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"A series of unusual developments in the making of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 continue to unfold. In the last month, Paradox Interactive &amp; Hardsuit Labs made the decision to fire creative director Ka&#39;ai Cluney and narrative director Brian Mitsoda, both for unspecified reasons. The developer and publisher&nbsp;of Bloodlines 2 announced the decision in a statement on their website, and Mitsoda has spoken out about the firing to Rock Paper Shotgun. This announcement comes after Bloodlines 2 was delayed earlier this summer. It was initially scheduled to be released later in 2020, it will now release in 2021. It&#39;s unclear if Cluney and Mitsoda were dismissed because of the game&#39;s delay or for other reasons. For his part, Mitsoda told Rock Paper Shotgun that he was &quot;not part of the conversations that led to the decision to delay production.&quot; He also denied that the delay had anything to do with the narrative design team.&nbsp; Hardsuit Labs and Paradox Interactive&#39;s decision comes in a tough summer for game developers. Not only are a normal series of game delays being exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, but tales of misconduct at companies like Ubisoft and other studios are highlighting that working conditions for developers are more stressful than have been previously let on.&nbsp; The lack of transparency over this decision to fire two key leads creates a scenario that only seems to benefit Paradox and Hardsuit management. Game development is a complicated process, but the decision to fire two leaders on the game&#39;s development at the 11th hour is a worrying decision that raises questions about conditions on the development team. If you have worked on Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 and would like to share your story confidentially with Gamasutra, you can contact us here."
<https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/paradox-hardsuit-labs-fire-two-creative-leads-on-i-bloodlines-2-i->