After just 12 months, the Vampire: The Masquerade battle royale won't get any new updates

Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt
(Image credit: Sharkmob)

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is ceasing active development, but will remain online and available to play.

Earlier today on May 15, Bloodhunt developer Sharkmob announced that development on the vampiric battle royale shooter would effectively be winding down, ending barely a year after it first launched. Bloodhunt won't be receiving further major updates in the future, but the game will remain online with its servers active for its player base.

"Ever since launch, we have been on a journey to excite and delight our players, however, while we have an amazing and very engaged community, we haven’t been able to reach the critical mass needed to sustain development," Sharkmob writes. "This has led us to the decision to stop further development of Bloodhunt."

"Our aim is to keep the servers going for as long as we have an active player base and community," the blog post continues. Sharkmob reveals a player voting system will be introduced in order to keep Bloodhunt feeling fresh and alive further down the road, but isn't revealing further details about this feature for now.

Finally, all microtransaction purchases using real-world money will be turned off later this year, on September 26. Until then though, Sharkmob is actually making it easier to earn Bloodhunt tokens, so players can purchase in-game cosmetics and other items after this date using their stockpile of tokens.

It's a sad day for Sharkmob, and the Vampire: The Masquerade fanbase at large. Bloodhunt was something intriguing and new in the crowded battle royale space when it first launched last year, with plenty of new ideas that made playing as a vampire in a shooter genuinely fun.

Meanwhile, Vampire: The Masquerade 2 is still in development as of last year in July 2022, but it's been years since we've seen or heard anything official of the project.

Check out our new games 2023 guide for a look at fresh new titles you can get your hands on in the coming months.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.