A statement from representatives of both developer Hardsuit Labs and publisher Paradox Interactive reveals that Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is delayed until 2021. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 was first teased in 2019 through an ARG marketing campaign featuring an app called "Tender," and was officially revealed on March 21, 2019.
Since then, teasers and gameplay demos have maintained a positive outlook from fans on the future of the Vampire: The Masquerade series. The original entry, Bloodlines, released in 2004 and was a cult classic title that, despite its many glaring flaws, has been praised for its innovations in the RPG genre and its ambitious development decisions, some of which could be viewed as inspirations for popular mechanics that still exist today. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 was originally slated to release in March 2020, but was then delayed until an unspecified date later in the same year.
Unfortunately, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has now been delayed until 2021, something that the official statement from the Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Twitter indicates is not a decision that has been made lightly. In the statement, which is co-signed by Andy Kipling of Hardsuit Labs and Jakob Munthe of Paradox Interactive, the team reveals that the "quality bar and ambitions" it has for the game has forced them to make "the difficult decision" that it needs more time in development. The statement also acknowledges fan support and disappointment, assuring the many people eagerly awaiting Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 that the decision to delay it until 2021 is correct.
Video game delay announcements are never easy, but 2020 has been filled with them, whether it be because of the external issues a global pandemic presents in organizing a large development team or because of other, more traditional industry reasons. Cyberpunk 2077's repeated delays have been noteworthy, as were The Last of Us Part II's, and many other games have met with similar struggles in meeting their initial deadlines. Luckily, as the practice of delaying games has become more common and the reasons for those delays better understood by consumers, there's generally less fan backlash and more support for the development team pushing to create a better launch product.
That appears to be the case with the Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 delay as well, as the statement has some really nice messages from fans who express their support for the developers. There's a lot of anticipation surrounding Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, despite the fact it's a sequel to a pretty niche title from 2004, so it makes sense the team is adamant that the game it releases lives up to those expectations as best it can. One interesting note, however, will be that Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is now releasing firmly in the next-gen window for consoles, meaning it will likely be a cross-generation launch when it's ready to be released.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 releases in 2021 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.