However, we find that hard to believe because we won’t be seeing the game at this year’s PDXCon, the publisher’s event, even though it’d be about time for it to be seen!

Paradox Interactive will be the publisher of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, but the game has disappeared off the planet since early 2021. It’s no wonder that Fredrik Wester, the publisher’s CEO, is often asked about the status of the sequel to the iconic game released almost two decades ago. It’s no wonder he had to calm the nerves on Twitter when he wrote that the project is in good hands and is still in development and that more details will be shared when they are ready. Talk about an empty answer…

The game’s development history is terrible: it was announced by Paradox in March 2019, and at the time, Brian Mitsoda (designer and writer of the first Bloodlines) was the narrative lead, with Cara Ellison as senior narrative designer. The RPG set in the World of Darkness is expected to have a lot of depth in terms of story, so it’s no wonder that the live stream of the announcement was mainly about that. Then came the shower: Mitsuda and Ellison with Ka’ai Cluney (the creative director) left the project in 2020, then in February 2021, development was indefinitely postponed, and the game’s developer Hardsuit Labs was also removed from the project (resulting in layoffs there), and that’s just the tip of the iceberg…

Then last October, Wester said that everything Hardsuit Labs had come up with had been scrapped, and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 was almost cancelled, but a pitch came along that convinced Paradox. The publisher then confirmed that the game is still in development but did not name the new studio, which can thus concentrate on development without being harassed by fans…

PDXCon will take place on September 2 and 3 this year, and Wester has already warned us that we shouldn’t expect it this year. Oh, dear.

Source: PCGamer