Swedish studio Paradox Interactive revealed that Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 was almost cancelled, mostly as a consideration for the original developers of the game.
Paradox Interactive CEO Fredrik Wester discussed the decision in an interview with Nyhetsbyrån Direkt, as published by Avanza. In it, Wester revealed that the company almost came to a point where they scrapped the game in its entirety after lifting the game from its original devs.
Hardsuit Labs originally had development control over the game. Consistent delays made Paradox decide to move away from Hardsuit and give the game to a yet unrevealed dev team.
Bloodlines 2 game alive due to 11th hour pitch
In his interview, Wester noted that they were looking to close production for the game completely. This came after the second time of delaying the game within six months of development, mostly due to COVID-19 disruptions.
“When we lifted the game from the original developer, we had a long review in case we should end the game or run it further,” said Wester, as translated via Google Translate.
“Then we were actually REady to close the production completely. But we got a ‘pitch’ that we thought was convincing enough to run. played on and we have very good hopes that it will be a good game that meets the players’ expectations.”
Paradox currently on look and see if game sells well
There’s no announcement just yet on who took over for Hardsuit Labs over the game’s development. The pullout from Paradox Interactive came early this year in February. From what it seems, Paradox removed Hardsuit due to how slow the development cycle was going for the game.
“We have also decided that Hardsuit Labs will no longer be leading the development of Bloodlines 2, and we have started a collaboration with a new studio partner to finish work on the game,” Paradox confirmed. “This has been a difficult decision, but we are convinced that it is the right way forward to do the game justice.”
Within the same interview with Nyhetsbyrån Direkt, Wester says he wants to see the game’s performance. This will be an indicator if Paradox can still invest more into the genre.
“I would like to see how Bloodlines is received before we bet the next big money in the genre. There is a huge desire for good games in the role-playing game genre so I absolutely do not want to close any doors. But I would like to see what happens, what can we do, and how well [People] Receive Bloodlines “, added Wester.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has no release date as of yet. Paradox Interactive is also currently embroiled in a sexual harassment complaint, with reports of misogyny within the company.
Featured image courtesy of Game Trailer World/Youtube Screenshot