Publisher Paradox Interactive and developer The Chinese Room have published a new dev diary for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. The dev diary goes into how The Chinese Room will be picking up development for the game.
07.09.2023 - 20:11 / gamedeveloper.com / Sean Greaney / Alex Skidmore / New
There's been much secrecy regarding Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2, the sequel to the 2004 cult favorite vampire RPG. First announced in 2019—with the original creatives returning for the sequel—work on that game hit a roadblock, and a creative and developer shakeup was announced in 2021.
Two years later, we've finally learned about the current state of Paradox Interactive's Bloodlines 2, now headed up by narrative adventure developer The Chinese Room, the studio behind Dear Esther and Everybody's Gone To The Rapture.
Aside from some returning characters and the setting of a supernatural Seattle, this revival of Bloodlines 2 features an entirely new story and a different approach to a vampire RPG than its earlier incarnation.
At PAX West 2023, I had the opportunity to speak with The Chinese Room studio design director Alex Skidmore and VP of the World of Darkness brand Sean Greaney about work on the new Bloodlines 2, why The Chinese Room was the right developer to bring this version to life, and why change needed to happen in the first place.
What made the original Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines from Troika Games such an endearing role-playing game is how it leveraged the mystique and scope of the tabletop role-playing game within an open-ended video game, and the first sequel planned to follow up on that structure.
The original 2004 game is a dense action-RPG with a rich setting, so seeing developer The Chinese Room—known for smaller-scale atmospheric narrative-driven adventure games—take over is an interesting choice.
The shift to a new developer was part of a larger goal to refocus the game's vision and approach to a World of Darkness property, the larger franchise in which Vampire: The Masquerade operates. During our interview, Sean Greaney clarified what happened with the previous work from Hardsuit Labs. While specifics weren't shared, he explained why the change needed to happen.
"The work that Hardsuit Labs had done got us to a certain point in the project, and while the goals were reasonably aligned, we ultimately had a different vision for the project," said Greaney. "That is why we eventually moved the project to a new team—that's the best way to put it."
The new Bloodlines 2, while keeping some aspects of the original, is an entirely new game with a unique code base and gameplay systems inspired by the Fifth edition of the tabletop role-playing game.
Instead of the original conceit of a newly turned vampire immersing themselves in the Vampire underworld, the revised RPG now focuses on a reawakened Elder vampire that steps into present-day Seattle for the first time. This concept aims to be a different type of fish-out-of-water story for Vampire: The Masquerade, putting a
Publisher Paradox Interactive and developer The Chinese Room have published a new dev diary for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. The dev diary goes into how The Chinese Room will be picking up development for the game.
Following the surprise news earlier that Paradox Interactive's beleaguered Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 is now in the hands of Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs studio The Chinese Room, the developer has talked a little about its goals for the rejuvenated project, saying it's building its action around 'doing things only a vampire can'.
Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 recently received (September 2023) some news regarding its targeted release, having been moved over to a new development studio. The game was initially supposed to be released all the way back in March 2020, but after several delays, the project appears to have been refocused somewhat.
The Chinese Room's rebooted version of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 won't be an immersive sim like Hardsuit Labs' version of the game was said to be.
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Everybody's Gone to the Rapture team The Chinese Room has been confirmed as the new studio behind the troubled Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2, with an updated release window set for late 2024. It's unclear how much of the work original developer Hardsuit Labs put into the project will carry over into the final version, but you can catch a new trailer above.
Paradox interactive has re-announce Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, now with The Chinese Room taking over as the game’s developer.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has risen from the depths of development hell, two years after Paradox Interactive parted ways with the game's former developer, Hardsuit Labs, and delayed the game indefinitely. The publisher has since recruited Dear Estherand Everybody’s Gone to the Rapturestudio The Chinese Room to work on the sequel to the original RPG from 2004. Bloodlines 2 is now set to arrive in fall 2024.
Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines had a cult following, and for years, it didn’t look like the game would see a new installment. However, that changed just a few years ago with publisher Paradox Interactive working with the studio Hardsuit Labs. This team would bring out a new thrilling installment with players tossed into a war filled with legions of vampires. Details were a bit scarce, but the studio was full steam ahead for getting this game out into the marketplace. However, it all fell apart a couple of years ago.
Paradox Interactive recently re-revealed Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, confirming that the action RPG is now being developed by The Chinese Room (Dear Esther, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture). Of course, until early 2021, the studio in charge of the project was Hardsuit Labs, before being taken off it due to behind-the-scenes development issues– however, the project wasn’t rebooted and started from scratch.
When Paradox Interactive announced in early 2021 that Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 had been indefinitely delayed, with developer Hardsuit Labs being taken off the project, many feared the worst, with questions being asked about whether the game would even see the light of day. After all, after the decision was made to take Hardsuit Labs off development, the game almost ended up getting cancelled.
Paradox Interactive has, at long last, officially re-revealed Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, with The Chinese Room – known for the likes of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and Dear Esther – taking over as the developer from Hardsuit Labs. And even though plenty of work done by the original developer is still being used for the new project, the new studio in charge has made some significant changes behind the scenes.