Posted in: Games, Paradox Interactive, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, Video Games | Tagged: Bloodlines 2, hardsuit labs, paradox Interactive, Vampire the Masquerade, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2

Hardsuit Labs Layoff Several Staffers After Losing Bloodlines 2

Published Tue, 02 Mar 2021 23:25:40 -0600

by Gavin Sheehan

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Sad news coming out of Hardsuit Labs as several developers have been laid off after the company lost Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. For those who aren't aware, last week Paradox Interactive announced that they had pushed the game back again, this time indefinitely as they took Hardsuit off the project. This came after firing some of the developers back in 2020 and what had apparently been a string of issues getting the game on track. There's a lot of rumor out there at the moment that hasn't been confirmed, so we'll table the issues for now, but the bottom line was Paradox wasn't happy and they decided to go with another company.

"Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2" Pushed Further Back In 2020 — Credit: Paradox Interactive

Cut to today where several employees have taken to social media to alter the public they have lost their jobs in the aftermath. The most prominent going around is that from the narrative design team, who relayed the news that basically all of the writers have been laid off and that all four of them are now in the process of looking for new jobs in the industry. According to reports, there was also one producer let go as well, but it sounds like there may be coming from the Seattle-based developer in the near future.

I'm heartbroken to announce that I've been laid off from my position as a narrative designer at Hardsuit Labs – alongside the rest of the narrative department (and many others). All four of us are seeking new opportunities.

— Anna 🌿 – Looking for Work! (@annacwebs) March 1, 2021

Hey, y'all. So unfortunately there were layoffs at Hardsuit Labs, and the entire narrative team including myself were affected. If you know about any writing or narrative design opportunities, I would greatly appreciate hearing about the opportunity. ♥️

— Nicole Stanford 🌃 (@nightingalebard) March 1, 2021

HSL has made the decision to do layoffs today, and all of us on the narrative team were affected. If you or your team is looking for an amazing writer or narrative designer, boy do I have three excellent recommendations for you.

— Samantha Wallschlaeger (@StillNotSam) March 1, 2021

It's pretty clear the company decided to go forward with the layoffs after losing out on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. But to what extent it will have on the company, especially during a pandemic, is yet to be seen. As for Paradox, they have yet to name a new studio that will take over the game. If anyone at Paradox or that eventual studio to take over has a heart of gold, they'll pick up the staff and put them back on the project with the new studio since they have the most experience working with the story that was set in place. Or who knows, maybe they'll dump everything we've seen so far and move onto a new story. But in any case, there are now four talented writers in the Seattle area looking for work, if anyone reading this wants to pick them up.

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