According to the developers of Dead Cells, the upcoming Return to Castlevania DLC expansion is expected to be "twice as big" as past DLC campaigns. This Castlevania-themed DLC was first revealed at the past The Game Awards show, with an animated trailer for the roguelike that caught many by surprise. Past crossover DLC with Dead Cells wasn't too special, as it mostly revolved around referential skins and weapons. The fact that the roguelike is collaborating with a classic gaming franchise like Konami's Castlevania was a shocker, especially with Konami leaving the series on the proverbial shelf.
This DLC for Dead Cells is developed by Evil Empire, an indie studio comprised of past Motion Twin employees, who were also responsible for the other post-launch content of Dead Cells. Game Informer recently interviewed Evil Empire's co-founder and brand manager, Benjamin Laulan and Berenger Dupre respectively, about the DLC, what to expect about its size, and collaborating with Konami to make it happen.
According to Laulan, the Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania DLC will be the biggest one yet, claiming that it is "basically twice as big" as the past DLCs that have been released. This includes a brand-new storyline that involves recurring characters from the Castlevania series. This features classic characters from Symphony of the Night, such as Alucard, Dracula, Richter Belmont, and others.
With the game being a roguelike, the developers wanted to make things interesting by adding new items to Dead Cells based on Castlevania. This includes 14 new weapons like Alucard's Sword or the Cross. There will also be three new bosses that will be in the game, along with three new biomes based on Castlevania locations. Laulan also noted that they got permission from Konami to add Castlevania music to the game, along with composing remixes of classic tracks in the style of Dead Cells. Laulan stated that all of these additions essentially serve as a giant love letter to Konami's franchise.
Dupre and Laulan stated that they had many nostalgic memories of Castlevania itself, with both of them considering it a dream come true. The primary inspiration of Dead Cells was Symphony of the Night, so this is a fitting crossover as well. The developers tease that there is one surprise that fans should anticipate finding in the game, letting them know they're really excited for fans to discover it as well.
Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania will be available in Q1 2023 for Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Source: Game Informer
