CASTLEVANIA RETURNS TO CONSOLES WITH BELMONT'S CURSE IN OCTOBER

Konami has announced the launch of Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, a new entry in the dormant franchise set to release in October. The game marks the series' return to side-scrolling gameplay after a nine-year absence since Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 in 2014. Development was undertaken by Evil Empire, the studio behind Dead Cells, in partnership with Konami. The title is set 23 years after the events of 1989's Castlevania 3 and follows Rose Belmont, the daughter of series protagonist Trevor Belmont, as she battles demons in 1490s Paris.

The game places the player in Paris sewers as Rose undertakes a mission to rid the city of ancient evil at the request of a bishop. Rose carries a longsword and wields a versatile whip that serves multiple functions: lifting the player to ceilings, propelling towards enemies, and ricocheting off opponents to deliver attacks. According to producer Tsutomu Taniguchi at Konami, the team sought to honour the original series while appealing to modern audiences familiar with "metroidvanias" – games inspired by Castlevania and the Metroid franchise. Taniguchi stated that Evil Empire's involvement came after the studio approached Konami about developing Castlevania downloadable content for Dead Cells.

The release represents Konami's effort to reclaim market presence in the side-scrolling action genre, which has grown substantially during the series' hiatus. The project aligns with Konami's recent strategy of partnering external studios with established franchises, following a similar arrangement for Silent Hill f. Industry observers note that an entire generation of players has encountered Castlevania only through games inspired by the original series rather than official entries.