Development on Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 continues but it won't be at this year's PDXCon

It's been a long and eventful road for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, but despite its troubled development, which has included the removal of its original developer Hardsuit Labs, Paradox Interactive has popped up to assure fans that work continues on the project, although it won't be shown at the publisher's upcoming PDXCon.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, a sequel to developer Troika Games' much-loved 2004 cult-classic RPG, was initially announced for PC and consoles back in 2019, when it was expected to release the following year. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for the project to run into trouble and, later in 2019, Hardsuit Labs announced the first of several delays.

By the end of 2020, lead narrative designer Brian Mitsoda and creative director Ka'ai Cluney had been fired from their roles, senior narrative designer Cara Ellison had quit the project, and Paradox had revised Bloodlines 2's release date once more, pushing it into 2021. Then, things went from bad to worse; as 2021 got underway Paradox announced it had removed Hardsuit from the project, delayed the game indefinitely, and cancelled new pre-orders.

Amazingly, though, that wasn't the end of the Bloodlines 2 - despite Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester later admitting the publisher almost scrapped the project completely after that - and October brought news that, following a "persuasive" pitch, development was continuing at an unnamed, but "very reputable and talented" developer.

Paradox's final word on Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 came last November, when the publisher said it was "happy with the progress" being made on the project, but explained it wouldn't be in a position to provide an updated release date for "quite some time". And with not a peep heard from Bloodlines 2 since, some may have begun to wonder if the project had perhaps found itself quietly cancelled after all. Any such fears are apparently unfounded, however, with Wester having now taken to Twitter following fan requests for news.

Not that Wester was particularly forthcoming in his responses, only telling fans that the project is "in good hands" (precisely whose hands they may be remains a mystery for now) and that "we look forward to showing you more when the team and the game is ready."

Exactly when Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 might finally resurface is anyone's guess, but Wesker did confirm in the same Twitter thread that Paradox won't be showing the game at this year's PDXCon, which is due to be held in Stockholm from 2-3rd September. It does, then, seem like Bloodlines fans are still in for a bit of a wait.