It’s been almost ten years since Paradox acquired the rights to Vampire: The Masquerade, and Bloodlines 2 was initially supposed to arrive in 2020…

Everything seemed perfect when it was announced. It was one of the most desired RPGs among fans. But almost ten years after Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 began work, struggling with a sea of ​​problems, the game still hasn’t hit the stores. The developers suffered so much that Paradox admitted that even the possible success of Bloodlines 2 would not encourage them to work on another role-playing adventure. “We should probably let other people do it,” they said in an interview with PC Gamer. If we look back at the history of development, this is understandable.

They worked on Bloodlines 2 in secret for four years alongside the Hard Suit Labs team, which included veterans of the original game. We wrote 2019, and the plan was to release the game in 2020. However, the vampire RPG was delayed, then pushed back again, with a release date set for 2021… before it was confirmed that it had been postponed indefinitely and Hard Suit pulled out of the project. The situation was so critical that cancellation was on the table several times. “If we hadn’t found The Chinese Room, and seen what they’d done with the early work, [cancellation] would have been the next logical step, because we could not continue as we did,” says Mattias Lilja, the studio CEO.

Bloodlines 2 is on the right track

Although the game continues to be delayed – it is now promised for mid-2025 – , Paradox is now much more confident about the project. “It’s been in development a very long time, but we are starting to see the game shape up to be something we can… we think it will be a World of Darkness experience,” he adds. He certainly doesn’t seem too excited. There seems to be some serious nervousness surrounding the game, and understandably so, considering the recent Bloodlines 2 gameplay split fans of the classic RPG.

What seems clear is that Paradox would be reluctant to continue focusing on RPGs in-house. “It is not in our strategic direction to make this kind of game. So if Bloodlines 2, God willing, is successful, Bloodlines 3 [will be] done by someone else, on the license from us,” since they own the White Wolf and World of Darkness brands. “I would say it’s the sort of strategic way this would work”. He is pretty honest about this.

“So it’s still an outlier from what we’re supposed to do, we don’t know that stuff, so we should probably let other people do it.”

Then there are the high production costs associated with large RPGs. Baldur’s Gate 3 raised the bar even higher, making it a risky business. Therefore, he concludes, Bloodlines 2 is a “dead end”. It will continue, but “regardless of the outcome” Paradox will not [directly] re-enter such a project.

Paradox game without DLC?

Each major Paradox release comes with dozens of content additions that will enhance the experience for years to come. Will it be the same for Bloodlines 2? Mattias Lilja gave a completely clear answer. “We don’t drop games. We make sure they work. We make sure they fulfill the promise that they have. The rest is very much up to the players.” This policy is appropriate for its high strategy titles, but not so for Bloodlines 2.

“I mean, I think it’s fairly clear, at least to me, and I think to you, even in the best of cases, Bloodlines does not have a super long shelf life. That’s not the way these games behave. You have an influx of players, there’s a bit of word of mouth, and they have a high peak, and then they trail off. And it’s not the type of gameplay that develops over time that much. So I think that’s part of why these types of games are not really that attractive to us,” added the head of Paradox. But there are examples of great RPGs, like Bethesda’s, that last for years with additions and updates.

Time will tell what will happen in this regard. For now, we can only wait and hope that after all these years, the game will finally see the light of day, and we can enjoy an RPG that will forever be engraved in the hearts of players.

Source: PC Gamer