Shovel Knight is getting co-op, a new campaign, and new pricing

News
By published

Shovel Knight's adventures are being split into three standalone games, with two more expansions coming later this year.

Some big changes are coming to NES-inspired platformer Shovel Knight, beginning with a new name, Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, which will contain the original Shovel Knight campaign, now known as Shovel of Hope, as well as the Plague of Shadows campaign and the upcoming Specter of Torment. To break that down a bit: Plague of Shadows was a free DLC campaign first released in September 2015, while Specter of Torment is all new.

"We want to keep our promise of releasing free content for all players. We also want to continue building these campaigns and features to be the best! Somewhere along the way, the game has simply gotten too big!" Yacht Club said in the Treasure Trove FAQ. "It’s difficult for many players out there to find everything or even know that these campaigns exist. We believe that providing standalone versions will provide better entry points for different types of players and allow more people to continue enjoying each adventure on their next favorite platform." 

Yacht Club also announced plans for a new, not-yet-officially-named four-player "Battle Mode" (local only, not online) and a fourth campaign for the King Knight, which it described as "a crazy campaign with the gilded goob himself." Both are expected to be ready for release later this year, and will be included with the Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove.

Another bonus: local co-op, previously only available on Wii U, is coming to the PC for free, too.

All existing Shovel Knight owners will automatically be updated to the Treasure Trove edition, "and will continue to get each of the planned free campaigns and features via updates." The price of Shovel Knight will be going up sometime in the spring, but until it does, purchasing it at the current price ($15/£11/€15) will get you the Treasure Trove upgrade. If you want it, in other words, better to do it now than later. 

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.