Speaking in a recent interview with Digital Trends, Sean Greaney – vice president of the World of Darkness IP at Paradox Interactive – revealed that a lot of the work done by Hardsuit Labs has been used in the current project. In particular, new developer The Chinese Room has built on top of previous work like the game’s themes, its setting of Seattle, and “a significant degree” of art and character art.

“Hardsuit Labs is a great studio, and they did a lot of good work on this project,” Greaney said. “We just had a very different vision for the final product, and we couldn’t align on that vision. And so the right thing to do was to end the collaboration and find a studio that shared that vision.”

He added: “The work that had been done on the game was very important for getting us to a certain point, so the themes, Seattle as the setting, and a significant degree of the art and character art has been carried over. It isn’t from the ground up, but it isn’t a straight continuation either.”

Meanwhile, it’s also been confirmed that under The Chinese Room’s stewardship, the game’s development has moved from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is due out in Fall 2024 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, and Paradox Interactive is confident that the game won’t be delayed again.

As it turns out, things could have been much worse for the game. As revealed by Paradox Interactive CEO Fredrik Wester in an interview with Nyhetsbyrån Direkt (via Avanza, translated by VGC), the publisher almost cancelled Bloodlines 2 entirely when the game was taken away from Hardsuit Labs. Wester explained that Paradox had “a long review” about whether or not to go forward with the project, and made the initial decision to cancel it, but got a pitch for the game that ultimately convinced them to greenlight it.

“When we lifted the game from the original developer, we had a long review in case we should end the game or run it further,” he said. “Then 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.”

There’s no word yet on who is now in charge of the development of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. The game is in development for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC, with no release date attached to it yet.

The lack of any real updates on the ongoing development of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has been troubling and frustrating for those who’re looking forward to the RPG, especially amidst all the delays. Delayed originally from its initial launch date into late 2020, then into 2021, and then more recently into late 2021, the game has seen a number of delays. Now, Paradox Interactive have finally provided an update on it- though it might not be what you want to hear.

Taking to Twitter via the game’s official page, Paradox recently confirmed after acknowledging the lack of updates on Bloodlines 2 that Hardsuit Labs are no longer developing the RPG. “This game is very important to us and it has been an ambitious project from the very start,” Paradox wrote in their message. “In order to meet our goals for it, we’ve come to the conclusion that a change is needed and, as a result, more development time is required.”

That, of course, means that Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will no longer be launching in 2021. No new release date has been provided, with the delay being an indefinite one, and Paradox have also stopped accepting pre-orders for the game. There’s no word on who the new developer for the RPG is going to be either.

These are far from the only hurdles the game’s development has faced. While it was still in the works at Hardsuit Labs, Bloodlines 2 also abruptly lost some major creative leads, including its lead narrative designer and its creative director.

https://twitter.com/VtM_Bloodlines/status/1364124564620517378

Hardsuit Labs and Paradox Interactive have delayed Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 a couple of times by now. Originally due out in Q1 2020, it first got delayed to later in the year, before being delayed once again into 2021. A release window beyond the vague 2021 timeframe hasn’t yet been provided for the game- and publisher Paradox Interactive says you shouldn’t expect it to launch in the first half of the year.

Speaking to the Swedish media (via PC Gamer), Paradox Interactive CEO Ebba Ljungerud said that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a shortage of development kits for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S being provided by Sony and Microsoft respectively, and with Bloodlines 2 due out on the new consoles as well, that’s been a stumbling block for developer Hardsuit Labs that’s resulted in the game’s release being pushed back.

“To be able to develop for the next generation, you have to have development kits from the manufacturers,” Ljungerud explained. “And I’m pretty sure that both Sony and Microsoft were affected by the pandemic because they did not have that many development kits.”

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has also been going through some development troubles with upheaval in its staff. Earlier this year, the developer cut ties with writer Chris Avellone following allegations of sexual harassment against him. Not long afterward, the game’s creative director and narrative designer were also let go, though a new narrative designer was recruited in October.

Whenever it launches, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

The hope was that this year we would get the sequel to the cult hit, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. Alas, it was not to be be, as the game was one of many high profile titles to eventually be hit with the delay hammer to 2021. But it also seems as if there is some degree of turmoil behind the scenes as well, as several high profile members of the development team have left. For instance, the Creative Director Lead Narrative Designer were both let go. It definitely raises some eyebrows about the state of the project, but it does seem as if one of those spots has been filled.

On her Twitter, Samatha Wallschlaeger announced that she had become the new Lead Narrative Designer at Hardsuit Labs. She’s worked for several developers in the past, including BioWare and Monolith.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is set to release at some point in 2021 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC and Stadia.

https://twitter.com/StillNotSam/status/1320772485831258113?s=20

Following the delay of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 into next year, Paradox Interactive and Hardsuit Labs have announced that lead narrative designer Brian Mitsoda and creative director Ka’ai Cluney have left the team. This was a joint decision by the leadership both companies. Alexandre Mandryka has been hired to fill the creative director role and to “help us in the final stages of development.”

Such a departure is interesting especially given the game’s delay. However, Mitsoda revealed to Rock Paper Shotgun via email that he was “suddenly terminated.” “That this came as a shock to me is underselling it,” said Mitsoda. It’s all the more surprising when you consider that Mitsoda was the lead writer for the first game and has often been part of the sequel’s marketing.

