Video Games
Konami Files New Japanese Trademarks For ‘Castlevania’ And ‘Metal Gear Rising’
While it’s admittedly not much, this next piece of news is nonetheless going to get some tongues wagging. As reported by Gematsu, Konami publicly filed trademarks in Japan for Metal Gear Rising and Akumajou Dracula (which is the Japanese name for Castlevania) earlier this month on April 6.
You can start speculating as to whether Konami is planning to show up at E3 with a new entry in the Castlevania series, or a remaster/sequel to 2013’s Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. If you really wanted to put your Bristol board to work, what if that “one you’ve been waiting for” from Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka back in February was actually referring to a new Castlevania game?
Then there was that report back in February that Konami was open to outsourcing both franchises to third-party developers, so this might be connected to that. Whatever happens, we just want new entries in both series, Konami.
Meanwhile, Castlevania fans can look forward to the fourth and final season of the Netflix series, which premieres on May 13.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in February 2013, and was followed by a Steam version in January 2014.
Video Games
Bloody Body Horror Revealed in ‘Stellar Blade: Blood Rain’, Currently in Development [Trailer]
Shift Up has shifted things dramatically from 2024’s action-adventure game Stellar Blade, offering up a body horror bonanza in the newly announced sequel, Stellar Blade: Blood Rain. The sequel is currently early in development, but if the trailer is any indication, players will be in for plenty of body horror.
Continuing the story from the original Stellar Blade, Blood Rain will star a new protagonist named Eve. Earth has been abandoned, and what is left of humanity has fled to a Colony in outer space.
Shift Up had mentioned during a Q&A following its latest earnings presentation last month that development on Blood Rain (which was still unannounced at the time) was progressing smoothly, and was on track to meet their targeted quality standards.
Shift Up stated that with this new title it would be transitioning to a first-party service model, effectively moving away from the restrictions the game experienced with original publisher Sony, which had the game under an exclusivity agreement for the PlayStation 5. “This will allow us to lead marketing strategies that fully reflect the distinctive identity of the Stellar Blade IP, and we expect to communicate the unique appeal of its universe to players more directly and effectively.”
Whether this means that Xbox Players will finally be able to play the original game (or its sequel) is still not clear. Meanwhile, Stellar Blade is reportedly being ported to the Nintendo Switch 2, but no official confirmation has been made.