Castlevania returns to two dimensions. Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse launches today, October 15, on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC, and Xbox Play Anywhere folds both platforms into a single purchase. It is the first original 2D Castlevania in 18 years, arriving 40 years after Simon Belmont’s 1986 debut.
Publisher KONAMI made the game with Evil Empire, the studio that handled Dead Cells’ post-launch updates and DLC, and with Motion Twin advising. Where Dead Cells is a procedural roguelike, Belmont’s Curse is a fixed, hand-built world — the structure that gave the Metroidvania label its name.
The lead is Rose Belmont, daughter of Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades from the Netflix Castlevania series. The story opens in Paris in 1499, with Trevor and Rose summoned by the Bishop as a mysterious evil burns the city, and Trevor passing the family’s role to his daughter.
Rose carries seven weapon types — longsword, whip, gauntlets, spear, greatsword, sword and shield, and twin swords — each with a distinct move set. The whip doubles as a grappling hook, swinging toward rings or latching onto enemies to pull in for an attack, and a parry covers defense. Bosses feed a tarot Arcana system inherited from Sypha: defeating one grants a spell tied to that boss, defeated bosses become voices in Rose’s head for the rest of the game, and two to three Works of Mercy achievements per Arcana unlock points to upgrade the spell. Three relic slots, swapping weapons and spells while paused, and map pins available from the start round out the kit.
Visually the game renders cel-shaded 3D models styled after pixel art, an approach that keeps characters readable while the fixed environments carry the detail.
The Xbox Wire announcement confirms the October 15 date, the platforms, Play Anywhere support, and the systems above. It does not list a price, other platforms, a Steam release, or Game Pass availability, so those remain open until KONAMI says more.
Sources
- Reporting source: GamerHeadlines
- Official announcement: Xbox Wire
