Vampire: The Masquerade showed off a new announcement trailer at PAX West. Plus, Paradox Interactive confirmed the new development studio and release date.
Rumors and speculation previously spread in the gaming community that Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 would be released October of this year. However, Paradox Interactive did not confirm this rumor's accuracy.
It was confirmed, however, that Hardsuit Labs would no longer be the primary developer of the Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines sequel. Moreover, the company also stated that there would be official news at the World of Darkness booth at the PAX West Expo.
That official news turned out to be a new Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines announcement trailer. This was also shared at the official Paradox Interactive and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 social media channels.
Embrace your inner Kindred and join us in Seattle for the long-awaited Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. Find your place in the battle to come, and try not to let the city bleed you dry. Coming fall 2024.https://t.co/XKHmls9hyY pic.twitter.com/R86IAioMPJ
— Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (@VtM_Bloodlines) September 2, 2023
The Bloodlines 2 trailer shows what are post-Alpha in-game footage. There are some first-person scenes where the various vampiric powers (called Disciplines) are used, including what seems to be Celerity (superhuman speed), Potence (super strength), and Thaumaturgy (blood magic). However, only combat has been highlighted. There is no footage in the teaser trailer of the roleplaying elements in Bloodlines 2.
In addition to the announcement trailer, Paradox Interactive shared details of the new development studio that would be taking over from Hardsuit Labs is The Chinese Room. The BAFTA Award-winning studio had previously developed games such as Dear Esther, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, and Little Orpheus. Aside from Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, The Chinese Room is set to release a first-person narrative horror game titled Still Wakes the Deep.
We're joining the Vamily... 🦇@VtM_Bloodlines 2 🖤#PAXWest pic.twitter.com/Zoq7bi3ONm
— The Chinese Room (@ChineseRoom) September 2, 2023
The official description of the Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 gameplay reads as follows:
Blood sustains you and powers your vampiric Disciplines. You'll stalk and feed on the city's population by night. Use your supernatural powers or raw persuasion on civilians and lure them into deep, dark alleys to sate your Hunger. Beware of breaking the Masquerade though: do not reveal what you are or you risk reprisals - at first from law enforcement and then, well, remember you are not all that goes bump in this night.
Explore visceral, immersive combat rewarding entirely different playstyles and approaches based on your choice of vampire clan. Will you wade into the fray with supernatural fists, harangue from afar or rebalance your odds by thinning the herd like the apex predator you are? Clan choice supports these playstyles and more.
This implies that there will be multiple ways of approaching story progress in Bloodlines 2. In the 2004 Bloodlines game developed by Troika, the different Vampire clans had different abilities (and in the case of Nosferatu, inhuman appearances). This allowed for various ways to solve quests, from purely combat to stealth and social manipulation of the NPCs without breaking the Masquerade.
Aside from the PAX West trailer and confirmation of the new development studio working on Bloodlines 2, Paradox Interactive announced at the game's official website that a full-length gameplay video will be released on January 2024.
September 4 is the last day for PAX West 2023 being held at the Seattle Convention Hall and for fans to catch the Vampire: The Masquerade booth.
Based on the World of Darkness tabletop roleplaying game, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is currently targeted for release this coming Fall 2024. An announcement of the precise date is planned once pre-orders officially start. Note that this is not the final confirmation and may be subject to change.
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