Castlevania successor 'Bloodstained' finds a publisher after Kickstarter success

Payday 2 publisher 505 Games has signed on with Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi to publish the Kickstarter-funded platformer Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night for consoles and PCs in 2018.

“Although we have started this project through Kickstarter, we wanted more people to play now that we are in full production,” Igarashi said as part of this week’s announcement. “However, we believe this isn’t possible with our power alone. We are so grateful that a publisher with a vast marketing power such as 505 Games will be working with our small production team.”

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a spiritual successor to Konami’s Castlevania series, offering exploration-based platforming gameplay in the vein of popular games like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. The project entered development last year following the launch of a crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter.

Pitching itself as a true Castlevania successor following a series of lackluster sequels from Konami, Bloodstained went on to earn more than $5.55 million in backer pledges. Initially slated to launch in early 2017, the project was recently delayed to 2018 after a new development team was hired on to assist in production.

While the 505 partnership ensures greater marketing reach for Bloodstained, some fans are wary of publisher interference following the debacle surrounding fellow crowdfunded platformer Mighty No. 9‘s release earlier this year. Mighty No. 9 was delayed multiple times after publisher Deep Silver entered the picture, and its questionable marketing approach soured many supporters on the project prior to its retail launch.

Nevertheless, 505 Games pledges to support Bloodstained to the best of its ability throughout 2017.

“We are thrilled and honored to be working with Igarashi-san and the team at ArtPlay on bringing Bloodstained to life,” 505 Games President Ian Howell said. “Everyone here at 505 absolutely shares your excitement for the game, and we promise to do everything we can to help [Igarashi] share his vision.”

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night will launch for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PS Vita, Nintendo Wii U, and PC platforms in “the first half of 2018.”