Fangs for the update
Well, it wouldn’t be a Vampire: The Masquerade game without a delay — publisher Nacon has been tweaking its release schedule for 2022, and among the affected titles is Big Bad Wolf’s RPG Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong, which will no longer meet its February 2022 release date and will now launch on PC and console platforms on May 19.
“Our focus is on crafting a world that draws you in, that requires you to make difficult decisions and live with the consequences,” said the team in a press release. “Swansong features lots of characters, choices, dialogues, and opportunities to decide how the story plays and our ultimate focus is on quality. With this in mind, we’ve made the difficult decision to delay the launch of Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong from February 2022 to May 2022″
“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. 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.”
Swansong — not to be confused with battle royale title Bloodhunt or development-hell sequel Bloodlines 2 — is a Boston-set RPG that will see the player don the gothic garb of three vampires from three rival clans, brought together to investigate a violent shooting that threatens the safety of all who dwell within the World of Darkness. Swansong hopes to capture the tabletop VtM experience in digital form, utilizing locations, characters, and arcs previously used in classic ’90s tabletop entries such as Dark Colony and Giovanni Chronicles.
Any mid-tier title dodging a February 2022 release date is quite possibly looking for a little breathing room. The first quarter of 2022 is notoriously stacked with major releases, including Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, Sifu, The King of Fighters XV, and Dying Light 2. Deep Silver recently shifted its Saints Row reboot from February to August and it’s unsurprising to see other publishers follow suit. Hopefully, Swansong will meet its new date and deliver a fantastic VtM experience, as fans glumly await news — any news — on the progression, or perhaps the cancellation, of Bloodlines 2.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong launch May 19 on PlayStation, PC, Xbox, and Switch platforms.
