Seattle-based developer Hardsuit Labs and Paradox Interactive announced Vampire: The Maquerade – Bloodlines 2 last week, marking one of GDC’s most exciting non-Stadia announcements. DualShockers was able to check the game out at GDC and interview several of the game’s developers. Over the course of the course of the interview one thing became fairly clear: Hardsuit Labs is aiming to make Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 “uniquely Seattle,” especially when it comes to themes.
This sentiment mainly comes from Martin Ka’ai Cluney, Creative Director at Hardsuit Labs. “As far as the themes we wanted everything to feel uniquely Seattle just because it adds more depth to the world if the themes are reinforced in the world itself,” Cluney told DualShockers. He then hinted that a big struggle Seattle has faced as a city over the past decade will be reflected in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 as well.
“Seattle is having this struggle over the last few years, last decade, between what the tradition of the city is and its roots versus whats been coming in lately with tech and money and everything else…Right at this point right now they’re not coexisting,” he stated. “If you look back over history, Seattle is very much a boom and bust town, this isn’t the first time its happened. That’s what the themes of the story are rooted in, there’s a lot to tie into there, even down to the personal level. ”
While the game’s story can get a bit grandiose in scale sometimes, Cluney made it clear that the plot “comes down to a very personal conflict.” Overall, it is fitting that Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is “uniquely Seattle” as that is where developer Hardsuit Labs is located. They’ve even gone through the effort to go on underground tours of the city, though Art Director Luke Dodge says that their game’s version is “quite a bit more extensive and dangerous.”
If you want to see the developers talk more about the game, you can check out the announcement keynote below. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will release for PC, PS4, and Xbox One in Q1 2020.
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