Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, the new action role-playing game set in the World of Darkness universe, won't make it out on time. Publisher Paradox Interactive and developer Hardsuit Labs have confirmed that the title won't launch during its previously announced Q1 2020 release window (January 1, 2020 - March 31, 2020). Instead, it is now coming sometime later in 2020, but no specific date or release window was mentioned.

In a statement, Paradox and Hardsuit said it became clear over the "last few months" that the Q1 2020 window was unrealistic. "Hitting the original launch time frame of Q1 2020 would risk shipping a game that does not meet the ambitions that the developer and publisher share," the companies said. "This decision has been made to ensure that Paradox and Harsuit deliver the best Bloodlines 2 experience possible."

Hardsuit's Brian Mitsoda and Andy Kipling shared more insight on the delay in a post on the game's website. Having already been in the development for 3.5 years, the studio wanted to take the time to make sure the sequel did not repeat the mistakes of the 2004 first game.

"There's the responsibility to avoid some of the issues that plagued the first game, which was famously launched too early," Mitsoda said. "Over the last few months, it became clear that to stick to our original date would risk repeating that mistake. We won't do that. In the end, everyone working on this game wants to offer you the best Bloodlines 2 we can."

Mitsoda said the decision to delay Bloodlines 2 wasn't an easy choice or the first choice of Hardsuit. In 2019, the studio grew its development teams and improved its production processes, but this wasn't enough to "deliver the quality we want at the date we promised."

More details on the status of Bloodlines 2 will be announced at Paradox's upcoming fan convention PDXCON this weekend in Berlin, Germany. Bloodlines 2 is in development for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.