The world was first introduced to the gothic-punk tabletop RPG Vampire: The Masquerade in 1991. Ever since, four subsequent editions of the game and numerous media products based on the IP, including novels, a TV show and various video games, have been released. In terms of the video games, it is 2004’s Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, developed by Troika Games, that arguably left the best impression on critics and players alike, eventually establishing itself as a cult classic, despite some technical issues and disappointing initial sales.
Not long after Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines was released, director Leonard Boyarsky mentioned the team was interested in developing a sequel or an expansion. Publisher Activision, however, was unlikely to approve one. Talk of a sequel reignited in 2015, when Paradox Interactive acquired White Wolf, a role-playing game and book publisher that owned the license to Vampire: The Masquerade. Following the deal, Paradox contracted developer Hardsuit Labs to begin work on the much-anticipated sequel, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines II. The game was officially announced in 2019, 15 years after the original.
Development, however, proved troubled. After repeated delays and the removal of multiple developers, Paradox announced in 2021 that Hardsuit Labs would no longer be working on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines II. Reports from Swedish media said Paradox had “considered cancelling the project,” but instead chose to continue with a different studio. That studio was The Chinese Room, a U.K.-based developer best known for Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Dear Esther and other titles.
The Chinese Room’s version of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines II was revealed in 2023 with a trailer showing that much of Hardsuit Labs’ early work was retained, including the Seattle setting and a significant portion of art and level design. The British studio, however, introduced significant changes to gameplay mechanics and RPG systems, along with a new protagonist: Phyre, an elder vampire.
In the wake of two more delays, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines II is finally set for a release date of October 21, 2025, 21 years after the original came out. As confirmation that this game is actually real and not a fever dream, we actually got to play it during gamescom 2025, with CGMagazine editor-in-chief, Brendan Frye, calling it “a worthy resurrection” in his preview.
Furthermore, after getting about an hour of hands-on time with the game myself and thoroughly enjoying it, I got the chance to speak to Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines II narrative director, Ian Thomas, and legendary White Wolf brand marketing manager, Jason Carl. In the interview below, the pair answer my questions on bridging the gap between the two Bloodlines entries, the mysterious voice in Phyre’s head, the many factions fighting for control of Seattle and more.
Hello, and thank you for having me! I was actually born and raised in Transylvania, Romania, so it feels like I must ask: to what extent are the vampires in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines II similar to the “canon” understanding of vampires established by key texts such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula? To what extent are Masquerade’s vampires “accurate”?
Jason Carl: Accurate? Are you insinuating that vampires are real? [laughs] Vampire: The Masquerade imagines a world in which vampires are real, obviously, and in which they choose to hide themselves from humanity. They believe that they are descended from Caine, the very first murderer, the child of Adam and Eve who murdered his brother, Abel, and was cursed by God. The “Kindred”, as they call themselves, believe that Caine was the first vampire and that all vampires are descended from Caine. He had many different children, and they each became the modern clans of vampires, each with their own sets of powers, their own outlook, their own politics and their own compulsions.
“Vampire: The Masquerade imagines a world in which vampires are real, obviously, and in which they choose to hide themselves from humanity.” — Jason Carl
They are not very similar to the vampires we know from mythology and folklore, but I think it’s really important to remember that vampires appear in many mythologies, legends and folklore: not just from Central Europe, but from around the globe. There are creatures we would recognize as vampires by many different traits in the stories and folklore of countries in nearly every continent on the Earth. So, our game does not accurately try to reflect any particular vampire mythology. However, regardless of what vampire mythology you’re personally interested in, you can find some aspect of it in one of the clans in Vampire: The Masquerade.
Ian Thomas: I think it’s worth saying that Vampire: The Masquerade and that set of clans and all of that has been in existence for 35 years. And so, that system and the rules have evolved over time, and the things that happen in the Vampire world evolve over time. All of the computer games, the role-playing games, and everything else is all in that shared setting.
So, when we came to make Bloodlines II, we’re drawing on years and years and years of people playing these games and the Vampire world…we’re drawing on all of that mythology, and then we’re putting a bunch of our stuff back into that shared mythology. Our game is canon and will affect the ongoing story moving forward.
