Today marks the twentieth anniversary since the release of VtM – Bloodlines, the beloved first-person roleplaying game set in the World of Darkness. Developed by the short-lived Troika Games, it was designed by some of the minds behind the first two Fallout games and Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura: Tim Cain, Leonard Boyarsky, and Jason Anderson.
The game’s development was not at all easy due to milestone delays that eventually brought the project over its intended budget. Publisher Activision ultimately demanded a release candidate to ship the game no matter what, but Troika had only managed to do a few weeks of testing.
Needless to say, this greatly affected the game’s polish. VtM – Bloodlines was the quintessential gem in the rough, widely praised for its story, characters, and overall writing, while also being a bug-ridden fest. Despite the overall positive reception (it was rated 80% on Metacritic by critic reviews), sales were heavily disappointing. Following the game’s launch, Troika tried to secure funding for its next project which would have marked a return to the creators’ post-apocalyptic roots, but was ultimately unsuccessful. The company was forced to lay off its employees in late 2024 and shut down for good on February 24, 2005.
As for VtM – Bloodlines, over time, it became even more of a cult classic, ultimately leading to the development of a sequel (which had even more problems than the original, though). Bloodlines 2 is currently scheduled for the first half of 2025, but in the meantime, you can download the freshly released RTX Remix Alpha 0.0.1 mod to celebrate the 20th anniversary.
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