Konami Acknowledges 'Excitement and Enthusiasm' for More Castlevania Amid Dead Cells DLC Launch
Much like its bloodsucking antagonist, Castlevania has lain dormant for many years, but Konami's classic vampire-slaying franchise is finally beginning to awaken thanks to projects like Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania.
Released earlier this week, the heralded DLC stars Richter Belmont and Alucard in what Konami Return to Castlevania supervisor Tsutomu Taniguchi half-jokingly refers to as an isekai — slang for anime about characters suddenly being transported into a new and unfamiliar world.
"Is 'isekai' a buzzword ? Because this is how I would define this storyline," Taniguchi told IGN in a new interview. "Let's just say that Dracula's Castle teleported on the Beheaded's Island and what happened on the island stays on the island."
No, Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania isn't canon, but it is a fun reimagining of the old-school platformer, which got its start on the Famicom way back in 1986. The DLC has been heralded by fans and critics alike, with IGN's review calling it a "shining blueprint of how to do a crossover right."
According to Evil Empire chief operating officer Benjamin Laulan, it got its start at 2019's BitSummit festival in Kyoto, which the studio attended in the hope of making a deal to sell Dead Cells in the Japanese market. A meeting with Konami convinced Laulan to shoot his shot and pitch a crossover, and was surprised to find a receptive audience.
"Back in France, we started working on it and well, since Dead Cells had 'respectfully stolen' so many elements from the series already, such as: the whip, the key art with the castle, the food hidden in walls… the 'rogue-vania' punchline… (oops!) It just made sense to continue this way, so we got lost into excitement and went all-in, the pitch quickly turned into
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