Some of the developers of ArtPlay's Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night have revealed that they are hoping to be able to make a big announcement in 2023. The 2019 spiritual successor to Castlevania is set after the events of the companion game Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon and took the graphics to another level, leaving behind the retro look for a more modern style while maintaining the gameplay so many fans enjoy.
Development of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was headed by Koji Igarashi, a former producer for the Castlevania series. Wanting to create a Metroidvania spiritual successor to Konami’s gothic horror franchise, Igarashi used Kickstarter to raise more than $5.5 million for the project, and the end result was generally well received. Since the game’s release, fans have been asking and hoping for a sequel to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night which was finally announced to be in early development in June 2021.
In a recent interview with Famitsu, Shutaro Iida and Koji Igarashi each shared a tidbit about the award-winning game. The team at ArtPlay has regularly released new content and updates for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night since it launched. Both Iida and Igarashi stated that they are planning to finish up with the game’s post-launch content and move on “to the next step.” According to Iida, this will hopefully lead to them making a “big announcement in 2023.”
Unfortunately, that’s all the info that was provided in the interview, but even that small nugget should be enough to get fans excited for what’s to come. With a sequel to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night already known to be in development, many are hoping that the announcement will be about that game, perhaps accompanied by screenshots or even a trailer.
Because ArtPlay is a relatively small indie developer, it’s doubtful that the studio will handle more than one or two titles at once. In addition to working on the Bloodstained games, the team also released a mobile title called Re:volvers8, a real-time strategy card game, in 2018. However, that project was removed from both the App Store and Google Play in December 2019, with the explanation being that the developers didn't feel they could provide satisfactory service for it.
So even though ArtPlay’s big announcement may pertain to the long-awaited Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night sequel, it’s possible that it will be about a different game entirely. Re:volvers8 being an RTS card game demonstrated that the developer is interested in trying its hand at genres that stray greatly from the side-scrolling Metroidvania style of the Bloodstained games. Either way, fans will just have to remain patient until next year.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is currently available on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Source: Famitsu (via Gematsu)
