Following its surprise appearance during a fiscal year financial presentation last week, publisher 505 Games has confirmed that Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, the acclaimed 2019 Castlevania spiritual successor from Koji Igarashi and developer ArtPlay, is getting a sequel.

Word of a sequel originally surfaced after keen-eyed internet sorts spotted a bullet point inserted into 505 Games' latest fiscal year financial results, stating a "second version" of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was in development.

Although the term "second version" left a certain ambiguity as to whether this was referring to a sequel or something else, 505 has now offered clarity in a development update on Reddit. "Regarding recent reports," it wrote, "[505 Games and Artplay] are in very early planning stages for a Bloodstained sequel".

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Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night's long-awaited Classic Mode, which introduces five retro-inspired levels, is out today on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Switch, as part of a free new update that also brings a Kingdom: Two Crowns crossover.

Classic Mode first surfaced as a stretch goal in Bloodstained's 2015 Kickstarter campaign, and although its target was met, developer ArtPlay's focus on remedying Bloodstained's troubled Switch port meant the mode was still missing in action as late as last year.

However, a revised development roadmap released in June confirmed Classic Mode was still on the cards - alongside a hefty selection of other previously promised DLC - and its long-awaited release is now finally here, albeit somewhat later than the Q3 2020 date originally planned.

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Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Koji Igarashi's acclaimed spiritual successor to the Castlevania series, has now surpassed one million sales, and developer ArtPlay has shared its 2020 development roadmap to accompany the news.

Prior to Bloodstained's launch last June, ArtPlay pledged a wide range of post-launch development updates, many of which had initially been promised as Kickstarter stretch goals. As 2019 went on, however, its most publicised post-launch development activity revolved around remedying Bloodstained's troubled Switch port, with the only additional content news arriving earlier this year when ArtPlay announced it was cancelling its previously promised rogue-like mode, replacing it with a scaled-back Randomiser mode.

That left a heap of promised content still to come, with Bloodstained's first substantial update - introducing a second playable character, Zangetsu, and the aforementioned Randomizer Mode - finally arriving in May. And with that out the way, ArtPlay has now committed to release windows for Bloodstained's remaining content in its newly revealed development roadmap.

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Humble Bundle has just launched the Humble Indie Hits sale where you can find up to 96 per cent off a wide range of some of the very best independently developed games.

A good 100 or so new and classic titles are included, ranging from recent releases such as Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, the soon-to-be-updated No Man's Sky and time-twisty platformer Braid.

To cut through the mass, I've picked out a few highlights for you below. Some of these are more popular picks, whereas others are noteworthy simply because the amount of money you can save is quite substantial. Do have a look through the full Humble Indie Hits sale page to see if anything else takes your fancy, though!

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Green Man Gaming has launched a new promotion that allows you to save 20 per cent on a selection of new and upcoming game releases.

Probably the most exciting of the bunch is a chance to get Wolfenstein: Youngblood for 19.99. All you need to do is use the code 'NEW20' at the checkout.

The co-operative shooter takes place almost two decades after the rather brilliant New Colossus and follows BJ Blazckowicz's twin daughters as they attempt to take down the Nazi regime. It's scheduled for release on 25th July.

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The term 'spiritual successor' is bandied about a lot. It's a double-edged term, really, one that not only enables a new game to piggyback onto an already-established, popular franchise but also imbues it with palpable - and occasionally unobtainable - expectation.

That was my fear, at least initially, with Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. A Castlevania game in all but name, it burst onto Kickstarter as one of crowdfunding's most notable and successful campaigns, but with every delay and every change, it felt as though the dream of creator Koji Igarashi was fading. Fans began to worry. Is Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night just another Kickstarter failure?

Whilst, admittedly, it lacks a last-minute coat of perfecting polish, Bloodstained is a delightful traditional 2D platformer stuffed with charm, humour, and astonishing attention to detail. Offering a meaty campaign, multiple endings and numerous side quests and collectables, Bloodstained is a perfect blend of contemporary design with old-school mechanics.

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Koji Igarashi's Castlevania spiritual successor, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, is almost upon us, arriving next month on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC. And in the run-up to release, publisher 505 Games has outlined its extensive post-launch DLC plans.

There is, according to Bloodstained's newly unveiled website, a lot of stuff on the way; 505 says that Speedrun and Boss Rush modes, plus something called the Pure Miriam outfit, will be added to the game for free on launch day. Additional freebies - Boss Revenge, Roguelike, Classic, and Chaos modes, as well as two more playable characters, plus co-op and versus play (both online and local) - will be added at a later date.

Alongside the free stuff, 505 is launching a special $9.99 USD offering called Iga's Back Pack. This DLC update arrives on 18th June (25th June on Switch), and enables players to take on and defeat Koji Igarashi himself, earning the powerful Swordwhip weapon as a reward. This latter pack has proven somewhat controversial with those that funded Bloodstained on Kickstarter, given that both items were originally pitched as backer-exclusives.

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Dealing with criticism - particularly from random people on the internet - can be difficult for anyone, but the developers of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night seem to have responded to some scathing comments in a pretty spectacular way: by mocking their own game, of course.

Following the first delay and negative feedback during the beta backer demo, designer Koji Igarashi delayed Bloodstained's planned release a second time, stating additional time was required "to raise the quality level". It seems like that extra time has paid off, as the game is looking much nicer in its final version, with clear outlines, improved lighting and a more vibrant colour palette.

Bloodstained is now due to arrive on 18th June for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. The Switch version lands a little later, on 25th June.

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Designer Koji Igarashi has announced that his long-awaited Castlevania spiritual successor, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, will now launch in 2019, and that the planned PlayStation Vita version is no more.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, which successfully secured $5.5 million USD of Kickstarter funding in 2015, has never had a set launch date, but its release window has shifted more than once now. Initially, Bloodstained was expected to arrive in March 2017, but backers were informed of a first delay in 2016, when its launch was postponed to early 2018.

At the time of Bloodstained's initial delay, Igarashi noted that development changes were required, otherwise "the game may not end up meeting my quality standards". Now, in a new Kickstarter update, the developer has revealed similar reasons for postponing the game's release until 2019, noting that additional time is needed "to raise the quality level, especially after all the very valuable feedback from the Beta Backer Demo".

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