Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has been the subject of repeated delays, prompting publisher Paradox to offer refunds to those who’ve placed pre-orders.
Jockeying for position with Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His name in the overblown title stakes, action RPG Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has been in development for at least four years now.
According to a new blog post from publisher Paradox Interactive, though, it’ll remain in development for a good while to come, too. Conceding that “it was a long time” since the game was announced, the developer is now offering refunds for anyone who placed pre-orders.
“As development continues, we will be updating the game’s editions and bonus content, and we want to provide the best value to those of you who supported us via digital pre-order after all this time,” the post reads (thanks, Eurogamer). “We are thus offering refunds to anyone who has pre-ordered any edition of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. As part of this process, we are proactively refunding all pre-orders of physical products, including the Collector’s Edition.”
The writer then adds that more details about the Bloodlines 2 will be revealed in September, and includes a link to some new screenshots taken from a post-alpha build of the game. They’re as shadowy as you’d expect from a game about vampires, and one shot – taken from a location that looks a lot like the hotel bar in The Shining – hints at a Christmas setting.
“No charge to you, Mr Torrance…” Credit: Paradox Interactive.
Bloodlines 2 was first announced in 2019 and originally scheduled for release the following year. It wasn’t long, however, before the sequel was subjected to the first in what would become a string of delays, with the publisher stating that it wanted to “avoid some of the issues that plagued the first game, which was famously launched too early.”
Almost four years on, and Bloodlines 2 still doesn’t have any kind of release date attached. Curiously, nor do we know who’s actually developing it; back in 2019, the studio was Hardsuit Labs. In an FAQ on Paradox’s site, it reads, “The team has been hard at work creating the vampire game you are eager to play and we’re excited to announce the studio in September.”
Weird.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 shouldn’t be confused with Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt, another video game adaptation of the toothsome tabletop RPG. That game, a Prague-based battle royale, ceased development in May, though its servers are still up and running as of the time of writing.
