WayForward Technologies, developers of the Shantae series among many other titles, are joining ArtPlay and DICO to aid in the creation of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
In a Kickstarter update, Koji Igarashi announced that WayForward would be, “helping the development team realize my vision for this game.” Igarashi, frequently referred to as IGA, is best known for his work on Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, a reputation that earned his Kickstarter project an enormous amount of money when it was launched in 2015.
That’s right, WayForward, the makers of Shantae! As you may already know, they are top-tier when it comes to side-scrolling action games. There is even a staff member who previously worked on one of my projects, which is incredibly encouraging.
The update also included some concept art for a new enemy, Cyhyreath. When first encountered Cyhyreath will be crouching on the floor but once approached will fly around and attack the player.
“It’s a traditional gothic horror design, and I think it’s lovely.”
Igarashi also adds that the team, now including WayForward, have been busy improving the game and fixing any bugs that appear, including one that is causing the game to crash that needs to be fixed before the game can ship. There is no firm release date announcement but 505 Games’ Senior Community Manager Jason Ryan believes that with WayForward joining development they are closer to that time now.
WayForward’s latest games have been Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (a solid platformed if I do say so myself) and The Mummy Demastered, frequently cited as being better than the film that inspired it. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was a super successful Kickstarter launching on May 11, 2015 and raising more than $5.5 million from over 64k backers. A smaller game, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, was released earlier this year, a spin-off title that hewed closer to Castlevania’s 8-bit roots than the main title.