Paradox Interactive ate a $37 million loss on Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 after the game flopped harder than they expected. CEO Fredrik Wester straight up admitted the publisher screwed up and said they don't really know how to handle action RPGs since their bread and butter has always been grand strategy stuff like Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis. The Chinese Room finished the game after the original dev Hardsuit Labs got canned, but it still ended up with mediocre sales and mixed reviews.
Wester said Paradox is gonna stick to what they actually know going forward and figure out what to do with the World of Darkness IP later. The two planned DLCs are still happening, though, with players getting to control former Seattle Sheriff Benny Muldoon and Toreador vampire Ysabella. Former creative director Dan Pinchbeck apparently tried to get Paradox to change the game's name because The Chinese Room didn't have enough time or money to make a real Bloodlines sequel, but the publisher wouldn't budge.
Wester said Paradox is gonna stick to what they actually know going forward and figure out what to do with the World of Darkness IP later. The two planned DLCs are still happening, though, with players getting to control former Seattle Sheriff Benny Muldoon and Toreador vampire Ysabella. Former creative director Dan Pinchbeck apparently tried to get Paradox to change the game's name because The Chinese Room didn't have enough time or money to make a real Bloodlines sequel, but the publisher wouldn't budge.
