The boss of Paradox does not expect the troubled Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 to come out during the first half of 2021.
Speaking to Swedish financial publication Placera, Paradox CEO Ebba Ljungerud said of the upcoming immersive sim: “I do not think it will come in the first half of the year, but we will see.”
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, which was initially due out during the first quarter of 2020 before being delayed twice, has been dogged by controversy. In June 2020, Paradox confirmed any content designer Chris Avellone had contributed to the game would be removed following allegations of sexual assault.
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A shake-up of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2’s development team was then hinted at in August 2020, when developer Hardsuit and Paradox announced a delay “to ensure the best player experience possible”. Its statement also made references to “organisational changes” within the team that it would share at a later date.
Later that month, lead narrative designer Brian Mitsoda and creative director Ka’ai Cluney were fired from the action-RPG project, with the former saying the decision by Hardsuit and Paradox “came as a shock” and that he had “never been led to believe that [he] hadn’t succeeded” in his role.
Then in October 2020, Paradox confirmed senior narrative designer Cara Ellison had left the project and was no longer working with Hardsuit.
According to the Placera article, Paradox’s decision to adapt the game for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, as well as staff exits and the pandemic, all contributed to the delay.
“To be able to develop for the next generation, you have to have development kits from the manufacturers. And I’m pretty sure that both Sony and Microsoft were affected by the pandemic because they did not have many development kits,” Ljungerud is quoted as saying.
Paradox confirmed Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 back at GDC 2019, where our Martin checked it out. It’s the sequel to one of the cherished PC games of all time: 2004’s Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. Hardsuit Labs is previously of Blacklight: Retribution fame.
