Meet the Pioneers, the first confirmed faction in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2

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The Pioneers are one of five competing factions in Bloodlines' Seattle

(Image credit: Paradox Interactive)

Developer Hardsuit Labs and publisher Paradox Interactive have been fairly quiet about Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 this summer, but new details on the long-awaited vampire RPG are starting roll in. Today, Paradox unveiled the first of the five vampire factions in Bloodlines' Seattle, Washington: the Pioneers, one of the oldest factions around.

Factions differ from clans in that they're shaped by history and ideology more so than physical traits. Where your choice of clan in Bloodlines 2 will shape the vampire powers you have access to, your choice of faction will affect who your allies and enemies are, and in turn how quests and conflicts play out. 

If you side with the Pioneers, you'll find yourself in the company of "loggers, fishermen, bootleggers, old money families, musicians and artists, and many other long-time Puget Sound inhabitants" led by Lou Grand, Seattle's longest-reigning vampire prince. As Paradox explains, the Pioneers once ruled over Seattle for over a century, but their power has diminished in the modern age in which Bloodlines 2 is set. 

"While they have dreams of once more ruling the city, they have since been forced to accept the rules of another," the Pioneer's official page reads. "In exchange, they have been allowed to 'save face' by keeping control over some minor parts of the city … Having lost so much in the last twenty years, they have become quite skeptical of the changing world, including any fledgling looking to join." 

I'm not one for stubborn, stick-in-the-mud oldies, but I do so love the romantic regality of vampire fiction, especially Bloodlines' particularly eccentric blood-suckers, and the Pioneers seems like a classy bunch. We'll learn more about them and the other four factions this fall ahead of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2's release in March 2020. 

Read up on one of the clans in Bloodlines 2 in this look at the Thinbloods. 

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.