Highlights
- Paradox accepts full responsibility for the poor launch of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2.
- The publisher admits the game struggled because it was outside their usual genre focus.
- Updates and all promised expansions for the game will still continue next year.
The launch of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 was to be a huge one, as it was a long-awaited sequel. However, the release did not go as planned.
The game received mixed reviews and had low sales, and now the publisher, Paradox Interactive, has admitted that the problem was on their side.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 faces slow sales as Paradox admits its mistakes
Paradox puts the blame on itself
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Just one month after the release, Paradox acknowledged a cash write-down in a large amount. The write-down was approximately 355 million SEK, which is almost 37 million USD.
The main reason for it was the first sales of the game that were far from the company’s expectations. Consequently, they had to revise the forecast and take the financial hit.
CEO Fredrik Wester made it clear that the problem was with the publisher, not the developers. The Chinese Room was the developer team that “handled the game,” and he expressed that the “team delivered a strong vampire game.”
Wester also mentioned that they “misjudged the market and did not understand the sales pattern well because this game is not the same type of games Paradox is used to making.”
Image Credits: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
Reason why the strategy failed
Paradox is generally associated with strategy games like Crusader Kings, Cities Skylines, and Stellaris. These games are their forte. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 being an action RPG is quite a different ball game.
Wester confessed that the shift to a different area had made things harder. They could not accurately predict the result, as it was not their usual area.
The title also underwent a protracted and complicated development process. It was initially developed by Hardsuit Labs in 2019.
Later in 2023, the development was handed over to The Chinese Room. A few months before the release, the team had to bring back groups like Toreador and Lasombra because fans were unhappy with the cuts.
Moreover, there was something intriguing. Dan Pinchbeck, the former creative director, once said that the team was having a hard time delivering a real sequel with the given conditions.
He even said that they tried to convince Paradox not to name the game Bloodlines 2 because they thought it was too hard to match the original.
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Paradox’s future plans
Paradox announced that they are not abandoning the game despite the financial setback. They will still release all the expansions that were promised in the Premium Edition.
Wester mentioned that the update schedule is still in place and will be continued next year. The company are eager now to put more energy into the games they know best and also think about the way they want to proceed with the World of Darkness brand.
Overall, this entire predicament makes clear that it is very challenging for a publisher when they decide to take a different path than their usual one.
Paradox’s acknowledgment of their error is an infrequent but sincere one. Despite hitting below the expected numbers, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 remains a solid title for the fans. Players, at least, will still be able to enjoy the previously announced updates and new content.
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