Summary

  • The new trailer for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 reveals a new release window.
  • The trailer showcases the game's gameplay mechanics, including super-strength, enhanced agility, and the ability to wield blood as a weapon.
  • The British studio The Chinese Room is now in charge of the game's development, bringing its expertise in exploration games and deep storytelling to create a gritty and dark setting.

A new trailer for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has been revealed by publisher Paradox Interactive, revealing several details about the game. These details are a new release window, gameplay footage, story details, and even the new studio behind the title’s development after Hardsuit Labs was removed from the project. The game was originally teased in February 2019 and was then officially revealed in March of that same year. Since then, Bloodlines 2 has suffered several internal and announced delays and changes to its staff, pushing an expected 2020 release window back many years. The game’s turbulent development cycle is actually the result of multiple factors.

This includes the COVID-19 pandemic, the release of new-generation consoles, and a complete shift in the development studio, which saw many veteran developers leave the project. Nevertheless, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2’s release window in a new trailer that also offers new details about the main campaign and gameplay. Bloodlines 2 is a sequel to 2004’s original Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.

The title will be set in contemporary days, during the Christmas season in Seattle. Much like the first game in the series, players will control a vampire and guide them through an RPG experience, choosing their background and skills.

Related: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Was Almost Canceled After Delay

Release Date For Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2

The key art for Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2 featuring a character sitting on a neon sign and extending their hand toward the viewer.

Following the reveal of the trailer, new details about when the game will be shipped have been announced. While the game still lacks an official and final release date, it has been revealed that Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2’s release window is now set for Fall 2024.

This means that, if the game does not suffer any more delays, it could arrive at some time between August and December 2024, though the exact day and month have yet to be confirmed by the publisher. If Bloodlines 2 does actually come out in Fall 2024, it will be released nearly six years after its official reveal.

Trailer For Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (Gameplay & Story Details)

A screenshot of gameplay in Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 featuring the first-person perspective of a character raising their fists as two hooded figures approach them.

Aside from a more concrete release window, the new trailer for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 also featured new details about the title’s gameplay mechanics, as well as a tease into the main story in which players will be inserted. The trailer focuses on showing off several of the skills that the controllable character will have, both in combat and in exploration. During battles, the vampire will have super-strength and enhanced agility, being able to quickly dispose of opponents with powerful and quick melee attacks. A perfect example of this is a series of punches thrown at an armed enemy.

With their powers, the playable character will also be able to stomp on the ground, creating a small blast that lifts opponents into the air, making them vulnerable. The most impressive of the shown abilities in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 so far is the control over blood, which will allow the vampire to wield blood like a weapon, shooting it at opponents, for instance. The new trailer for Bloodlines 2 also shows the main playable character floating among the buildings in Seattle, which may be a tease to a flying mechanic in the game, even if it is limited to gliding.

In addition to the several details about gameplay, the trailer also teased some story details for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. Players will be inserted in a dangerous moment in Seattle when there is a new “power vacuum in the vampire court.” According to the trailer itself, this fact alone may prompt a “three-front siege on Seattle,” which should see several vampires disputing the leadership of the regional vampire court. The trailer for Bloodlines 2 also mentions that an elder has awoken, though it is uncertain if this is an entirely new vampire or a reference to a well-known creature in the World of Darkness series.

New Studio For Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2

A shot of an empty park in the daytime in Everybody's Gone To The Rapture.

A very important detail revealed during the early moments of the trailer is the new development studio for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. When Paradox Interactive announced that Hardsuit Labs was no longer working on the project, back in February 2021, the publisher did not reveal what studio would succeed it. Now, with the trailer, it has been revealed that the British studio The Chinese Room is in charge of Bloodlines 2’s development. The Chinese Room is a studio specialized in exploration games with a focus on storytelling and is well-known for developing titles like Dear Esther, Little Orpheus, and Everbody’s Gone to the Rapture.

The British studio is also responsible for developing Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, a survival horror game. Now, The Chinese Room will take a different approach, leaning more into an action-fed game with Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. However, the studio has many years of experience with a variety of gaming genres, including action-based titles – in fact, the company actually started as a modding community for Half-Life 2. In a new video posted by the studio on YouTube, the team mentions that their expertise in the horror genre will also help craft the world of Bloodlines 2 into a gritty and dark setting.

The studio has significantly expanded over the past few years, bringing in developers with experience in AAA titles, though the team says it will retain the “weird” aspect for which it is well-known. The development team also believes that The Chinese Room’s experience with deep storytelling will help in the development of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, making a more compelling and interesting world set in the World of Darkness franchise.

Platforms For Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2

A femme presenting vampire character from Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 looking at the viewer's direction with a small smirk and purple eyes.

There is another very important piece of information revealed with the new trailer. At the end of the video, Paradox Interactive announced the definitive platforms for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. The game, which had been previously announced for past-gen consoles, will no longer be released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, instead sticking only with current-generation consoles. Bloodlines 2 will be released on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles, as well as on PC (via Steam, Epic Games, and GOG.com). Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is now available to wishlist across all platforms.

Source: Paradox Interactive/YouTube