Bloodstained

Bloodstained is a gothic action-adventure video-game franchise created by Koji Igarashi, the former producer of Konami's Castlevania series. The brand began as a successor project after Igarashi's departure from Konami and was publicly developed through a Kickstarter campaign launched in 2015. Its central game, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, deliberately builds on the exploration-focused action-platforming structure commonly associated with the term Metroidvania: players explore a large interconnected castle, obtain abilities that open previously inaccessible areas, collect equipment, and fight enemies and bosses in real time. The franchise's most prominent release is Ritual of the Night, developed primarily by ArtPlay with external development support and published by 505 Games. The game places players in a nineteenth-century gothic setting and follows Miriam, an orphan affected by a magical crystallization curse, as she confronts the alchemist Gebel and the demonic forces emerging from a castle. Its design combines side-scrolling combat, platforming, character progression, equipment customization, crafting, familiar summons, multiple weapons, and a large collection of enemy and boss encounters. The project was marketed as a spiritual successor to Igarashi's earlier work rather than as an official continuation of Castlevania. The Kickstarter campaign exceeded its initial funding target and helped establish the project's identity, feature roadmap, and audience before commercial release. Development took longer than initially expected, and the game underwent visual and production changes before launch. Ritual of the Night was released in 2019 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows-based PCs, with later releases and updates extending its availability. The Nintendo Switch version received criticism for technical performance at launch, while post-release patches addressed performance and stability issues. Bloodstained also includes smaller-format and related games. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, developed by Inti Creates, was released in 2018 as a retro-styled prequel or companion title. Its design uses an eight-bit-inspired presentation and a more traditional stage-based structure, distinguishing it from Ritual of the Night's exploration-heavy role-playing format. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 followed in 2020 and expanded the side-scrolling action formula with additional characters, branching routes, and cooperative play. The brand's positioning rests on creator authorship, gothic atmosphere, retro-inspired audiovisual design, and modernized exploration mechanics. It appeals particularly to players familiar with Castlevania-style action games, but the franchise is not limited to one platform or one visual generation. ArtPlay remains the key development company associated with the property, while publishing and distribution arrangements have varied by game and platform. As of the latest reliable information represented here, Bloodstained remains an active game franchise, although no unverified future release or corporate ownership change is asserted.

Bloodstained emerged from Koji Igarashi's work on Konami's Castlevania franchise. After leaving Konami, Igarashi sought to create a new property that retained the exploration, combat, gothic imagery, and role-playing progression associated with his earlier games without using the Castlevania name or characters. The resulting project was announced as Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and presented as an independent spiritual successor. The project used Kickstarter as a central development and community-building mechanism. Its 2015 campaign established a funding target and offered backer rewards, while additional milestones outlined possible features and content. The campaign exceeded its initial goal, giving the project a substantial audience before production was complete. ArtPlay became the principal company associated with development, and 505 Games became the principal publishing partner for Ritual of the Night. The development model also involved external studios and platform-specific support. During production, the game changed visually and technically from its earliest public presentation. The team moved away from an initially criticized visual direction toward a more polished three-dimensional presentation that retained two-dimensional gameplay. The project was delayed beyond its earliest expected release window, reflecting the scope of the game and the demands of producing a multi-platform commercial release. A prequel-style companion project, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, was developed by Inti Creates and released in 2018, giving the brand an earlier public game while Ritual of the Night remained in development. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night launched in 2019 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and personal computers. It follows Miriam through a demon-filled castle and uses interconnected level design, ability-gated exploration, equipment collection, crafting, familiar creatures, and boss battles as its principal systems. The game was broadly recognized for successfully translating the classic exploration-action formula into a new franchise, although launch quality varied by platform. In particular, the Switch version drew criticism for performance and visual issues, and subsequent patches were used to improve the experience. The franchise expanded in 2020 with Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2. Unlike Ritual of the Night, the Curse of the Moon games use a compact, stage-based structure and retro-inspired presentation. The sequel added further characters and cooperative play, broadening the brand without replacing the mainline game's role as its flagship product. Ritual of the Night also received post-launch updates and additional content, including new modes and playable-content additions reported through the publisher's update program. Bloodstained's commercial identity is therefore built around continuity of design philosophy rather than continuation of an existing licensed universe. Its creator's reputation supplied the initial audience, crowdfunding validated demand, and the released games established a broader franchise spanning premium console games and retro-styled companion titles. The brand remains associated with ArtPlay and with the modern revival of gothic exploration-focused action games.

