Sequels are meant to be better than their predecessors, so not only is Hardsuit Labs trying to make a better game with Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, the studio is taking steps to have a better development and launch as well, and doing so means delaying it beyond the first quarter 2020 window.
In a blog post on the official Bloodlines 2 website studio founder Andy Kipling and writer Brian Mitsoda said avoiding past mistakes that were made with the original is important to the studio. That means not releasing the game earlier than it should be sent into the world.
There’s the responsibility to avoid some of the issues that plagued the first game, which was famously launched too early. Over the last few months, it became clear that to stick to our original date would risk repeating that mistake. We won’t do that. In the end, everyone working on this game wants to offer you the best Bloodlines 2 we can.
This hasn’t been an easy- nor our first choice. Throughout 2019 we have been improving our processes and growing our teams, however it soon became clear that this alone won’t allow us to deliver the quality we want at the date we promised.
The blog post didn’t specify when Bloodlines 2 would ultimately see the light of day (or like, light of the moon, because vampires, I guess). Although it did say fans should still expect it sometime in the next year. It’s hard to imagine the game being delayed into 2021 or beyond, anyway, but it’s good to hear all the same!
This delay may have been to give the studio extra time to iron out some problems with the sequel, but it also did help get Bloodlines 2 out of a very busy season. Now that Doom Eternal has been delayed, March was already bringing out games like it, Final Fantasy VII: Remake and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. So in the long run this may be a better move for everyone involved. Plus the original game is 15 years old at this point, so what’s another few months?
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Publisher Paradox did produce details on plenty of other things to sate its fans in the meantime, though. This year’s Paradox Con, which coincided with the Bloodlines 2 announcement, brought official news of Crusader Kings 3, plus expansions for BattleTech, Prison Architect, the recently released Age of Wonders: Planetfall, and Stellaris (surprising absolutely nobody — there is so much Stellaris DLC). There’s also a brand-new game called Surviving the Aftermath on the way.
Granted, all of these are more in the strategy and management genres that the company is better known for. Even so! Everybody is going to need something to play between the two latest release windows. While next spring is positively jam-packed, the rest of the winter is a bit on the lighter side. And some meaty, cozy expansions to 300-hour strategy games might be just what the doctor ordered.
