Dead Cells crosses over with Castlevania in 2023

New DLC for Dead Cells was revealed in The Game Awards 2022 pre-show tonight, and it mashes up the action-platformer with one of its classic inspirations in the game's "biggest DLC to date," coming in Q1 2023.

The coming DLC unfolds a new storyline in which The Beheaded is approached by Richter Belmont following the appearance of a strange, malevolent castle. Drawn by the promise of new loot more so than an ethical sense of duty, players will need to harness their utmost undead fighting skills to defeat the evil within. Packed with new loot, creative-but-deadly new weapons, loads of enemies begging for a stake through the heart and more.

(Image credit: Motion Twin)

Although Alucard and Richter appear in the trailer, it doesn't look like they'll exactly be playable characters. Return to Castlevania's Steam page says you'll unlock 20 outfits, "letting you roleplay as" these and other Castlevania characters.

14 new weapons are promised, including iconic Castlevania projectiles like the Cross and Holy Water (which perhaps you've hurled most recently in Vampire Survivors). You'll show down with Death and Dracula, but the DLC will culminate in "Dead Cells’ most epic and ambitious boss battle yet." Castlevania's timeless music is also woven into the DLC, with 12 of the most recognizable tracks from Castlevania "reimagined in the style of Dead Cells." 

No price has been listed for the DLC. Dead Cells' three other DLCs have all been $5.

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania

(Image credit: Motion Twin)

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania

(Image credit: Motion Twin)

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania

(Image credit: Motion Twin)

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania

(Image credit: Motion Twin)

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania

(Image credit: Motion Twin)
Evan Lahti
Strategic Director

Evan's a hardcore FPS enthusiast who joined PC Gamer in 2008. After an era spent publishing reviews, news, and cover features, he now oversees editorial operations for PC Gamer worldwide, including setting policy, training, and editing stories written by the wider team. His most-played FPSes are CS:GO, Team Fortress 2, Team Fortress Classic, Rainbow Six Siege, and Arma 2. His first multiplayer FPS was Quake 2, played on serial LAN in his uncle's basement, the ideal conditions for instilling a lifelong fondness for fragging. Evan also leads production of the PC Gaming Show, the annual E3 showcase event dedicated to PC gaming.

Read more
Hyper Light Breaker player characters standing in a row with yellow cloud and dark background behind
Hyper Light Breaker will cost $30 and for a limited time come with a free copy of Drifter
Elden Ring Nightreign screenshot
Elden Ring Nightreign's Steam page lets slip it'll have DLC bosses and player characters
Blades of Fire's protagonist Aran prepares to attack with a very large sword.
Blades of Fire is a God of War-style action game coming to PC from the creators of Metroid Dread, and it's almost definitely a spiritual successor to Severance
A character from Castlevania: Nocturne Season 2
Castlevania: Nocturne Season 2 both rushes and drags, but finally arrives at its best action scenes ever
Coen in The Blood of Dawnwalker cinematic, but lightened a bit so you can actually see the man
The new RPG from Rebel Wolves, a studio founded by Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 devs, asks a bold question: What if Geralt was a vampire?
An elderly bearded man in medieval garb making a face after eating garlic
'Please remember the game has no plot': Vampire Survivors dev points out one of the many challenges in turning its roguelike into a live-action film
Latest in Roguelike
A busy marketplace in The Bazaar.
The Bazaar could be the future of autobattlers, if it stops strangling itself to death with its own microtransactions
A vampire with a dark castle and swarms of bats in the background.
We need to decide on a genre name for Vampire Survivors-like games before a really terrible one sticks
Three heroes stand against a tide of skeletons
The Hand of Fate devs are back with a bullet heaven called Hordes of Fate
An angry dwarf and a sword-wielding elf with various villains in the background in Absolum.
This mash-up of side-scrolling beat-'em-up and fantasy roguelike feels like it could be the future of a classic genre
Three adventurers readying for battle in Knights in Tight Spaces.
Knights in Tight Spaces review
Facing an enemy in No-Skin
No-Skin is an incredibly simple horror roguelike about the worst party ever, full of strong booze, bad conversation and eldritch violence
Latest in News
Nvidia RTX 4090 Founders Edition graphics card
A single RTX 4090 managed to brute force crack an Akira ransomware attack in just 7 days
Luna the self learning robot dog
Meet Luna, the new AI robot dog who teaches itself using a digital nervous system and software 'that allows any machine to learn like humans and animals do'
Union organizers and game developers gather at GDC 2025.
Game dev union marches through industry event to demonstrate that it's about 'taking action and organizing change'
The jester from Balatro, portrayed in unsettling detail in real life, wears an uncanny smile and stares at the viewer.
Balatro's LocalThunk isn't 'trying to pull a Banksy', he just 'wanted to be left alone to make his game'
Two characters from Warframe 1999 lounging in a bar.
The warframe with a guitar that shoots fire is out today alongside a bunch of metalcore-inspired skins, cementing Warframe's spiral into Y2K madness
A Minecraft movie promo image of the main cast standing side by side,
This is why the Minecraft movie is called A Minecraft Movie