• 2020

  Curse of the Moon 2 released

  [4]Steam product page: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2store.steampowered.com

  The retro companion series continued with a sequel featuring expanded characters, routes, and cooperative play.

• 2019

  Ritual of the Night released

  [2]505 Games: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night505games.com

  The flagship game launched across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC platforms.

• 2018

  Curse of the Moon released

  [3]Nintendo product page: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moonnintendo.com

  Inti Creates released the first retro-styled companion game in the franchise.

• 2015

  Kickstarter campaign begins

  [1]Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Kickstarter campaignkickstarter.com

  Koji Igarashi launched crowdfunding for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, presenting it as a new gothic action game inspired by his earlier work.

• 2015

  Crowdfunding target surpassed

  [1]Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Kickstarter campaignkickstarter.com

  The Kickstarter campaign exceeded its initial funding goal and unlocked additional development objectives.

A creator-led gothic action franchise positioned as a modern spiritual successor to classic exploration-focused side-scrolling action games, combining retro influences with role-playing progression and contemporary production values.

• Action-adventure / Metroidvania · 2019

  Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

  The mainline Bloodstained game is a gothic side-scrolling action-adventure with interconnected environments, ability-based exploration, real-time combat, equipment and weapon customization, crafting, familiars, and role-playing progression. Players control Miriam, who investigates a demon-infested castle while seeking a way to stop a magical crystallization curse. The game was developed by ArtPlay with external support and published by 505 Games for consoles and PC.

• Retro side-scrolling action game · 2018

  Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon

  Curse of the Moon is a compact companion game developed by Inti Creates. It uses an eight-bit-inspired visual style and a stage-based structure rather than Ritual of the Night's large interconnected castle. The player can use multiple characters with different abilities, and character survival affects routes and available play options. It serves as a retro-focused extension of the Bloodstained setting and design concept.

• Retro side-scrolling action game · 2020

  Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2

  Curse of the Moon 2 continues the retro action format with a new campaign, additional playable characters, branching progression, and cooperative gameplay. It maintains the franchise's emphasis on precise side-scrolling combat and gothic fantasy while offering a shorter, more arcade-like structure than the mainline game.

• 2015Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Kickstarter

  Worldwide

  The crowdfunding campaign introduced the new franchise to the public and used backer support to finance development, establish stretch objectives, and build an early community around Igarashi's successor concept.

  Outcome. The campaign surpassed its initial funding target and the game proceeded into commercial development.

  Source

• 2018

  Release a retro companion game before the flagship titleProduct launch

  Background

  Ritual of the Night required an extended development period, while the franchise had already cultivated interest through crowdfunding.

  Action taken

  Inti Creates released Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon as a smaller, retro-styled companion experience.

  Aftermath

  The brand gained a playable release ahead of Ritual of the Night and established a second design format for the franchise.

  Source

• 2015

  Use crowdfunding to establish an independent successorStrategy

  Background

  After Koji Igarashi's departure from Konami, the project needed to establish a new intellectual property rather than continue under the Castlevania name.

  Action taken

  ArtPlay and Igarashi presented Ritual of the Night through Kickstarter, using community funding and milestone-based development goals.

  Aftermath

  The campaign exceeded its target and helped create an audience for the franchise before the flagship game was released.

  Source

• 2020-05-04

  Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night update announced[5]《Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night》更新公布vgchartz.com

  Reported: 2020-05-04

  Publisher 505 Games and developer ArtPlay announced a Zangetsu and Randomizer update for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, planned for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC on May 7 and Nintendo Switch at the end of May or early June.

1. 1Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Kickstarter campaignkickstarter.com
2. 2505 Games: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night505games.com
3. 3Nintendo product page: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moonnintendo.com
4. 4Steam product page: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2store.steampowered.com
5. 5《Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night》更新公布vgchartz.com