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Bloodstained sequel in 'very early planning stages' as previous game content is finished

We won't be getting Bloodstained 2 for a while, but ArtPlay and 505 Games are certainly interested in making it happen.

TJ Denzer

June 4, 2021 10:35 AM

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After quite some time, the Bloodstained franchise has certainly come into its own. It’s been years since Koji Igarashi split from Konami to put work into creating his own, independent style of Metroidvania. It has made for both modern goodness in the form of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, but also retro goodness in the Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon spinoff from Inti Creates. So what comes next? Well, apparently a Bloodstained sequel is on the table, but only after ArtPlay finished its work on content in the first Ritual of the Night.

ArtPlay revealed the prospect of a Bloodstained sequel via the Bloodstained franchise’s Twitter on June 3, 2021. According to its recent posting, developer ArtPlay and publisher 505 Games are in the “very early planning stages” of the sequel’s design, but there won’t be much in the way of updates until work on content for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has been completed. Even so, the tweet suggested that there will be more Bloodstained-related news coming up fairly soon.

Regarding recent reports, @505_Games and @ArtplayEN are in very early planning stages for a #Bloodstained sequel. However, current development resources are focused on completing Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night's upcoming content. We have a lot planned for you. pic.twitter.com/yPV0n31gBX

— Bloodstained: RotN (@SwordOrWhip) June 4, 2021

The Bloodstained franchise has been quite busy through the previous year. It was in 2019 that Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night launched (and in quite splendid fashion if you look at our Shacknews review). However, in 2020, ArtPlay also launched a roadmap of content for Ritual of the Night that included new modes, characters, and plenty of other extended goods for the game. This is what ArtPlay is referring to when it comes to finishing things up. Even so, the Bloodstained franchise has also been aided by 2018’s retro-style Curse of the Moon and its 2020 sequel, both of which Igarashi and ArtPlay aided in development.

It will be fun to see where 505 Games and ArtPlay go with a BloodStained: Ritual of the Night sequel, but it also looks like it will be a bit longer before we see what that looks like. In the meantime, stay tuned for further supposed news coming down the pipeline regarding the Bloodstained franchise as a whole.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.