Castlevania was first released in 1986. Throughout the years, the franchise has been one of the industry’s pillars. You have gamers that played this franchise as children, just to still play it as full-grown adults (some even at the age of getting gray hairs). But there’s been a problem in recent years. The problem being no Castlevania games were released since 2014. And no, collections don’t count. So what would make Konami actually get one of their franchise IP up and running again? Would the fact that everyone seems to care about the franchise more than they do finally wake them up? Let’s explore that.
First, let’s take a look at Netflix of all places. In 2017, Netflix released the Castlevania animated series. The series is an animated take on Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse. On a side note, I still wish they added Grant Dasasty, for the sake of completion if anything. And if that wasn’t enough, Castlevania: Nocturne is coming out later this year. That one looks like it could be Rondo of Blood since Ricter is the main protagonist of the anime. But think of what a good time it would be to capitalize on at least announcing they’re making a new game. If they’re unsure of how to advance the story for now, they can easily go the remake route. Just imagine what a modern Dracula’s Curse or Rondo of Blood game would look like. And it’s not just animation studios giving the series more love than Konami has as of late.
What I’m referring to is the Dead Cells DLC. Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania is available on most major platforms. And from the moment it was first announced to the day of release, there’s been an extensive amount of buzz about it. Partially because Dead Cells is a damn good game. And partially because the Castlevania DLC flat-out looks beast. The noise that surrounded this DLC should have at the very least made Konami realize that there’s both life and a market for a return to the franchise, should they decide to take it.
Beyond just simple DLC, there are full-fledged games following the franchise’s legacy. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 1 and 2 follow the same format as the aforementioned Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night comes off as a play on Symphony of the Night and some of the later GBA Castlevania games. Oddly enough, the Bloodstained series was created by a former Castlevania developer, and produced by Koji Igarashi. Then there’s Berzerk Studio’s Infernax, which is heavily modeled after Castlevania 2. Not to mention the many others you’ll find in digital stores.
Castlevania has enough fanfare to be DLC in another game, have multiple spiritual successors, and have animation studios make shows off the IP. Konami announced multiple Silent Hill games, Metal Gear Solid remakes, and even released a new Contra in 2019. But no Castlevania? So the question is, if everyone else has a passion for Castlevania, why doesn’t Konami?
