Massive upheaval is inbound at developer Hardsuit Labs. The narrative lead Brian Mitsoda and creative director Ka’ai Cluney have been apparently fired from their positions without any notice. The two game creators have been playing an important role in the development of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 whose fate looks pretty shaky now.
https://twitter.com/VtM_Bloodlines/status/1296087170982313987
The development of Bloodlines 2 has been anything but rosy. What was originally intended as a triumphant return for a cult classic RPG franchise quickly became marred by subpar gameplay footage and several delays.
That this came as a shock to me is underselling it. 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. -Mitsoda via RPS
Fans were met with the disappointing news of the second delay just last week which crushed their hopes of playing the game this year. Now, with an unknown new release window of 2021, there was the chance that the new Vampire: The Masquerade game would have enough time to be polished and improved to meet fan expectations.
It didn’t take much longer for another big setback sadly. With the sudden departure of Brian Mitsoda and Ka’ai Cluney two very important figureheads behind the project are no longer involved with it.
In a written statement to Rock Paper Shotgun, Mitsoda clarifies that his termination by publisher Paradox came as a huge shock. It’s understandable since Mitsoda is Bloodlines to a large extent. As the writer of the first Bloodlines games, his return as lead writer filled the fans with a lot of excitement. It was Mitsoda himself who even pitched Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 to Paradox.
Multiple delays and the departure of important creatives sure does not paint a good picture for the future of the game. Today, Paradox and Hardsuit released a statement that industry veteran Alexandre Mandryka has joined the development of Bloodlines 2 as the new Creative Director. With notable franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry under his belt, Mandryka is certainly not a bad choice but it still leaves doubts whether Paradox is trying to shift the direction of the project.
