Using the Maschine 2.18.0 and 2.18.1 VST3, Cubase does not load the Maschine Project embedded with the plugin if it was created with Maschine 2.15.2 or older. The embedded Maschine Project loads fine when using the Maschine 2.16.1 VST3 plugin.
Project is loaded with the Maschine 2.18.1 VST3 plugin, if the Cubase project was saved running the Maschine 2.16 or 2.17 VST3 plugin.
Project is loaded find with the Maschine 2.17.5 VST3 plugin or any earlier version.
Happens with Cubase Pro 11/12/13.
The Support team seems to be unable to replicate the issue, most probably due to not having access to Cubase projects with embedded Maschine projects created with Maschine 2.15 or older.