What you need to know about Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, including latest news, release date, trailer, and much more!
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Release Date
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is coming in 2018. It was originally set for a 2017 release. The game is currently scheduled to appear on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and PC.
"I made this decision to absolutely guarantee the game is done right the first time," Igarashi said in a new developer diary video announcing the delay, which you can watch below. The design veteran goes onto explain that he's adding a new development team to work alongside Bloodstained's existing producers, which he hopes will "Keep the game fully on track for how I envision it."
It's disappointing news, for sure, but with another Kickstarted platformer, the Mega Man successor Mighty No. 9, proving to be such a disappointment, it's pleasing to see a developer choosing to delay a project rather than rush it through to completion.
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Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Trailer
Here's gameplay footage from the E3 2016 demo:
In the pitch video below - which is quite quaint, with its low-fi special effects - Igarashi talks enthusiastically about his project. On the Kickstarter page, you'll find more of the project's plans, including its addition of crafting to the platforming mix, and the now-confirmed presence of David Hayter as one of the main voice actors.
That Bloodstained has already enjoyed a storming amount of support pretty much guarantees that we'll be hearing more about it soon.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Details
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Koji Igarashi's spiritual successor to the Castlevania series, now has a publisher.
As revealed on the game's official Kickstarter campaign, developer Inti Creates has announced that Bloodstained will be published by 505 Games. The team even released a YouTube video to help celebrate this partnership as well as explain some of the specifics of the arrangement.
505 Games is an Italy-based publishing company that has previously published games such as Payday 2, Sniper Elite III, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and Virginia. In 2015, they even won the Best Indie Games Label award at the MCV Awards.
This arrangement is a bit unexpected in a couple of ways. On developer Init Creates' end, it initially seems odd that they would seek a publisher considering that Bloodstainedis one of the most well-funded Kickstarter projects of all-time ($5,545,991 raised off a $500,000 goal). For publisher 505 Games, it's strange that they have decided to publish this game when they noted earlier this year that they plan on focusing on game development rather than game publishing moving forward.
As the announcement video touches upon, however, this arrangement is mutually beneficial. For Inti Creates, it allows them to focus solely on the development of the game as well as expand their advertising reach. After all, we've seen what happens when Kickstarter devs try to do it all themselves. For 505 Games, it gives them the opportunity to publish a game that is already a pretty big hit in several key ways, which is far too tempting of a proposition to pass up regardless of the current company directive.
Koji Igarashi's announced that acclaimed artist Ayami Kojima - whose work was a feature of the Castlevania games from 1998 onwards - will be returning to provide some cover art for Bloodstained. It should be pointed out, however, that the cover art will only appear as a bonus outer sleeve, which will be sent to backers who pledged $100 or more on Kickstarter.
Quite why Kojima's art can't be used on all the physical copies of the game isn't clear, though it could be due to some sort of prior agreement with another artist. But for the Castlevania series' dedicated legion of fans, Kojima's involvement is further sign that Bloodstained will be the rebirth they've been waiting for. If you're unaware of the artist's work, here's an example of her distinctive style:
You can read more about Kojima's involvement, plus a reveal of a few new Bloodstained monsters, in this Kickstarter update.