Imagine you’re sitting in a shrink’s office. He says he wants to play a word game. He’ll show you a phrase, and you’ll simply say the first word that pops into your head. He holds up a piece of paper that says Bloodlines 2. You immediately say ‘delay.’
The number of times Bloodlines 2 has suffered development misfortune would be laughable if we weren’t so desperate to see it completed. The original Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines game came out in 2004 for the PC, and was spawned from the World of Darkness tabletop RPG series. It was largely a commercial failure but managed to achieve cult classic status. Bloodlines 2 was teased in 2019 for a 2020 release but was pushed back multiple times, and in February 2021 Hardsuit Labs stepped down as the game’s developer. Along with that giant issue, lead writer Brian Mitsoda, creative director Ka’a’i Cluney, and senior narrative designer Cara Ellison left the project. With staff changes, the COVID-19 pandemic, and delays in development kits for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, the game is now slated for ‘after 2021.’
Publisher Paradox Interactive came forward earlier this month to let fans know that development on the game had not been canceled outright, leading plenty to exhale a massive sigh of release. However, in an interview with the Swedish website Avanza, CEO Fredrik Wester claims that the possibility of cancellation was too close for comfort.
“When we lifted the game from the original developer, we had a long review in case we should end the game [development] or run it further. We were actually prepared to close the production completely. But we got a pitch that we thought was convincing enough to run, played on, and we have very good hopes that it will be a good game that meets the players’ expectations,” Wester said.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is planned to be released for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. If it ever comes out, that is.