One of the more bizarre game concepts is a vampire-based battle royale: a battle royale based on Vampire: The Masquerade would be high on the list of bizarre game concepts. But while the details remain murky, Paradox Interactive has set out to explain why it feels that a death match with high stakes is a good fit for the venerable vampire setting. [After last week's announcement, the publisher released a FAQ justifying its decision to have new studio Sharkmob develop the vampire battle royale.

For me, the most interesting part of the FAQ is the idea of "Masquerade" playing out in a multiplayer shooter. Masquerade in fiction is the idea that all creatures of the night, regardless of faction, work to hide their existence from us, the public.

Here, a fascinating prospect is presented: a kind of social stealth death match, a battle royale in which onlookers kill their enemies without being noticed. The game is underpinned by the notion that eating also plays an important role, and you are occasionally encouraged to take a sip of blood.

If this works, it will be a step away from a genre that seems to have run its course, and while "Hunt: Showdown" proves that you can create something special by combining a PVP deathmatch with a threatening environment filled with supernatural beasts of prey, " Vampire" subverts that concept by turning players into monsters is interesting.

The blog also mentions a bit about the game's plot, which seems to delve deeply into the V:TM sourcebook and novel. Set in the city of Prague, Sharkmob's game takes place after a massive gathering of the undead goes awry. A "sectarian war, a second inquisitor involved-you're in the middle of it, and you need to survive, either solo or with the help of your coterie.

We conclude with a few small confirmations. The game is a free-to-play third-person action game, and the trailer released last week notes that it was recorded in-engine. Internally, the game is in early alpha and will be released in late 2021, but there should be an "opportunity to play this game" well before launch.