Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 delayed into 2021

The 15-year wait for a Bloodlines sequel will stretch a little longer, because Paradox today announced they've delayed the launch of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 into 2021. While they had never announced a specific release date, the supernatural RPG was expected this year. Now Paradox and developers Hardsuit Labs say they want more time to make sure it lives up to the Bloodlines legacy (and presumably not repeat its mistakes).

"Due to the quality bar and ambitions we have set for ourselves, we have made the difficult decision that we need more time," today's announcement explains. "This means that our goal to release in 2020 is no longer possible. Moving launch is one of the changes we are making to ensure the best player experience possible."

The statement says that delaying Bloodlines 2's launch "is not a decision taken lightly nor is it the first option we considered", which does make me want to know: what was the first option they considered? Given that the original Bloodlines would have benefited greatly from a little extra polish to really make it gleam (old man Jim Rossignol mentioned how bugs halted his first attempt years back), yeah, go on, take your time. If it's an option you have (it's not an option Bloodlines creators Troika Games had), take it.

Paradox add that they plan to talk more "in the coming months" about "other organisational changes" that'll help them make it a worthy successor, which is a mysterious note.

Alice Bee saw Bloodlines 2's chatty approach in a preview version last year, after Brendy had a livelier preview hitting both his enemies and the dancefloor with full force. Oh, and here's our video preview:

Disclosure: Cara Ellison, a former RPS columnist and my former flatmate, is narrative designer on Bloodlines 2. Hi Cara!