A letter to our fans regarding the launch and our commitment to Bloodlines 2

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JollyCharly

Manager Community Relations (she/her)
Jul 16, 2019
8
13
To all fans of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2

For the last three and a half years, we’ve worked hard to bring you a worthy successor to Bloodlines 1. To us, that meant not only making good on the ambitions of this remarkable game, but also a duty to ensure we would not repeat its mistakes. Today, we have to tell you that we need some more time to get you the game you’ve been waiting for. Although Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 will still launch in 2020, we have decided to value quality over making the Q1 launch window.

There are some things we wanted to hit under all circumstances when we set out to follow in Bloodlines’ footsteps: A deep, branching storyline; fascinating and amazingly acted characters; the rich universe of the World of Darkness. We firmly believe that we’re on the right track to get you all of this.

On the flip side, there’s the responsibility to avoid some of the issues that plagued the first game, which was famously launched too early. Over the last few months, it became clear that to stick to our original date would risk repeating that mistake. We won’t do that. In the end, everyone working on this game wants to offer you the best Bloodlines 2 we can.

This hasn’t been an easy- nor our first choice. Throughout 2019 we have been improving our processes and growing our teams, however it soon became clear that this alone won’t allow us to deliver the quality we want at the date we promised.

Your feedback was invaluable in this. It helped us give the proper weight to what we saw, as well. We’d like to thank you, and hope you’ll support us in the decision that came from it.

Many of us from Hardsuit Labs will be in Berlin for PDXCON. For those of you going, we look forward to seeing you there! We will be sharing insights into the development of Bloodlines 2 along with other steps we’ve taken to strengthen our development team to realize our ambitions for Bloodlines 2.

For those of you who won’t be there, we will be sharing more about this during the PDXCON Announcement stream on Saturday the 19th. Comment on this thread to get any of your questions answered in the Bloodlines stream on the following Sunday.

Thanks,

Andy Kipling and Brian Mitsoda, on behalf of the team at Hardsuit Labs



We want to hear from you! Join the discussion on the comments below to ask your questions. We will compile them to be answered on October 20th during our special Dev Q&A stream live from PDXCON.

Tune in to Paradox Interactive Twitch or Mixer channels this Sunday Oct. 20th at 4pm CET to watch our dev team answer your most burning questions.
 
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Hey guys.

First off, huge fan of Bloodlines 1.

Secondly thanks for the candid response. I for one would like to congratulate you on placing long term goals ahead of short term revenue. Not easy and I'm sure a little disappointing on your end too.

As a long term fan I can wait a little longer to get a game worthy of the legacy of the first, the source material, and the hard work you guys have pit in to date.

Thanks for letting us know. Can't wait to see the end product.
 
Hello there.
I just need to know one thing ... since there is mentioned some feedback as one of reasons to delay ... and since some feedback here was talking about "not release without Gangrel or Nosferatu" bcs like that the game feels kinda incomplete ...

My question is:
Are we talking here about completing the game as it is presented now?
(read: 5 clans, 5 factions, 2 disciplines each, 3 thin blood disciplines)
Or are we talking here about adding some more complexity, so every aspect fits better?
(read: adding another clan, or w/e else that was not part of original plan)

Many thans for answer if allowed, and keep up good work, we are couding on you.
(No pressure, but we are ... we all are ... we are werry much, but no pressure!)
 
Hey guys :)

I'm very glad to hear you've made that decision and I support you 100%!

While I wish things were a little more relaxed in the industry, people seem to be very quick to judge games by the state they launch in. Launching a title like this too early is imho an immense risk since a lot of people would likely skip the title entirely or wait for a sale.

I have not been watching any game play material to avoid any spoilers, but from the general reaction I gather that the decision you've just made is for the best. I really hope this game will be successful - Bloodlines is to date easily in my top 3 games of all time. I have no doubt that Bloodlines 2 will be amazing and I can easily live with a few caveats, but for the sake of your team I wish you all the best with the launch and hope things will go smoothly. I'm sure everyone is putting their heart and soul into the game and you deserve a positive reception of Bloodlines 2! I hope the additional development time will make that possible.

