Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2

[Max Peck]

Dev Diary #10

February and March have been intense, for many reasons. Like many others in the US and around the world, the COVID-19 outbreak has changed how we work in the last few weeks. To help mitigate this unprecedented illness, our developers are all working from home. We have provided infrastructure and hardware support for that to happen, as well as provided more tools and procedures to help facilitate communication. The biggest challenge to us has been the separation. We shockingly like each other in this studio and have found it a little difficult not to be able to hang out during the week. But we also want to keep our developers and their families safe, so this is a small price to pay. The new working from home paradigm seems to be agreeing with people, and development is proceeding from the comfort of our own homes.

[Daehawk]

Im surprised no one has come out with a game where you have to stay home, avoid people coming over, yet still get out to buy essentials as they run out and not get sick.

[Lordnine]

Im surprised no one has come out with a game where you have to stay home, avoid people coming over, yet still get out to buy essentials as they run out and not get sick.

I think you just described State of Decay.

[Smoove_B]

Delayed to 2021:

https://twitter.com/VtM_Bloodlines/stat ... 9157167105

(can't quote image)

[malchior]

"Organizational changes" - is that some weird way to say the project was mismanaged?

[Paradroid]

I've always had the impression that Paradox aren't exactly the easiest publisher to work with.

[Pyperkub]

"Organizational changes" - is that some weird way to say the project was mismanaged?

I'm far more inclined to read Coronavirus into that. Both technical hurdles AND the possibility that key players may have gotten infected.

[malchior]

"Organizational changes" - is that some weird way to say the project was mismanaged?

I'm far more inclined to read Coronavirus into that. Both technical hurdles AND the possibility that key players may have gotten infected.

Maybe but every software house just came out and said it. Why didn't they just blame COVID-19 outright? My corporate intrigue-sense says they are sending some message here and it might not even be to the fans.

[Hrothgar]

I presumed that work was going slower with the team distancing and working from home. Also, maybe they didn't want to go head to head with the Cyberpunk 2077 juggernaut.

[Pyperkub]

"Organizational changes" - is that some weird way to say the project was mismanaged?

I'm far more inclined to read Coronavirus into that. Both technical hurdles AND the possibility that key players may have gotten infected.

Maybe but every software house just came out and said it. Why didn't they just blame COVID-19 outright? My corporate intrigue-sense says they are sending some message here and it might not even be to the fans.

Seeing as how I was following up on a support issue with one of our vendors and got an "indefinite" OOO email message today just before I posted, I did have it on the brain.

[malchior]

"Organizational changes" - is that some weird way to say the project was mismanaged?

I'm far more inclined to read Coronavirus into that. Both technical hurdles AND the possibility that key players may have gotten infected.

Maybe but every software house just came out and said it. Why didn't they just blame COVID-19 outright? My corporate intrigue-sense says they are sending some message here and it might not even be to the fans.

Seeing as how I was following up on a support issue with one of our vendors and got an "indefinite" OOO email message today just before I posted, I did have it on the brain.

Oh totally. The more I think about it the more it sounds like they are doing the Corporate thing of signaling that they are acknowledging a failure. I think was a message to the investors in other words. Essentially you don't get close to release date and blame it on the thing that started in March. They had adequate time to plan for and adjust the release if needed be. I also agree with Hrothgar that they are avoiding the release of competing AAA games and the PS5 dropping too.

[Max Peck]

Paradox Interactive streamed their second quarter interim this morning. I didn't watch the entire thing, but I did see that Ebba Ljungerud briefly addressed the Bloodlines 2 delay, attributing it partly to COVID-19 making it difficult to work with the developer as closely as they wanted and partly to the game simply not being ready for release.

[Max Peck]

So, about those organizational changes...

An Update on the Organizational Changes for Bloodlines 2

Hi everyone,

Paradox Interactive and Hardsuit Labs have some important updates to share today. We recently shared that we were making some organizational changes to the Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 team, as promised, we will now give an update on what that means.

Lead Narrative Designer Brian Mitsoda and Creative Director Ka’ai Cluney are no longer part of the team at Hardsuit Labs. This was a joint decision made by the leadership of Hardsuit Labs and Paradox Interactive.

We appreciate, and value, the contributions of Brian and Ka’ai, which were instrumental in establishing the game's storyline and dark tone and have helped to ensure that we are making a true successor to the iconic Bloodlines. We wish them both the best in their future endeavors.

With that, we are excited to announce that Alexandre Mandryka has come aboard as Creative Consultant, filling the Creative Director role for Bloodlines 2, and will help us in the final stages of development. Alexandre is committed to following the vision that is in place, and successfully bringing Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 to the fans.

