Konami producer says enthusiasm for Castlevania is ‘motivating’

Castlevania made a grand return to the world of video games when Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania launched in early March 2023. The wild collaboration, developed by Motion Twin, was a very rare crossover for the long-running Castlevania franchise, which has not had a new, mainline entry since Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 in 2014.

According to Konami producer Tsutomu Taniguchi, excitement and enthusiasm for this release is now a ‘motivating’ factor for Konami going forward. Seeing the furore around the release of the Dead Cells DLC has reportedly inspired the company.

‘We tried to bring back the games that people loved and cherished with the Castlevania Anniversary Collection and the Castlevania Advance Collection, we also brought back Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night for our PlayStation fans and on mobile, and launched Grimoire of Souls on Apple Arcade to celebrate the lore of the franchise,’ Taniguchi recently told IGN.

‘But we know that our fans always want more, and we do too, so this opportunity to have this amazing crossover with Dead Cells was impossible to pass up.’

Read: God of War Ragnarok director wants to make new Castlevania

It appears support for this new chapter in Castlevania history is uproarious, to the point where it has reached Konami’s ears. Whether that truly motivates the publisher and developer to move forward with new games in the series remains to be seen.

In recent years, Konami has largely wielded the franchise for nostalgia, capitalising on renewed interest by launching the aforementioned Anniversary and Advance collections, which are re-releases of past hits. Grimoire of Souls expanded on this idea, remixing classic Castlevania action for a new mobile adventure.

While fans have expressed enthusiasm about these releases, there still appears to be a strong appetite for something bigger; a new, mainline action-adventure game in the vein of the excellent Lords of Shadow. God of War Ragnarok director Eric Williams has even expressed a desire to direct such a game, recently calling on Konami to extend an olive branch for future collaborations.

Given the popularity of Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania, there is hope the company could consider this option in future. We’ll likely discover more about Konami’s plans for the series over the next few years.