Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 may not quite hit the Guinness World Records for longest development time, but it seems to have had one of the most troubled in the industry. At long last, we have a good sign that it is finally about to release.
The ESRB just published an M17+ rating for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. They mention Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, and worst of all, In-Game Purchases.
While it was somewhat expected that this game could be violent, the ESRB’s description is surprisingly graphic. You can read the rating summary below:
“This is an action role-playing game in which players help two vampires regain their memories and their powers to stop an uprising. From a first-person perspective, players explore city streets, investigate murders, interact with characters, and battle vampires in melee-style combat.
Players use physical attacks (e.g., claw slashes, kicks, feed/bite attacks) and vampiric powers (e.g., telekinesis, possession) to kill enemy vampires. Players can also employ stealth attacks (e.g., neck snap, feed attack) to kill enemies discreetly. Battles are frenetic, accompanied by impact sounds, realistic gunfire, and large blood-splatter effects. Some attacks can result in close-up sequences of players’ character decapitating and/or impaling enemies.
A handful of areas depict decapitated corpses in pools of blood; large bloodstains also appear in several environments. The game contains suggestive/sexual material in the dialogue (e.g., “snacking on wh*res,”; “p*ssy musta…real sweet”; and “D*ldo of consequence don’t come lubed, does it?”). The word “f**k” is heard in the game.”
With that description, it certainly sounds like Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2could face trouble getting rated in some countries and regions. On the up side, there’s no fictional depictions of gambling, so Paradox Interactive will be allowed to offer those in-game purchases with no issues.
If it feels like you’ve heard of this game forever, or it should have released by now, that’s because it should have. Paradox announced the game all the way back in 2019, and back then they announced it in 2020. We won’t relitigate the history of this game’s delays, but to cut straight to the end, last August 2024, they gave a release window of the first half of 2025.
Paradox had problems with their game studios facing difficulties making this game. But on top of that, months before that announcement, the company revealed it was facing serious financial difficulties. And so, as we had opined, this game may be make or break for Paradox Interactive, given the scale of investment they put into it, and the trouble they’ve had with their other games. Everyone is certainly hopeful that with the highly respected game studio The Chinese Room at the helm, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will turn out to be a GOTY contender this 2025.
