Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 is the upcoming sequel to 2004's Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, developed by The Chinese Room and published by Paradox Interactive.The game is due to be released on Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 in 2024.
You are an elder vampire who has awoken from torpor after a few centuries and must deal with a power vacuum in Seattle's vampire court.
The game had a production even more troubled than the original. Development started in 2015 with Killing Floor developers Hardsuit Labs at the helm, and the game was first unveiled in 2019. Originally announced for release in March 2020, the game ended up being delayed until fall of 2024. In early 2021 it was announced that the game was being delayed indefinitely, with Hardsuit Labs no longer heading up the project. After more than two years of radar silence, it was announced at PAX 2023 that the game was being worked on by The Chinese Room with an expected release date of Fall 2024.
New Official Announcement Trailer
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This game features examples of:
- Alternate Reality Game: The game's existence was revealed through Tender, a surprisingly interactive fictional dating app with a suspicious interest in its participants' blood. Fans following it were greatly divided on what the trickle of information and suggestive VTMB-themed imagery meant, theories ranging from absolutely nothing, to a Bloodlines remake or remaster, a brand new IP, a mobile game, an MMO... The few who steadfastly believed it spelled a proper sequel to Bloodlines were definitely in the minority, so unlikely it was after fourteen years.
- Barrage of Bats: The Chiropteran Disclipine allows the Thinbloods to summon swarms of bats to attack.
- Bloody Horror: The announcement trailer shows a bathroom sink dripping blood before it erupts from the faucet and gushes down the hallway ala the elevator scene from The Shining, and then a gigantic tidal wave of blood descending upon Seattle.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: The trailer alludes to the source material on how anyone embraced into the Malkavian clan goes insane due to becoming part of the Hive Mind that permeates the clan, forcing all the collective knowledge into the recently embraced's mind at once."Never ending... Never silent... Never alone..."
- Hearing Voices: The introduction trailer mentions the Malkavian hear voices because of being part of a Hive Mind.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The announcement trailer ends with the line "...But I have waited so long to see it again".
- Left the Background Music On: During the "Come Dance On Your Grave" trailer, a 45 of Wayne Newton's "Danke Schoen" can be seen playing on a turntable
- Mirroring Factions: Each one of the clan introductory videos so far other than thin-blood and Malkavian has featured a vampire brutally murdering someone, to drive home the point that there really is no "good guy" clan and that none of them are necessarily any more benign than the others.
- The Schlub Pub Seduction Deduction: The "Come Dance On Your Grave" trailer shows the drop-dead gorgeous Elif beckoning an average, unfashionably-dressed guy to join her on the dance floor. He's soon lunch.
- Shout-Out: One preorder item is Blade's outfit from the Wesley Snipes movies.
- Smoking Is Cool: One of the developers' diaries notes that many vampires still smoke (and drink, for that matter) because it looks cool, even though physiologically they get nothing out of it.
- Snuff Film: The Toreador trailer depicts a clan vampire filming the murder of one of her victims, which is in keeping with the "art obsessed" theme of the clan.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The "Come Dance On Your Grave" trailer features various vampires dancing to "Danke Schoen", while or after they've been mauling their victims: Mr. Damp dances with four of his victims' corpses, strung up around a Christmas tree and facially mutilated into a Glasgow Grin with no eyelids. Prince Cross dances in a luxurious apartment but stops to wipe a bloodstain off his window. Elif lures an unfortunate sucker in so she can add a bite to her dance party.
