Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, the long-awaited sequel to the cult RPG, has been pushed back to 2021.
There’s nothing like the original Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, even 16 years after its release. As a younger Millennial who grew up in the early ‘00s, the game hits an extremely specific nostalgia pressure point. The industrial metal. The moody Los Angeles setting. The ill-advised fashion. The game is so of its time – problematic depictions of women, people of color and mentally ill folks, unfortunately, included – that there really has never been another game with the same vibe.
So, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has been one of my most anticipated games since it was unveiled in 2019. Unfortunately, developer Hardsuit Labs announced today that the decade-plus wait will last a little longer.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines Delayed
“We are moving the launch of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 to 2021,” reads a statement on the game’s Twitter profile. “Our goal has always been to deliver the best game possible, to immerse you into a Seattle re-imagined in the World of Darkness, and deliver a worthy successor to the original Bloodlines game. Due to the quality bar and ambitions we have set for ourselves, we have made the difficult decision that we need more time. This means that our goal to release in 2020 is no longer possible. Moving launch is one of the changes we are making to ensure the best player experience possible.”
The statement is attributed to Andy Kipling, of Hardsuit Labs, and Jakob Munthe, of publisher Paradox Interactive.
If the game arrived in 2020, it would have been competing with this fall’s behemoth RPG Cyberpunk 2077. Both are the kinds of choice-based games that RPG fans will want to sink dozens of hours into, across multiple playthroughs. And, that’s not even mentioning the other massive games hitting this fall. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs Legion, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Halo Infinite and a new Call of Duty to name a few. So, the delay is probably a good move.
Hopefully, the game arrives early in 2021, though. I remain eager for another adventure in that iconic world. Once bitten, right?
