to expand the game’s story, and now Bloodlines 2 will have more than twice as many endings as its predecessor.
via Paradox Interactive
Of course, all of this should be taken with a drop of blood. Not two months ago Paradox canceled a spate of other projects and shut down studios as it “refocused” its business. Which is another way of saying that we’re still feeling the impact of covid and capitalism on every industry.
The Chinese Room took over the project sometime between late 2021 when original developer Hardsuit Labs was dumped during the pandemic-related difficulties, and 2023 when the official announcement was made. Hard to say when because of Paradox’ long radio silence for the project.
To the point where the game even existing seems a miracle somehow. The game has been in development since at least 2017, so, half of a “Duke Nukem Forever” now, and just as messy. But, stranger things have happened.
In the statement, Paradox and The Chinese Room committed to showing off more of the development as they head for the deadline.
Of course once Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 releases, it still has to be good.
