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Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is still having trouble

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Come Dance Trailer

The various teams working on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 have been dealt another bad hand as the senior staff on the project continue to leave for various reasons. The developer, Hardsuit Labs, has announced that another staff member has left the company and will no longer be involved with the game.

In a statement to PC Gamer, publisher Paradox Interactive confirmed the departure, but didn’t provide any further details on the project or the impact of the recent loss. This time it was Cara Ellison, the senior narrative designer on Bloodlines 2. Her loss could mean that the writing of the game is going to be left rudderless for a bit as the team adjusts.

“We can confirm that Cara Ellison has decided to leave Hardsuit Labs and is no longer working on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2,” a Paradox spokesperson said to PC Gamer. “Cara brought fresh ideas to the project and many of her contributions will be present in the game launching next year. We thank her for her work on Bloodlines 2 and wish her the best in all of her future endeavors.”

And this isn’t the only high-profile departure from the studio surrounding the project. It was revealed back in August that both Lead Narrative Designer Brian Mitsoda and Creative Director Ka’ai Cluney were fired from the company amid various problems. Reasons were not made clear at the time, but it’s possible that ongoing development issues may have led to both of them being ousted by the board. The publisher issued a statement thanking the two for their work and that was that.

“That this came as a shock to me is underselling it,” Mitsoda told Rock Paper Shotgun. “I’ve worked on Bloodlines 2 for almost five years. The story and main cast was initially conceived in my living room. I helped develop the pitch for Hardsuit Labs and helped pitch the project to Paradox in Las Vegas. I’ve been in charge of the narrative since the beginning, working long days and sometimes weekends to deliver a successor to Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, and I’ve never been led to believe that I hadn’t succeeded.”

Bloodlines 2 has been in a bit of a rocky state as of late. The game has been in the works for years, and seems rather far off from release. It’s not really clear if this will have a major impact on development, at least by the measure of making things worse. I can’t imagine it can get any worse in terms of losing key staff or development progress.

When considering that there’s no firm release date yet, only a vague 2021 window, and it looks like we won’t be seeing this game anytime soon.

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