Hopefully the fans will keep a level head. But heck - a lot of people have been waiting for Cyberpunk 2077 for many years now. So a short delay of only a few months should be easy to stomach...

Best wishes,
v.v
 
Well, it's a good thing that I bought a version with 24h early access then innit. Haha, checkmate developers!
For real tho, I'm strangely completely not mad about this. Take the time this needs, it's dear to all of us.
 
I am SO glad to hear that VTMB2 was delayed for the purposes of polish and quality.

Please, take your time. It'll be worth it.
 
I always maintained that only the Developer & Publisher were in a position to know if the Development of the game was meeting their own expectations, & I still hold that view......so I 100% respect your decision to delay the release of the game (even if my inner fanbois is a little bummed out ;) ).

I still feel that the demo you showed us back at E3 looked better than several games released in the last 12 months (like Anthem, Fallout 76 or Ghost Recon) but I can't fault you for wanting to give us an even more polished experience :). Studios like yours put the so-called AAA studios to shame!
 
Hey guys,

I remain excited about the game. However just wondering if you have any updates as of yet?
 
can we have at least have a guess, when bloodlines 2 will be released like Q2 2021 or Q4 2030? ^^ there are some people here that have preordered and paid already for it, because you said 2020? and stop the damn excuse with"we want to hit the quality", to hide your unability of finishing the game. everyone who had preordered it deserves an clear answer neanwhile.
 
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Well ... last update we get is half year old, but it was told that they were aiming for 2020 ...
Last week i asked Outstar in WoD news if that is still goal, and i was told that until we get any new information, the last one stay as official.

So ... since Q3 seem impossible, i believe end of year will be pretty stacked. :D

But maybe DD#13 will say something about this ...
It should be here in 3 weeks max. :p :D
 
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Well ... last update we get is half year old, but it was told that they were aiming for 2020 ...
Last week i asked Outstar in WoD news if that is still goal, and i was told that until we get any new information, the last one stay as official.

So ... since Q3 seem impossible, i believe end of year will be pretty stacked. :D

But maybe DD#13 will say something about this ...
It should be here in 3 weeks max. :p :D
I doubt it, I reckon knocked back to Q2 2021, but they will have to say something soon, as it getting a bit beyond a joke. As they are too tight lipped about this rather important topic, seeing they missed one deadline.
 
I myself believe the reason we do not have a release date is due to the fact that they are working on some sort of "excuse letter" to say how sorry they are for yet another delay and push for 2021. Though this delay will more harm them then help since they are going to lose a lot of preorders and potential customers.
 
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I myself believe the reason we do not have a release date is due to the fact that they are working on some sort of "excuse letter" to say how sorry they are for yet another delay and push for 2021. Though this delay will more harm them then help since they are going to lose a lot of preorders and potential customers.
If they come out and say it, I would be happier. Though I suspect your right, as there productivity will have slowed, by covid. Though that would only account for a few months, with child care for some, and resetting up at home. Though I suspect that their is a bigger issue.
 
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If they come out and say it, I would be happier. Though I suspect your right, as there productivity will have slowed, by covid. Though that would only account for a few months, with child care for some, and resetting up at home. Though I suspect that their is a bigger issue.
I agree as well. Fans would appreciate them and their work far more if they would just admit the truth instead of ghosting us. Pandemic will be their main card when it comes to justifying delay although even without covid things would pretty much look the same since something else is obviously wrong...guess time will tell. :confused:
 
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I agree as well. Fans would appreciate them and their work far more if they would just admit the truth instead of ghosting us. Pandemic will be their main card when it comes to justifying delay although even without covid things would pretty much look the same since something else is obviously wrong...guess time will tell. :confused:
Yes, but it had an issue pre covid, so they can't really use that as a main reason, as programming, doesn't need to be in an office. Though that being said, it will reduce productivity, as there are distractions, especially if children are present. That being said, if they are ill, it will reduce it further, so I am guessing 2nd quarter of 2021, though later than that, they better be adding 3rd person.
 
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