Paradox Interactive has been teasing the development and announcement of a new game recently, primarily through their mysterious pseudo-dating app ARG, Tender. Today, during GDC, the developer officially announced its newest project: Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2.

Paradox held a special event during GDC for 300 lucky members of the Tender app, with secret puzzles to unlock that would ultimately reveal the name of the game. Players at home participated via Twitch and the Tender app itself. After the puzzles were completed, the ARG continued. Tender was introduced as a social media revolution using artificial intelligence to find one's soul mate, but it quickly became clear that something was amiss. Under pressure, the so-called developer of Tender revealed that rather than an innovative app, it was all a ruse to gather up prey for the Kindred - what vampires in the White Wolf's World of Darkness refer to themselves as.

Shortly after, the broadcast began to break up, and a short trailer for Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2 was revealed. The trailer reveals a change of locale to Seattle, with a tsunami of blood overtaking the Seattle Great Wheel, which may indicate that the game will cover Vampire the Masquerade's End Times, which was heavily alluded to in the first Bloodlines game.

Fans of the World of Darkness began to suspect that it may get a video game revival after Paradox Interactive joined forces with White Wolf, the original tabletop game developer of the Vampire the Masquerade series. Joining the Tender app gives players access to a special Tender t-shirt and Bodyguard costume for their characters. The developer had previously been dropping hints as to the content of the game via Tender's personality profile questions, as well as the inclusion of blood type in one's 'dating profile'.

Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines originally released back in 2004 under developer Troika. Although the game had a rough release, with numerous bugs due to being developed on a beta version of the Half-Life engine, the game went on to be a major cult success. Dedicated fans have spent years restoring unused content and fixing the game's numerous issues, perhaps helping to demonstrate to White Wolf that gamers are ready for a new Vampire the Masquerade game.

Although it's been 15 years since the last entry to the video game side of the franchise, it isn't the first attempt. The World of Darkness MMO from CCP games would have seen a return to the world of Vampire the Masquerade, but the game was ultimately scrapped.

Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2 is set to release in Q1 of 2020.

Source: Twitch