Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 was almost canceled after a change of developer

(Image credit: Paradox Interactive)

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 was almost canceled after a change in developer, but was saved thanks to a convincing pitch.

According to a recent interview with Swedish outlet Avanza, publisher Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester explained how Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 was close to being shelved completely after developer Hardsuit Labs was removed from the project and the game was delayed "indefinitely" in February 2021.

When asked (translated by DeepL Translator) "how close have you been to shutting down the game?" Wester responded: "When we lifted the game from the original developer, we had a long discussion about whether to end the game or push it forward. At the time we were actually prepared to shut down production altogether."

Luckily for all the Vampire the Masquerade fans out there though, the project was saved by what Wester described as "a pitch that we thought was convincing enough to push forward." The Paradox CEO also wanted to reassure fans who have been waiting for the sequel by adding that: "We have very high hopes that it will be a good game that meets the expectations of the players."

Paradox hasn’t publicly announced which studio took over the project however, in the Avanza interview, Wester did say that it is "a very reputable and talented developer who has made a number of different games in the past."

It hasn’t been an easy road for Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2. The game was originally announced in 2019 and was set to release in 2020, however, was hit with a delay that pushed it back to 2021. As it stands now, following the game’s indefinite delay - there is no confirmed new release date.

To find out what games are definitely coming out this year, take a look at our new games 2021 list.

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After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training. My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.