Video Games
‘Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2’ Delayed to Late 2020
While surprising in some ways, but when you look at the fact that we’ve not had much in terms of gameplay footage, Paraodox Interactive’s decision to delay Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 shouldn’t come as a shock.
The developer announced the decision via Twitter earlier today, while also posting more information on their blog.
“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.”
This should come as a relief for fans of the original game, as that title, while fun, had questionable gameplay decisions and lacked polish. Even Hardsuit Labs acknowledged that the original Bloodlines was “famously launched too early.”
Nevertheless, despite the delay, Paradox, along with developer Hardsuit Labs, will be at PDXCON in Berlin to show off where they are in terms of development. They’ll also be part of the PDXCON Announcement stream on Saturday the 21st.
Bloodlines 2 will be available on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 will launch later in 2020 than we planned. Simply put, we believe quality is more important than releasing in Q1.
— Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 (@VtM_Bloodlines) October 16, 2019
Video Games
Bloody Body Horror Revealed in ‘Stellar Blade: Blood Rain’, Currently in Development [Trailer]
Shift Up has shifted things dramatically from 2024’s action-adventure game Stellar Blade, offering up a body horror bonanza in the newly announced sequel, Stellar Blade: Blood Rain. The sequel is currently early in development, but if the trailer is any indication, players will be in for plenty of body horror.
Continuing the story from the original Stellar Blade, Blood Rain will star a new protagonist named Eve. Earth has been abandoned, and what is left of humanity has fled to a Colony in outer space.
Shift Up had mentioned during a Q&A following its latest earnings presentation last month that development on Blood Rain (which was still unannounced at the time) was progressing smoothly, and was on track to meet their targeted quality standards.
Shift Up stated that with this new title it would be transitioning to a first-party service model, effectively moving away from the restrictions the game experienced with original publisher Sony, which had the game under an exclusivity agreement for the PlayStation 5. “This will allow us to lead marketing strategies that fully reflect the distinctive identity of the Stellar Blade IP, and we expect to communicate the unique appeal of its universe to players more directly and effectively.”
Whether this means that Xbox Players will finally be able to play the original game (or its sequel) is still not clear. Meanwhile, Stellar Blade is reportedly being ported to the Nintendo Switch 2, but no official confirmation has been made.