The last game that had a hell of a development cycle and still managed to be well received was Dead Island 2.

Chances are that Bloodlines 2 will be a mess and probably that's the expectation we all should go into it. If it ends up being good, then we all win. Fingers crossed.

More fuel for speculation:

In his latest video on Fallout's Voice Overs Tim Cain mentioned just recently having been present (via remote video call) in a voice over recording session for one of a few projects he's contributing to in a consultative capacity... which took place in Stockholm.

https://west.paxsite.com/en-us/schedule/panel-information.html?gtID=816997&panel-name=Vampire-The-Masquerade

Apparently today's the day (between 9:30 and 10:30 pm CEST) for those "more news" on the state of affairs.

Seems very unlikely but the 27th of October is also rumored as the new release date.

I hope that they will stop keeping a hush-hush about the identity of the new development team and that they are going to show real in-game footage.

T-minus 25 min:
https://www.twitch.tv/PAX2/

This presentation is the cringiest disaster I've seen in a long time.

The Chinese Room confirmed as the developer.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 | Studio Reveal

"Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is very special to many, and we can finally reveal that we've been embraced by this adventure. We're crafting something incredible here, and are bloody excited to share more at last!

In Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 both long-standing fans and the newly-embraced will play the central role in deciding Seattle’s future in an action-RPG set amid a three-front siege on the City. The old meets the new in a struggle for Seattle; will the most ruthless win, or is the third actor playing for an entirely different prize? For the first time in a Vampire: The Masquerade video game, players will take on the role of an elder vampire.

The Chinese Room is an award-winning game development studio based in Brighton, UK. Since 2012, we've built a reputation for innovative first-person gaming. Their titles include the ground-breaking Dear Esther (2012); the cult horror Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs (2013); the internationally acclaimed Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (2015), the highly-anticipated Still Wakes the Deep (2024), and Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 (TBA)."

Bloodlines 2 - Official Announcement Trailer

"Embrace your inner Kindred and join us in Seattle for the long-awaited Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. Find your place in the battle to come, and try not to let the city bleed you dry. Coming fall 2024."

So basically this hopefully story heavy RPG game with lots of character interaction from conversations to combat is now in the hands of a development studio known for (good) walking simulators ... I don't know what to think of it.

Which year? 2028 maybe?

Looks like they kept some characters (like Lou Graham) from the Hardsuit Labs iteration. Could indicate that most of the Mitsoda-penned plot and story has also been left untouched and carried over.

https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-has-been-quietly-rebuilt-by-dear-esther-developer-the-chinese-room-with-different-gameplay-mechanics-and-rpg-systems/

"Skidmore seemed to share my initial reaction: "This isn't what I was expecting the Chinese Room to be working on," he told me. "And really, it was a big reason why I joined, because these are the kinds of games I love working on." Skidmore brings some serious, crunchy RPG bona fides to the project⁠—before serving as lead designer on Gears Tactics, an XCOM-like spinoff that we loved, he spent many years at Lionhead Studios working on the Fable series.

The Chinese Room has kept Bloodlines 2's initial planned setting of Seattle, and while Greaney noted that they "have been able to reuse a significant amount of art and level design" from Hardsuit's project, Skidmore was quick to clarify that The Chinese Room is using "a new code base with different gameplay mechanics and RPG systems." Bloodlines 2 is also still set at yuletide, but is now in the grips of a historic snowstorm, and Bloodlines 2's new trailer and concept art remind me of the OG Max Payne's grimy, modern NYC Ragnarök.

We're also getting a completely different sort of protagonist than Hardsuit Labs had planned. Bloodlines 2 was to originally star a recently-turned "thin blood" vampire. In World of Darkness rules, older is better, and the legendary bloodlines of Antediluvian vampire patriarchs have diluted over the millennia⁠—they just don't make new-gen vamps like they used to.

"We don't want it to be just a sort of poor homage or pastiche of Bloodlines 1. We want it to be its own thing," Skidmore explained. "We're not doing what Bloodlines 1 did, which is a traditional RPG game start: the very first day you're a vampire. The actual character you are has been a vampire for quite a while. And that was to create something different from Bloodlines to give a different experience."

Bloodlines 2 will now star an "Elder" vampire awoken from an indeterminate torpor (read: long-ass vampire nap), and going off old Vampire: The Masquerade rules, you get Elder status after 300 years of undeath. Since Bloodlines 1's days, a joint Vatican-global intelligence "Second Inquisition" has hit the vampire underground hard, culling its ranks. An ancient, supremely powerful big boy vampire waking up in Seattle is a bit of an event.

Skidmore seems keen on striking a balance between having this ancient be an established character, and letting the player sketch out their vamp of choice: "You have enough that you can fill in the character a bit as you go and roleplay, but they're also an established thing that you understand as aspirational.""

Wishlist. You mean wishlist. There is no pre order option, only Notify and wishlist.

EDIT: And I haven't been this excited since I bought an M1903 with all matching parts.
... that was last week. :)