In broad strokes, what connects the two Bloodlines games?
Ian Thomas: What I was just talking about is a good starting point: it’s the same universe, it’s the same setting, fundamentally. The first game is telling the story of a brand new vampire, a Fledgeling, as they’re called, in a bounded setting – a small version of L.A., and we’re telling the story about somebody who doesn’t know anything about the world.
Here we are 20 years later, [after] Paradox came to us and said: “We want to tell another story that mirrors what happens in the original Bloodlines.” And, we thought, since the story of a new vampire has been told, let’s come up with a kind of mirror for that story. So, instead of dropping a new person, we’re dropping a very old vampire in. But, again, it’s in a setting that they and the player are not familiar with.
“Our game is canon and will affect the ongoing story moving forward.” — Ian Thomas
We thought of it as the old Western [movie] trope of a stranger coming to town. The idea is that the “gunslinger” comes to town and that immediately makes everybody, all the key players, go: “Who are they and how do we react to them?” It’s like dropping a boulder into a pond – suddenly, this place, which is already on a knife’s edge, sees this new powerful piece dropped onto the board. And so, our story is not only about how you, the protagonist, figure out how to juggle and affect the factions in the game, but it’s also about how they react to you.
All of those characters, rather than in games with a paragon or renegade system, have a reputation of you, which you change through your actions and through what you talk to them about. For you, it’s all about juggling whether you want them to like you or not. You have to very carefully balance that out. That’s essentially our story – our character needs to find out who has chained them, and they need to deal with all of these incredibly powerful creatures.
So, the story is an echo of the original Bloodlines, which is set in a sort of bounded story space version of L.A. In Bloodlines II, we have a bounded story space iteration of Seattle, and we’re telling a different story altogether.
Jason Carl: To underscore what Ian said about the setting, the core story of Vampire: The Masquerade is humanity against the Beast, right? Each vampire is struggling to maintain their humanity and stave off the encroachment of the Beast. And that’s true whether you are a fledgeling, dropped into Los Angeles, or you are a powerful elder, centuries old, who wakes up, unexpectedly, in Seattle. That struggle is the underpinning of all Vampire: The Masquerade stories. So, whether you’re looking at it through the narrow end of the telescope, like a little fledgeling, or the broad end, like a mighty elder, that story carries forward. Without that, it’s not really a Vampire: The Masquerade story.
Ian Thomas: What’s more, an elder vampire has maybe got to the stage where they don’t think very much about humans. They’re fodder. But then, we have the detective, Fabien – the voice in the head. He’s much closer to human…he’s fascinated with how humanity works and with the inventions they’ve come up with and with the stories that they’re telling.
“That struggle is the underpinning of all Vampire: The Masquerade stories.” — Jason Carl
He may actually not be that human, but he loves humanity. So, you’ve got the elder, who’s very divorced from it all, and then you’ve got the much more human detective. And that’s the story that we’re telling: the relationship between the two of them and how they counterbalance each other. Maybe he will make the elder feel closer to humanity. Or maybe he won’t. That depends on the player’s response.
Are Fabien’s motives predetermined?
Ian Thomas: That’s a really interesting question. So, when Phyre goes to sleep, even though vampires are not supposed to dream, this one does. As such, we step into memories that Fabien had of stuff that happened earlier this year, but also quite some time ago – you’ll get to see a bit more of Seattle. So, players will get to play both characters. But Fabien’s motive is pretty simple: “Who killed me?” Almost all of it is little motives that are pulling him forward from the case that he and Phyre uncover.
To what extent can the player influence Seattle by partaking, or not, in the activities of any of the factions present?
Jason Carl: Phyre is an agent of change. They are a catalyst. They are the spark in a pile of gasoline. The decisions that they make affect everything. The fate of Seattle is determined by the player’s choices, and The Chinese Room has done an amazing job of giving the player, through Phyre, incredible agency to choose how that fate unfolds. There are multiple endings, and so, you can return to the game and choose a different faction, different power sets and play around with different relationships. Bloodlines II is all about Phyre and the choices that they make.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 releases on October 21, 2025, on Xbox One and Series X / S, PlayStation 4 and 5 and PC.
