Long-Awaited Sequel to Incredibly Influential Vampire Cult Classic May Arrive in 2023

Way back in 2004, an RPG was released on PC, and while it had some rough edges, it developed into a cult classic and an incredibly influential creation. That game was Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. Based on the tabletop role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, it was played mostly in first-person and was loaded with true game-changing decisions to make in the story.

Originally made by Troika Games, fans of the game and the many decision-driven RPGs that have arrived since have been clamouring for a proper sequel to the 2004 classic. A few years back, that long-awaited sequel was announced as being in development at Paradox Interactive – the publisher behind Hearts of Iron IV, Stellaris, Cities: Skylines, and Crusader Kings III. Vague release dates for 2020 and 2021 came and went, but better news may have arrived.

Bloodlines 2 may finally arrive this year

Still listed as ‘Coming Soon’ on Steam, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is now over three years removed from its intended release date. Of course, there have been some mitigating circumstances since its 2019 announcement, and the new rights owners are under a lot of pressure to match the quality and depth of the first game but with much higher technical requirements.

Still, those who continue to crave the sequel may have hopes for it to arrive this year. Fredrik Webster, the CEO of Paradox Interactive, in an interview with Swedish outlet Privata Affärer, said that they’ll give a release date “soon.” Better still, he also said that it’s “absolutely not impossible” for the game to get a release date for 2023. However, what still hasn’t been revealed is how Paradox Interactive has built the game.

That interview took place late in 2022, and as of one-third of the way through 2023, a firm release date is yet to arrive. In fact, the last time that the official Twitter account was updated was back in February 2021, detailing that Hardsuit Labs was stripped of the development of Bloodlines 2. As such, just about any official announcement on behalf of the team now making Bloodlines 2 will be greatly welcomed and is increasingly expected to arrive soon.

Why Bloodlines 2 is such a highly anticipated sequel

There have been several other Vampire: The Masquerade instalments in the video game line, but it’s always been about getting a sequel to the beloved Bloodlines. The love of the original continues to be so strong that there’s a contingent of fans who continue to update and deliver patches for Bloodlines, enabling it to scale up for modern players and be played much more smoothly.

Bloodlines is now seen as an incredibly influential game, particularly because of how popular the 2004 release remains. It has inspired a whole host of like-minded creations across entertainment. The clearest product of its influence is the similarly named Bloodlines online slot. Created by Genesis in  2015, it is also a game about a high society of vampires.

Within the game found at the top casino online Canada offers, spinners will look to combine vampires and their victims, with the images of these characters all very reminiscent of the original video game. Along with these, there are stacked wild coffins and free spins with multipliers to make finding the vampires a focus of the gameplay. While not a story-driven medium, the Bloodlines slot certainly harkens back to the 2004 cult classic.

Easily the clearest marks of Bloodlines’ influence, however, is in modern RPGs. The best games give players true game-changing choices, and while often being one of two outcomes rather than narrative-up-heaving multiple choices, they’re clearly more enjoyable as a result. Skyrim, The Witcher III, Vampyr, Fallout, and the Mass Effect series all lean heavily into the foundational work of Bloodlines. Pure narrative-driven games like Ragnarök can still be superb, but the levels of replay value allowed by the Bloodlines model is incredibly appealing.

It looks as though Paradox is optimistic about a possible 2023 release date for Bloodlines 2, but a safer bet would seemingly lean toward a mid-2023 announcement and then an early 2024 release.