Castlevania's First New 2D Game in Nearly 20 Years Is Out — and the Dead Cells Studio Made It

They finally did it. They took the whip out of the museum, dusted it off, and handed it to the one studio on earth with the résumé to crack it.

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse launched on October 15, 2026 — PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC — and if you've been starving for a brand-new 2D Castlevania, this is the first real meal in nearly two decades. Not a collection. Not a remaster. A new game, with a new Belmont, in a city the series has never touched before: Paris, 1499.

The setup is deliciously cursed

Twenty-three years after Trevor Belmont ended Dracula's rampage in 1476 (Castlevania III), Dracula's castle has materialized over Paris like the worst Airbnb listing in history. The playable hero this time is Rose Belmont — Trevor's daughter with Sypha Belnades — and she's not just swinging the sacred whip Vampire Killer. She carries Dracula's curse in her right arm. So the whip is family tradition and the curse is personal baggage, and honestly that's the most Belmont thing I've ever heard.

Yes, that means Joan of Arc is in a Castlevania game. No, I'm not going to pretend that doesn't rule.

Why the developer matters more than the trailer

Evil Empire is the studio making this — the team that built Dead Cells after taking it over from Motion Twin. Their relationship with Konami started with the Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania DLC, which was so good Konami apparently looked at the sales and went, "fine, you can have the whole franchise." Motion Twin is still attached as advisors, so the DNA is double-verified.

And the proof is in the gameplay: this isn't the slow, heavy Castlevania of your childhood. Rose's whip is a traversal tool, not just a weapon — you swing through stages, combine movement and combat in one flow, and the whole thing runs at 60fps on PS5, Xbox and PC (Switch players get 30fps, which is the one honest compromise on the box). Exploration-driven, gothic, fast. It's the word "fluid" weaponized.

The voice cast is a victory lap

Konami went full fan-service on the casting. Graham McTavish — the voice of Dracula in the Netflix Castlevania series — is Dracula again. Alejandra Reynoso is back as Sypha, Rose's mother. And Liam O'Brien reprises Isaac, the Devil Forgemaster from 2005's Curse of Darkness, twenty-plus years later. Rose herself is played by Abby Trott.

When a series does its 40th anniversary by reuniting the Netflix cast and the guy from 2005 in the same game, you don't call it nostalgia-baiting. You call it correctly.

The practical stuff

Release: October 15, 2026, out now
Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC (Steam)
Price: $29.99 standard
Framerate: 60fps on PS5/Xbox/PC, 30fps on Switch
Midnight Edition: base game plus a Digital Sound & Art Gallery, Trevor and Sypha style costumes for Rose, and an in-game relic; pre-order/early purchase threw in an Alucard-style costume

Here's my honest take: a new 2D Castlevania made by the Dead Cells studio, starring the daughter of Trevor and Sypha, with Dracula's curse in her own arm, in Paris, on the 40th anniversary — this is the launch that justifies the entire concept of "anniversary year." If you've ever swung the Vampire Killer and missed it, October just gave you your game back.