Alexandre has been in the industry for more than 20 years and has worked on iconic franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, Warhammer 40,000, Far Cry, and more. With a long history of shipping excellent franchises, we are excited with what Alexandre brings to the game and the World of Darkness.

These changes to the team are focused on one thing: to bring you the best possible Vampire: The Masquerade game. We will share further updates as they occur.

We thank you all for understanding.

[Smoove_B]

If anyone is surprised, I'd be amazed:

We have now chosen to postpone the release of [Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2] further, and we will not be launching the game in 2021. We have also decided that Hardsuit Labs will no longer be leading the development of Bloodlines 2, and we have started a collaboration with a new studio partner to finish work on the game. This has been a difficult decision, but we are convinced that it is the right way forward to do the game justice.

[Daehawk]

Im surprised its not totally dead yet.

[Carpet_pissr]

Undead

[coopasonic]

If anyone is surprised, I'd be amazed:

I guess you could say I am surprised, but mostly because I've been paying no attention.

[Paingod]

If anyone is surprised, I'd be amazed:

We have now chosen to postpone the release of [Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2] further, and we will not be launching the game in 2021. We have also decided that Hardsuit Labs will no longer be leading the development of Bloodlines 2, and we have started a collaboration with a new studio partner to finish work on the game. This has been a difficult decision, but we are convinced that it is the right way forward to do the game justice.

Anytime a project shakes up teams mid-stride, then gets delayed, and then moves to a new developer with more delays I get goosebumps because I know the resulting product will be a shitstorm of epic proportions and lots of great "WTF" videos will come up on YouTube when it's released.

We all know how this ends. I suppose, though, there's a sliver of a chance that the game is released and will be "Okay" 6-12 months after release.

[malchior]

Im surprised its not totally dead yet.

The only explanation I can think of is that Paradox paid a lot for this IP. Which is why whoever was in charge of this at Paradox has a lot of explaining to do. Start with how the decision to go with Hardsuit in the first place was made...

Oh...also, Hardsuit's web page is down. Not shocking since it might as well be running a 90s 'Under Construction' marquee since this was all they had.

[Max Peck]

From a guy who works at Paradox:
https://twitter.com/ShamsJorjani/status ... 3370418176

Alexa: How do you un-announce a game?

[Max Peck]

Oh...also, Hardsuit's web page is down. Not shocking since it might as well be running a 90s 'Under Construction' marquee since this was all they had.

Their site is back up, but they've scrubbed Bloodlines from it. Their "Games" link still goes to a Bloodlines URL, but throws a 404 error.

[malchior]

Oh...also, Hardsuit's web page is down. Not shocking since it might as well be running a 90s 'Under Construction' marquee since this was all they had.

Their site is back up, but they've scrubbed Bloodlines from it. Their "Games" link still goes to a Bloodlines URL, but throws a 404 error.

I can only imagine what a rough day they had today. I wouldn't be surprised if a good part of the team was "walked out".

[Max Peck]

Arise!



Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has been quietly rebuilt by Dear Esther developer The Chinese Room

This certainly isn't what I expected. The troubled Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, which I'd just about given up on, is now set to release next fall, over four years after its initial intended launch. Paradox Interactive has tapped The Chinese Room, developer of Dear Esther and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, as the studio to bring the fraught RPG across the finish line.

"Fraught" doesn't really begin to describe Bloodlines 2. The sequel to Troika's 2004 cult classic (and one of my very favorite games) was initially supposed to come out in March 2020. Its first major delay came with the news that lead writer Brian Mitsoda (who also had a big hand in the original game) and creative director Ka'ai Cluney had been fired. Developer Hardsuit Labs was taken off the project entirely, and the game was delayed indefinitely in 2021.

The Chinese Room was brought in shortly after that, it's now been revealed. Ahead of today's news, I had the chance to talk to Paradox Interactive VP of World of Darkness (the broader setting of Vampire: The Masquerade) Sean Greaney, as well as Alex Skidmore, creative director of Bloodlines 2. After speaking to them, I remain uncomfortably in the dark about what happened to Hardsuit Labs' version of Bloodlines 2, but I came away excited for The Chinese Room's vision for Vampire: the Masquerade.

[Daehawk]

A dev change and double the expected times usually never bodes well.

Is that Miley Cyrus in the trailer music?

[Max Peck]

It sounds like the original version of the game is essentially dead, and the new developer is doing their own thing, using whatever assets from the original project that were of use to them. They're probably better positioned to deliver a good game that way than they would be if they were trying to fix what had already been built. In that sense, this is more like a new project than a continuation of the one that was put on ice back in '21.

[Max Peck]

The game is still undead...

