Bloodlines 2 Dev Tried to Rename Game Over Scope Issues
In a revelation that sheds significant light on the turbulent development of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, the former creative director for The Chinese Room (TCR), Dan Pinchbeck, has confirmed his team’s persistent efforts to change the game's title. Pinchbeck explicitly stated his belief that the game should not have carried the "Bloodlines 2" moniker, primarily due to constraints on development time and budget.
Speaking in a recent hour-long career retrospective with Cat Burton, Pinchbeck disclosed that convincing publisher Paradox Interactive to alter the name was an "unofficial priority" for The Chinese Room after they took over the project in 2023. He described strategic planning sessions with a Paradox producer dedicated to finding ways to avoid the "Bloodlines 2" title, arguing, "You can't make Bloodlines 2. There's not enough time. There's not enough money'."
Forging a New Identity Amidst Legacy
Despite the unsuccessful bid to rename the title, The Chinese Room did manage to influence the game's overall design philosophy. Pinchbeck characterized their approach by stating, "we can't make Bloodlines 2, we can't make Skyrim, but we can make Dishonored." This comparison to the acclaimed immersive sim Dishonored resonated with critics, with journo Dominic Tarason describing Bloodlines 2 in a review as "a blend of Batman: Arkham City, Dishonored and a first-person Streets Of Rage."
Paradox Interactive themselves have previously acknowledged a shift in direction. In an October 2024 interview, Paradox's deputy chief executive officer, Mattias Lilja, referred to the new game as a "spiritual successor," distancing it from being a direct continuation of the original Bloodlines style.
The Unreproducible Magic of the Original
Pinchbeck further elaborated on why a direct recreation of the 2004 CRPG, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, was unfeasible in today's gaming landscape. He observed that the original game, much like contemporaries such as Stalker and Shenmue, emerged during a unique period where highly ambitious yet flawed and buggy titles could still ship and gain cult followings.
"A lot of those games, they're real cult games now, but they really weren't very good when you actually broke them apart and analysed them," Pinchbeck argued. He stressed that such imperfections would be unacceptable by modern standards. Attempting to replicate that specific "magic" would be "wrongheaded," ultimately satisfying neither long-time fans of Bloodlines 1 nor new players, who would receive "a flawed game that was built too fast and with not enough money." This echoes Lilja's earlier sentiment in October 2024 that certain aspects of the original Bloodlines "wouldn't fly today," citing its technical problems.
The Hardsuit Labs Chapter
The discussion around Bloodlines 2's identity inevitably brings to mind its earlier iteration, which was under development at Hardsuit Labs. This previous version, with original Bloodlines designer Brian Mitsoda leading narrative and former RPS contributor Cara Ellison as senior narrative designer, was previewed in 2019 and showed early promise.
However, Paradox ultimately "pulled the plug" on Hardsuit Labs' involvement. Lilja explained in October 2024 that while Paradox and Hardsuit Labs had "agreed on a vision," the studio encountered "a problem delivering on that." The Chinese Room subsequently took over development in 2023, steering the project towards its current form and igniting the internal debate over its very name.