Paradox Interactive’s Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will not meet its previously scheduled release date for 2021 – and for a very good reason. The publisher on Tuesday announced the indefinite delay of the game and put it on a significant setback: lead developer Hardsuit Labs is no longer working on the game.
On the Bloodlines 2 website, Paradox Interactive said that while the game is still in development, the publisher no longer shares a release date and that it also does not accept further pre-orders for the game.
“This game is very important to us and it was an ambitious project from the start,” Paradox said. ‘In order to achieve our goals for that, we have come to the conclusion that change is needed and that consequently more development time is needed.
‘We would like to take this opportunity to honor Hardsuit Labs for their efforts and thank them for their hard work on the project. The studio has done a tremendous job laying the foundations for the game and we hope that you, the community, also make their contribution to Bloodlines 2. ”
Paradox status update on Bloodlines 2 follows a similarly dire development milestone from last summer, when the publisher confirmed the dismissal of two major creators. Lead narrator Brian Mitsoda and creative director Ka’ai Cluney were fired from Hardsuit Labs in August, a move described as “a joint decision made by the leadership of Hardsuit Labs and Paradox Interactive.”
The news came shortly after a major delay of the match, from 2020 to 2021. It was Bloodlines 2‘s second delay; the game was originally planned for the first quarter of 2020.
Paradox announced Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 in March 2019. The sequel to the 2004 classic is in development for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X. Bloodlines 2 was Hardsuit Labs’ second project to follow Blacklight: retaliation, a free-to-play, cyberpunk-themed shooter for PS4 and PC.