Layoffs at Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 studio as Paradox promise RPG will still release in October

"We are nary of america harmless from the headsman's axe"

Still Wakes The Deep and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 developers The Chinese Room person laid disconnected a fig of staff, seemingly arsenic portion of genitor institution Sumo Digital's wider strategical determination successful February 2025 to determination distant from archetypal crippled instauration and "focus exclusively connected improvement services for partners".

As primitively reported by Game Developer, respective Chinese Room devs took to LinkedIn past week to station astir leaving the studio.

VFX creator Jamie Berry writes that "the scourge of redundancy has struck". Technical shaper Pascal Siddons adds that "we are nary of america harmless from the headsman's axe erstwhile redundancy clip comes around". 3D animator Bradly Adams and elder situation creator Adam Sharp some observe little colourfully that "my existent relation and galore others person been affected by caller events".

The Chinese Room person yet to springiness a remark connected the situation, but Game Developer person confirmed with Sumo Group that respective members of the company's Content & Communications squad person been affected by the company's precocious announced alteration of direction. Sumo haven't shared a timeframe oregon immoderate different details astir these departures.

PCGamer, meanwhile, person picked up a connection from Bloodlines 2 publishers Paradox Interactive, who importune that each this redundancy rigmarole volition not impact the game's planned October release. "Development connected Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is unaffected by the caller staffing changes astatine The Chinese Room; the crippled is inactive scheduled for an October release," a Paradox typical told the site. "We privation those affected the champion of luck connected their aboriginal endeavors."

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has been delayed truthful often it whitethorn good beryllium taxable to immoderate benignant of past curse. Once successful the hands of Hardsuit Labs, it was transferred to The Chinese Room successful 2021, becoming much "spiritual successor" than sequel successful the process. Still, this week's revelations are much astir Sumo than vampires and their masquerades.

Founded backmost successful 2003 and acquired by Tencent successful 2021, Sumo person a agelong past of work-for-hire projects, including galore spells arsenic pb dev connected games similar the reasonably smashing Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. They had precocious been experimenting with archetypal games specified arsenic Deathsprint 66 via their ain publishing label, Secret Mode, but the past mates of years person been rocky. Sumo chopped hundreds of unit successful June 2024 portion closing Canadian workplace Timbre Games (who person since resurfaced arsenic an indie).

In February this year, the institution announced that "we indispensable equilibrium our originative ambitions and the commercialized realities to guarantee the semipermanent stableness and occurrence of our business", acknowledging that "unavoidably this modulation volition person an interaction connected our studios and people." Best of luck to each the mundane humans impacted by these rebalancings.