The troubled development of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 continues, with publisher Paradox Interactive announcing an indefinite delay of the game and the removal of developer Hardsuit Labs from the project.
The news emerged via comments by Paradox CEO Ebba Ljungerud in their year-end fiscal report. Not long afterwards, the company released a public statement on the game’s official website. With the status of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 now in doubt, Paradox has opted to end preorders until such a time as a new release is announced.
In slightly more positive news, the publisher has already signed a new, though undisclosed, studio to continue development. No firm details about what prompted the change are available, though the wording in the development update suggests that Paradox was not satisfied with Hardsuit Labs’ progress.
Originally slated to launch in early 2020, the game suffered its first delay in October 2019. The public development woes of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 began in June 2020, when writer Chris Avellone was accused of sexual misconduct. He was removed from the project and his work rewritten. Soon after, Lead Narrative Designer Brian Mitsoda and Creative Director Ka’ai Cluney were both also sacked, and another writer, Cara Ellison, departed the project later in 2020.
The game is a sequel to the 2004 cult classic Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines and a part of the World of Darkness universe, which also includes the recently release Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood and the upcoming Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife.
