The recently released sequel to the 2004 cult classic, Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines 2, did not live up to the expectations of fans of the series, and seemingly as a result of this publisher Paradox Interactive has publicly owned up to the financial consequences. According to this report, on November 26th the publisher has devalued the worth of their game in a write-down–which is basically an acknowledgement that a financial asset has lost some of its value. Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester is quoted here stating:
The responsibility lies fully with us as the publisher. The game is outside of our core areas, in hindsight it is clear that this has made it difficult for us to gauge sales.
Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines 2 had a rocky development cycle, to say the least. The game started off with Hardsuit Labs leading development, although for vague reasons related to the COVID pandemic their role in its production was eliminated in 2021, as stated in this report from Paradox. Shortly after, developer The Chinese Room, who most recently put out the short survival horror game Still Wakes The Deep, took over production of the game, saving it from its near cancellation. And although there was excitement from the team at the onset of the project’s creative transition; in podcast with creator Cat Burton, The developer’s co-founder Dan Pinchbenk expressed the worry the team had about the game.
We used to sit there and go and have these planning sessions of how do we get them to not call it Bloodlines 2. That feels like the most important thing… You can’t make Bloodlines 2. There’s not enough time. There’s not enough money.
Pinchbenk expounds upon this, saying that the team realized that the ambitious but flawed games of the 2000’s like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and the first Bloodlines couldn’t be reproduced in the contemporary gaming landscape. Instead, he explains, the team decided that with the resources they had, they could make the game more like Dishonored. Clearly, however, players and critics alike did not agree with this creative direction, and reading through reviews, you won’t scroll long without someone decrying the lack of RPG mechanics or depth or any number of things that were present in the first Bloodlines. Not to mention the fact that apparently two of the six playable clans announced for the launch of the game were revealed to be exclusive to a separate paid DLC, which fans were so angered over that Playstation ended up issuing refunds to players. And as with any sequel, you’re bound to disappoint at least a few people because more often than not, you’re fighting an uphill battle against nostalgia. But the general consensus seems to be that despite the attempts to save the project, Bloodlines 2 underperformed massively.