[Punisher]

Don't know why but I'm really loving that rapid punch move.

[Daehawk]

Thats really nothing like the first game. I was expecting a first person view shooter action game rpg. Like the first one. This looks more like a Telltales adventure story game mixed with some trippy puzzle solving actioner. Its weird.

[Victoria Raverna]

Also the guy that talk nonstop to her is annoying.

[Max Peck]

Also the guy that talk nonstop to her is annoying.

I'm not sure if the whole game is like that or it it's just a feature of the particular mission that they were using for the demo.

[Carpet_pissr]

I was expecting a first person view shooter action game rpg.

From that video, that's exactly what it looked like to me.

[gbasden]

I was expecting a first person view shooter action game rpg.

From that video, that's exactly what it looked like to me.

Yeah, that looks pretty excellent to me.

[hepcat]

Yup, I don't see a "telltale adventure game" in that clip at all. It's pretty much pure fps rpg just like the first one.

[Max Peck]

I was reminded today that this game isn't quite dead just yet. Apparently there were a couple of dev diaries back in June that I just now found.

Dev Diary #13: What are we up to
(Concept art, level design, lighting, narrative, sound)

Dev Diary #14: What are we up to? Part 2
(Audio, concept art, Pioneer Square concepts, Financial District concepts, Code/Programming, Design, Production)

News - links to other articles and dev diaries.

[Max Peck]

'Bloodlines 3 [Will be] Done by Someone Else:' Paradox Responds to Future of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines After Sequel Debacle

Paradox Interactive seems ready to be done with Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines — and with RPGs in general — with deputy CEO Mattias Lilja telling PC Gamer that any potential Bloodlines 3 will be "done by someone else."

Lilja opened up about Bloodlines 2's development in the course of an unusually frank interview, itself part of a media tour seemingly designed to show how Paradox was being reset after a string of problematic releases and reports of a toxic work culture. Paradox's overarching message? It's sticking to what it's good at, and what it's good at is strategy games.

"It is not in our strategic direction to make this kind of game," Lilja told PC Gamer. "So if Bloodlines 2, God willing, is successful, Bloodlines 3 [will be] done by someone else, on the license from us. I would say it's the sort of strategic way this would work. 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."

In short, Lilja considers Bloodlines a "dead end" for the company regardless of how well it does, which is made more awkward by the fact that Paradox Interactive owns Vampire: The Masquerade creator White Wolf Publishing. Lilja didn't talk about Paradox's plans for White Wolf, but it seems as if any future Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines RPG will be licensed out to other developers.

[Update: In a follow-up statement to IGN, Lilja clarified, "Paradox is not done with Vampire: the Masquerade. Paradox, as a video game publisher, will not directly focus on publishing too far outside of its core competencies in the long run."

He added, "We are very confident in The Chinese Room in developing Bloodlines 2! When we say that “a potential Bloodlines 3 will be done by ‘someone else,’ we mean Paradox Interactive as the publisher.”

He concluded, "We continue to own and work with World of Darkness, but that team operates very differently from the core organization."

A Paradox spokesperson added that Paradox still owns World of Darkness and plans to continue to support Vampire: The Masquerade.]

[Daehawk]

Removes from wishlist

[Max Peck]

tl;dw:

• The game is feature-complete and they are now focusing on bug stomping and polish.
• It is scheduled for an October 2025 release.

[Max Peck]

Playing a few hours of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has put a lot of my worries to rest

As a former teenage goth and Anne Rice fanatic (dog collar, black nail polish, absurd prosthetic vampire fangs) who still pines for the days when Troika was designing RPGs, my excitement levels following the initial Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 announcement were off the chart. But that was six years ago, and since then it's faced a cavalcade of delays, a hiatus and a change in developer. It's been such a mess that publisher Paradox never wants to make another RPG again.

So I was unsure of what to expect when I visited The Chinese Room for the very first Bloodlines 2 hands-on. I went in a sceptic. Now, though? I'm cautiously on my way to becoming a convert. After playing through the prologue twice and getting to muck around with a bunch of end-game ability combos, the thing that's stuck with me the most is how powerful I felt, and how much the game delights in leaning into the vampire power fantasy.

It's a very different experience from Redemption and Bloodlines 1, both of which put you in the blood-soaked boots of a fledgling vamp, clueless and weak. Phyre (also known as the Nomad, but neither is their true name) is not a baby. They are an Elder. A 400-year-old vampire celebrity, awoken a century after abruptly vanishing. As an Elder they have access to not just the powers of their clan, but those of the other clans too, and are much stronger and more resilient than a newborn undead monster. In classic videogame form, however, they've been sapped of this strength, yet they remain a heavy-hitter.