Dead Cells’ Return to Castlevania expansion gets March release date

As revealed during last night’s Nintendo Direct – an announcement you might reasonably have missed if you don’t give two hoots about Nintendo – Dead Cells’ Return to Castlevania DLC finally has a release date and is coming to PC and consoles on 6th March.

Return to Castlevania, if you’ve missed previous word on the deliciously fitting crossover, is a new paid expansion that developer Motion Twin and subsidiary Evil Empire have described as “our very own love letter to the granddad of Dead Cells”.

It adds two new Castlevania-inspired biomes to the superb rogue-like action-platformer, taking players – who’ll get some assistance from the likes of Richter Belmont and Alucardon – on a tour of the spooky outskirts and candle-lit interior of Dracula’s Castle.

As they journey onward, brave adventurers can expect to encounter enemies from all across the Castlevania series; there are mermen, bone throwers, haunted armour, plus three new bosses – one of which is, naturally, Dracula himself. The Castlevania nods don’t end there, however; players can wield a new arsenal of familiar weapons from Konami’s classic series – ranging from the Vampire Killer and Throwing Axe to Holy Water – and the DLC promises a 60-tune soundtrack featuring original and reimagined Castlevania music.

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania will cost $9.99 USD when it comes to PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch on 6th March. Previously, Evil Twin said this increase from Dead Cells’ usual $4.99 DLC price point reflected the fact its new expansion is “quite a lot bigger than previous DLCs, as well as the inclusion of [the] IP.”