Since developer The Chinese Room and publisher Paradox Interactive revealed that two of the playable clans in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will be locked behind a day-one DLC priced at $21.99, there has been a fair bit of backlash from fans of the series. Paradox has now acknowledged this backlash, and has announced a change of plans with regards to locking the Toreador and Lasombra clans behind the Shadows and Silk DLC – which is also available as part of the game’s $99.99 Premium Edition.
While Paradox Interactive hasn’t yet confirmed what this change of plans would entail, a statement by a community manager has indicated that the two clans might be released as part of the base game rather than requiring an additional purchase of day-one DLC. The company has also stated that it will reveal more details about its change of plans “as soon as possible”.
“We are listening to your feedback about the Lasombra and Toreador clan access, and we’re making adjustments ahead of Launch to reflect this,” wrote community manager DebbieElla on the game’s official Discord channel, as caught by WCCFTech. “We will share more information about what this means as soon as possible. In the meantime, please join us tomorrow on Twitch at 17:00 CEST, where we’ll be showing off more of the game!”
Clans in the Vampire: The Masquerade setting are the closest that the RPG series gets to having classes for characters. A vampire’s clan defines many things for the character, ranging from their social standing to more gameplay-impacting things like what kinds of abilities they have access to at the beginning and what stats they start out with. The original Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, for example, featured seven distinct clans, two of which even had unique gameplay and story elements exclusive to them – the Malkavian and the Nosferatu.
At launch, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is slated to feature six clans in total, with four being available in the base game and two part of the Shadows and Silk DLC. These clans are the Brujah, Banu Haqim, Tremere and Ventrue for the base game, and the Lasombra and Toreador in the DLC.
The backlash against this decision was something any fan of the original Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, and even fans of the tabletop RPG that the games are based on, could have seen coming. Clans are considered one of the core components of the setting, and even in the tabletop game, presented new opportunities for story and gameplay. In the original Bloodlines, the player’s own clan is an integral part of what kinds of quests they have access to, with some clans even getting unique objectives and hints about the overarching story of the game.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. After a tumultuous development period, the game, which has even seen a change of hands in development teams, is finally coming out on October 21. For more details, check out the deep dive video released earlier this month, as well as a trailer showcasing the story of 1920s detective Fabian.
