Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is now being developed by The Chinese Room

The development of Paradox Interactive's long-awaited sequel to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines has been handed over to UK-based developer The Chinese Room, with new plans for a release in Fall 2024.

The details:

• During an announcement trailer shown at PAX West, Paradox confirmed that The Chinese Room had taken over the development of the game after Hardsuit Labs stopped working on the project in 2021 and that it now plans to show gameplay in January 2024, followed by a release in the fall of the same year.
• The title's development has been troubled, with Blacklight: Retribution developer Hardsuit Labs in charge of it. After the project was publicly delayed a second time, creative director Ka'ai Cluney and original Bloodlines writer Brian Mitsoda were fired in July 2020, and senior writer Cara Ellison left later that year. After being accused of sexual assault, game designer Chris Avellone's work was also removed from the game, prompting Paradox to pull the project entirely from the studio.
• The Chinese Room, which Sumo Digital acquired in 2018, is best known for narrative-based exploration titles like Dear Esther and Everybody's Gone to Rapture. However, the studio laid off all of its employees in 2017 and has since completely restaffed, with Ed Daly serving as studio director.

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