Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong delayed to ensure ‘a healthy work-life balance’ for devs

Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong, the in-development tale of politics, intrigue, and blood that is not Bloodlines 2, has been delayed again. Following a postponement earlier this year that saw it moved to February 2022, developer Big Bad Wolf has announced that it needs a little more time, and has pushed it to May.

“This wasn’t a decision we took lightly, but one necessary to ensure the highest possible quality while retaining a healthy work-life balance for our team,” the studio said. “Granted, the pandemic also threw a couple of wrenches into our planning, but this delay will allow us to apply some additional polish and give us some extra time for QA. We’re a small but very passionate team, eager to create an immersive experience that rivals the sort of personal storytelling you’d experience from a great tabletop session.”

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is the World of Darkness RPG that gets the attention, but Swansong could be a surprise sleeper hit. Big Bad Wolf’s previous game, The Council, is a narrative RPG about an 18th century secret society, and it’s really quite good: There are shortcomings, including dodgy voice acting and a lack of polish, but the writing, dialog, and character development are top notch. It forgoes the more action-focused aspects of some RPGs, but the scheming and intrigue seems like a perfect fit for the shadowy world of the Camarilla.

Another upside to the delay: It gets Swansong out of February, which is on track to be a very big month for new game releases, including Sifu, Destiny 2: The Witch King, Elden Ring, and possibly others.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong is now slated to come out on May 19, and will be an Epic Games Store exclusive at launch. Find out more at vampire-swansong.com.

Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-the-masquerade-swansong-delayed-to-ensure-a-healthy-work-life-balance-for-devs