He stated that he’s “incredibly disappointed and frustrated to say that this is where it ends for me on the project” and had “never been led to believe that I hadn’t succeeded.” Mitsoda also noted that the marketing was “intensely difficult and took a mental and physical toll.” As far as he’s concerned, the narrative development didn’t contribute to any delays. While he’s “confident and proud of the work that I and my team put forward,” Mitsoda is also unsure “when that work will be seen and what form it will take.”

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is in development for Xbox One, PS4, PC, Xbox Series X and PS5. Stay tuned for more details on it in the coming year.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 developers Hardsuit Labs have announced via a message shared on Twitter that their upcoming RPG is being delayed. Previously scheduled for a release some time in late 2020, it will now be arriving in 2021.

The developers state in their message that the “quality bar and ambitions” they have set for themselves during the game’s development, they have decided to postpone its release, in order to “ensure the best player experience possible.” A more specific release window within 2021 is not provided, but they say that more information regarding that “other organizational changes that will help us achieve this goal” will be shared later.

This is not the first time that Bloodlines 2 has been delayed. It was originally due out in Q1 of this year, but in October 2019, Hardsuit Labs delayed it into late 2020.

Earlier this year, the studio confirmed that it had cut ties with writer Chris Avellone following allegations of sexual harassment leveled against him, and that after brief cooperation with him on the game, none of his work will be used for it.

Whenever in 2021 Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 does launch, it will release for PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

https://twitter.com/VtM_Bloodlines/status/1293064749157167105

While we were originally supposed to be playing Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 by now, the game was delayed to get a little extra polish, and also to come to next generation consoles. Whether we’ll end up getting the game this year or not is up in the air at this point, but that’s the aim, and now we get an insight into the game’s overall arching theme and what else is going bump in the night.

In a lengthy interview with USGamer, multiple developers from Hardsuit Labs spoke about various aspects of the upcoming fantasy title. When it came to the story, Lead Creative Designer Rachel Leiker talked about how it was about social change at its core, a struggle between the structural changes of old and new, and one of the reasons they chose to go with a Seattle setting since it represents of the biggest sites of inequality in America today, something they have referenced before.

“There are few cities in the U.S. where the financial inequality of the modern world is more visibly apparent than it is in Seattle. This meant artists, poets, authors, and more of the type of people that tend to have a profound impact on the culture of a place. Many of the people who built the culture of the place were pushed and priced out, and that meant social change,” Leiker says. “Bloodlines 2 plays on this struggle between old and new—old money and new money, established culture and changing culture, and more.”

That certainly seems like some fertile game for storytelling and not something you see a lot from video games. Leiker also dropped some hints that there may be more than vampires lurking in the shadows as well, pointing  to the Season Pass naming as a hint of what could come, saying “I will say the Season Pass is called the ‘Season of the Wolf. You can speculate from there.” You can see more details about that via the Collector’s Edition through here.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is set to release later this year for all major consoles and PC.

Allegations of sexual harassment were levied at writer Chris Avellonee by multiple women recently, and various developers that were working with the writer have cut ties with him in their wake.

Avellone, who has been involved with projects such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Prey, and others, has been working in a contract capacity with various studios since his departure from Obsidian Entertainment in 2015.

Avellone was serving as a writer on the upcoming Dying Light 2, but developer Techland recently issued a statement on Twitter, stating that in light of the sexual harassment allegations against him, they have “decided to end our cooperation.”

Paradox Interactive – publishers of the upcoming Hardsuit Labs-developed Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 – also provided a statement to Gamasutra, saying that Avellone “briefly worked with the Bloodlines 2 writing team early in the development of the game” but that following “an iterative creative process, […] none of his contributions remain in the game.”

Spanish indie developer Gato Studio – who had been working with Avellone on their upcoming RPG The Waylanders – have also issued a statement on Twitter, saying that the writer is no longer associated with the studio or with the project. They added that all of the content he provided “will be assessed as development progresses.”

You can read the studios’ statements below.

Here's the statement regarding our cooperation with Chris Avellone: pic.twitter.com/ozLXZdVPZw

— Techland (@TechlandGames) June 22, 2020

The team here at Gato Salvaje spent the past few days reading the stories shared online and reflecting. We have prepared the following statement with regards to the allegations made against Chris Avellone. pic.twitter.com/GTPjJcXfOs

— Gato Studio (@GatoStudioGames) June 22, 2020

Paradox Interactive have announced a Collector’s Edition for the upcoming Hardsuit Labs-developed RPG, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, and announced what its contents will be and what it will be priced at.

The Collector’s Edition is a hefty one. It will include a steelbook case, a 28 cm resin statue of Elif, a vinyl soundtrack of the game, a 5th edition core book of the Vampire: The Masquerade tabletop game, and a Seattle map poster. Curiously enough, the package includes the collector’s items only- the game isn’t included. The thing will retail for a total of $110- which is hefty, but I guess the collectors out there will want to get their hands on this one nonetheless.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is out later this year for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. It doesn’t yet have a more specific release date. It was recently also revealed the Damsel the Brujah vampire will be coming back in the sequel- check out her reveal trailer through here.

https://youtu.be/SzVmOGS3w0U