Paradox Interactive, the parent company that owns the World of Darkness, might have canceled several games lately, but Bloodlines 2 is still in development.
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 has had a rough, tumultuous development cycle, plagued by staffing issues of late. Back in 2020, the studio fired the Lead Narrative Designer (Brian Mitsoda) and the Creative Director (Ka’ai Cluney), and in March of this year, the narrative team took a substantive hit when layoffs came to Hardsuit Labs.
HSL has made the decision to do layoffs today, and all of us on the narrative team were affected. If you or your team is looking for an amazing writer or narrative designer, boy do I have three excellent recommendations for you.
— Samantha Wallschlaeger (@StillNotSam) March 1, 2021
Publisher Paradox Interactive recently made an announcement stating that they had canceled many “unannounced projects” in order to refocus their efforts on “proven game niches.” What exactly that means is anyone’s guess, but Paradox went on to clarify that in spite of all this, the beleaguered Bloodlines 2 was still in development:
Paradox Interactive AB (publ) has today decided to discontinue the development of several unannounced games. In connection with the cancellation, the company has written down the value of the projects which will impact the Q3 2021 profit before tax with -135 MSEK.
Paradox Interactive now has fifteen new games in development, some are new titles and some are sequels on existing franchises. Four of these games have been announced; the much demanded grand strategy game Victoria 3, Crusader Kings 3 for consoles, the classic Shadowrun Trilogy for console and Vampire: the Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. Additionally, a number of DLCs are in development, such as Royal Court for Crusader King 3.
Bloodlines 2 at press time still has no release date, and is not able to be pre-ordered anywhere, which suggests that the development of the game will continue for a while yet. In the meantime, players still have several Vampire: the Masquerade games to enjoy in the near future, including the recently released Blood Hunt, a battle royale game set in the World of Darkness, and the upcoming Swansong, which follows a trio of Vampires embroiled in intrigue in Boston.
Be sure and check back for more on Bloodlines 2
Source: Bell of Lost Souls
