Paradox’s anxious Vampire: The Masquerade
To fulfill the ‘technical quality expectations that fans inquire and merit’.
Paradox Interactive has revealed another postponement for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. The sequel to the action RPG developed by The Chinese Room will no longer meet its previously outlined “first half of 2025” release timeframe and is now targeting an October launch this year instead.
“Paradox Interactive and The Chinese Room are dedicated to delivering this game, and we believe that achieving excellent technical quality is far more critical than adhering to a specific launch date,” Paradox emphasized in a statement on the Bloodlines 2 website. “The game is currently in an advanced development phase, and we have taken community feedback into account during this period. The Chinese Room is diligently focusing on quality assurance to make sure it is stable and devoid of bugs that could negatively impact the player experience.”
“Bloodlines 2 will debut in October 2025 when it meets the technical quality standards that you, our supporters, justifiably expect and deserve,” Paradox added in its remarks, mentioning that a definitive release date will likely be announced at a later time.
Today’s announcement marks a second delay for Bloodlines 2 under the direction of The Chinese Room, following its release being pushed back from its original “late 2024” release window to the “first half of 2025”. At that time, Paradox indicated that the game was in “a sufficient state that we could have maintained our planned release window,” but that delaying it would “create a quality assurance buffer” and provide The Chinese Room with time to “focus on polish.”
Paradox has, needless to say, encountered a series of high-profile development failures in recent years, leading to CEO Fredrik Wester’s honest admission last October that, “It is evident that we have made some incorrect decisions on multiple projects… and this needs to change.” Bloodlines 2 was nearly cancelled under its previous studio before The Chinese Room took over the development, while 2023’s The Lamplighters’ League was a significant disappointment that compelled Paradox to part ways with its developer, Harebrained Schemes.
Since then, Paradox has canceled its life simulation game Lifestyles By You, indefinitely postponed Prison Architect 2, and grappled with the aftermath of Cities: Skylines 2 catastrophically late launch. The follow-up to the city builder still appears to be further away for its console version.