Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement, A Prequel to Ritual of the Night, Coming in 2026

Publisher 505 Games and developer ArtPlay person announced Bloodstained prequel Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement for 2026.

Set successful England during the 16th Century, earlier the events of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, The Scarlet Engagement sees a mysterious floating castle nether the power of Demon Lord Elias terrorizing the radical with its demonic forces. You play arsenic 2 caller protagonists: Leonard Brandon — a young combatant with the Church's Black Wolves clan — and Alexander Kyteler, a knight of the Kingdom's White Stags. Together, they emergence to decision Demon Lord Elias’ reign of panic and shatter the chains of a kingdom tormented by evil forces.

Created by Koji Igarashi, the mastermind down classical games similar Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, The Scarlet Engagement promises a "fresh formed of allies and foes" that volition hint astatine "deep connections" with its predecessor, portion remaining accessible to caller players without anterior cognition of the game's intricate lore.

You tin play arsenic some Leo and Alex simultaneously and observe caller moves and combos arsenic you research Bloodstained's "largest representation yet," which includes day-night cycles. These not lone displacement airy and darkness, but besides the mode you interact with the world. There's besides crafting, cooking, and customization.

Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement doesn't person a circumstantial merchandise date, but it's acceptable for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S sometime successful 2026.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night released successful 2019, and we thought "the hold was worthy it," awarding it a Great 8.8, writing: "Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is simply a full caller castle to clang afloat of unexpected monsters and mysteries successful the vein of classical Castlevania."

Of course, this isn't the lone crippled announcement we've had recently. Sony kicked disconnected the summertime uncover play with a bang, presenting a smorgasbord of caller games to whet our appetites going into Summer Games Fest Week. Here's everything announced astatine PlayStation State of Play 2025 past night, including 007 First Light, Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, Romeo is simply a Dead Man, and Silent Hill f's merchandise date.

Vikki Blake is simply a newsman for IGN, arsenic good arsenic a critic, columnist, and advisor with 15+ years acquisition moving with immoderate of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's besides a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her astatine BlueSky.